Crimson Teeth

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Crimson Eagles
Battle Cry	"Death From Above!"
Number	VII
Founding	First Founding
Primarch	Caligor Kincaid
Homeworld	Haravi IV
Strength	180,000
Specialty	Airborne Infantry, Airborne Cavalry, Total War
Allegiance	Traitor, Chaos Undivided/Renegade
Colours	Variable Camouflage (Typically Jungle or Desert) with Maroon helmet

"Simply put, the Crimson Teeth epitomise strength. From their cultural philosophies to their battlefield tactics, Legio VII value strength above all. Seeing little honour in employing guile, the Teeth favour direct and decisive approaches. During the Great Crusade they were a brutal and effective force who beat recalcitrant worlds into submission with mass-executions, ruthless intimidation, and even on occasion systematic genocide. From reunification with their Primarch, Camaxtli, the VII would find themselves increasingly at odds with the majority of their brother lads. At the start of the Heresy, they sided with the traitors and waged bloody war across the galaxy on behalf of Hektor and the Ruinous Powers.

Organisation

"The Crimson Teeth are quite typical for the Legiones lads in their organisation and order of battle. Their only real divergences result from their cultural philosophies and traditions rather than strategic or tactical requirements.

Command has been observed to normally held by the most physically tough and strong of individuals, though unusually violent and talented individuals were also promoted on merit. This suited the legions proclivity for decisive battlefield actions, and reflects their disdain for guile. It also created a positive by-product for the legion: Loyalty. In a legion that is known for its self-centric viewpoint, strong bonds of loyalty seem a strange feature. It's occurrence is completely linked to fear and intimidation; the scariest and most intimidating lads are leaders as those qualities command respect from the other legionaries. Tying to this is the legions acceptance of ritual combat to decide who is allowed to lead; those who sought promotion had to first prove they deserved their fellow battle-brothers respect by winning a bout of ritual combat. This increased in difficulty the higher the rank - a squad-sergeant would only fight one champion chosen by the squad, from within that squad. A Company Captain would need to beat a champion from each unit under his command, and so on up the chain of command.

Support Formations and Auxilia=

The Bound

"The most notable of the legions atypical organisational practices is that of slave-taking. Introduced by their Primarch, Camaxtli almost immediately on his reunification with his gene-sons, the practice of taking slaves served to thoroughly force a conquered foe into submission, removing children and adults deemed 'dangerous' from forming any potential rebellions against Imperial rule. The slaves were given basic combat training and formed into combat units under the command of the lads who captured them. They were deemed property of the lads squad that captured them, and were branded and then extensively tattooed with company emblems in squad colours to denote their new ownership. They would then undergo a ritual blood-letting ceremony known as "the Binding", whereby the slaves would cut their hands on the blades of their masters weapons. Their lads master would do the same, and the slaves would mix their blood with their masters and consume it. Some units further used the mixed blood in ownership tattoos of their Bondsmen and Bondswomen, though this practice was not common. According to Remembrancer records, the "Binding" signified a spiritual bond between the master and the slave, and was considered the most solemn and severe of bonds - to break it or refuse it is a dire offence. It is also the origin of the slave-units formal nomenclature. This bond however is not apparently for life: slaves that prove themselves to their lads masters are given their freedom with no reluctance.

The Bound were used very similarly to Imperial Army penal regiments, usually used as meat-shields or thrown into forlorn assaults. Casualties among the Bound are incredibly high, and indeed the very pace of their lads masters lives added a further strain on the slaves who had no genetic-engineering to gift them the incredible endurance with which to recover from the constant toll of warfare. Nourishment was restricted to slaves, but extra rations were used as rewards for those who displayed traits and behaviours the legion sought. The slaves themselves served one further purpose - that of status. As marines could not officially collect wealth (most live utterly austere lifestyles with no belongings), slaves became a metric that denoted standing within the legion. Both quantity and quality were prized, and those who had both commanded great respect from their brothers in the legion. Slaves who demonstrated strength of will and character, and who crucially survived, were highly valued, most of these were promoted to an Executioner unit assigned to their masters squad.

It was rare to find a member of the Bound over the age of 40, while conversely quite common to find one under the age of 18 Standard Terran Years; in fact there had been many reports of actual child soldiers fighting among the Bound's number. This has lead to the legion being reported, but due to being officially under Legion control, the Imperium turned a blind eye to it, not officially acknowledging the practice existed.

The Unbound

"The Unbound are, unlike the Bound, an officially acknowledged Legionary-auxilia unit. They are comprised of former members of the Bound and act as valued henchmen to their former-masters. The Executioners are given a formal contract, tattooed onto their body: they serve in the legions next campaign, in return are re-gifted their freedom. If they survive, they may leave the legion and colonise the world they helped conquer, if they wish to. The legion provides them with a significant sum of money with which to start a new life, and often a job in the local PDF or Arbites. This offer has never been refused, and despite their harsh treatment as the Bound, they seem to possess a remarkable loyalty and respect for the Seventh that defies understanding.

The Unbound however are directly linked with the Seventh's proclivity for mass-executions, genocide, and systematic torture; indeed they actively take part in their lads parent-unit's intimidation activities, and have been observed to continue these behaviours long-after the Seventh has left them behind. However, statistically speaking, their methods are incredibly effective, as the worlds they colonised and 'intimidated' were found to have a drastically smaller likelihood of rising in rebellion, or being over-taken by crime, as many post-legion conquered worlds were. One caveat to this though which has recently come to light, is that the retired Unbound members would actively participate in crime, running highly efficient, if highly corrupt PDF and Arbites divisions.

On the battlefield, the Unbound are akin to an Imperial Army units veterans, but with a higher level of experience and understanding of warfare, testament to surviving combat alongside lads for so long. Much like their parent-legion, Unbound favour directly and decisively targeting their opponents, utilising brutal campaigns which seek to utterly annihilate the opponents forces to a man. Astoundingly, they have a surprising effectiveness against guerilla tactics, despite this seeming to be the bane of the direct approach; the terror the mere suggestion of the mass-executions instils in the local populace, that they usually win the battle for hearts and minds through sheer brute force, and the people give up the rebels immediately.

Culture

Traditions and Philosophies

looting displays of wealth and power survival and not remembering the dead mass executions/genocide/torture