Editing The Crusaders (section)

==Legion Equipment==
[[File:Crusaders.jpg]]

The Crusaders were largely re-equipped by Gaudin after he came to the Legion, and this radically changed what weaponry the Legion relied upon. Gaudin's first requirement was for enough transports to ensure the entire Legion could be mounted up for mobile actions, and reserves of armoured vehicles from Mars, Voss and Phaeton were diverted to fill the gap. The Legion's newfound focus on armored warfare also saw heavy support squads become rarer as armored vehicles like Predators filled in the gap. Consequently more Tactical support squads entered the ranks of the Legion, offering more portable firepower to augment the swift armored strikes.

Cataphractii Armour was also largely phased out, save for the elite Crusader Aedassan Canons and some higher-ranking officers. Tartaros Armour was in high demand for its enhanced mobility, and Tartaros squads in Land Raiders were often used as the tip of the spear for heavy assaults.

The Crusaders were never among the most numerous of the Legions, with the most conservative estimate of the Legion around the time of the Heresy giving them around 115,000 line Astartes, with a considerable armored reserve, second only to the Mastodontii Legion, though while the Mastodontii favored heavier vehicles like the Fellblade and Typhon, the Crusaders preferred faster vehicles such as the Predator and Sicaran, whose design Gaudin it is said had a hand in. The Crusaders also used a specially modified pattern of Rhino fitted with ‘Lucifer’ pattern engines to increase its speed, vital for the type of warfare the Legion espoused.