Editing Dark Angels (section)

===Organisation===
Not simply a [[First Founding|Legion]] numbered "one", they were quite literally the First legion created by the Emperor and in their earliest incarnation fought as the personal army of the Master of Mankind in the dawning years of the [[Great Crusade]]. Their first official battle took place before the Great Crusade began, being used to destroy an army of mixed troops and Thunder Warriors that had come to arrest Constantin Valdor. HH: Extermination tells us that as the prototype Legion the Dark Angels served as the template for all the Legions that would follow after which the Emperor decided to make the following legions more specialised and engineered their development towards different roles, and as a standard by which these successors would be measured (however they would eventually get supplanted by the empire-building [[Ultramarines]] after the Horus Heresy, in part due to the severe losses they took during the Rangdan Xenocides). So basically the Emperor simply intended the First Legion to sally forth and "just be Space Marines". The original Legion were a bunch of bloody killers, and they took great pride in their job. They were the very definition of the Emperor's Angels of Death, marching forth and crushing the foes of the Emperor, wherever they could be found. They took great pride in their primacy, acting as teachers and mentors towards the younger legions.

That meant the Dark Angels had to figure out warfare all on their own, and the techniques they developed would have entire Legions built upon those principles when they were raised later on. Including the first attempt at creating a group of battle ready psychic marines, and although this order was eventfully disbanded the lessons learned would eventually be used in the creation of the [[Librarius]].

There existed six specialised "Wings" collectively known as the <u>'''Hexagrammaton'''</u> originally coalesced from the various Hosts used by the first Terran members of the Great Crusade as they each learned their methods of warfare in the initial years of fighting. When the Lion was united with his Legion he reorganised the Hosts to run across and through the normal Dark Angels structure of orders, chapters, and companies (similar to how the DA company veterans work in 40k) and every Dark Angel from the lowest to the highest is a member of one of the wings. Each acted as an independent formation that was both a part of the main body of the legion but also separate from it at the same time. Each of the wings/hosts is commanded by an officer known as a Voted-Lieutenant and several Voted-Successors who are outside of the normal legion command structure. One of the key strengths of the First legion seems to have been their ability to adapt and change things up when needed. Not every battle can be fought the same way, especially when considering the varied and unique opponents that exist within the galaxy, so spreading your specialists across your standard forces and using their experience when necessary seems like it might actually be a pretty good idea. Like the Dark Angels of 40k who don't really specialise in any single form of combat, but actually prefer to create tailor fitted strike forces to deal with any given opponent, the existence of the Hexagrammaton in 30k provides the First Legion with a great deal of flexibility.

When confronted with a situation that requires a more specialised touch the commanding officer can hand operational control over to the highest ranking member of one of the wings. A call will go out across all the First Legion forces present for all members of the required "Wing" to gather and pool their combined specialized skills and equipment in order to bring ruin to the enemy. Unlike legions like the Death Guard who preferred to keep their legions as a single whole, the First Legion seems to have given Legion forces that are operating away from the main body a bit more freedom to think for themselves. This would allow the Legion to continue to operate independently, even if they may have been cut off from the rest of the Legions command, this would also allow them to operate in a far greater number of theatres of war across the Great Crusade; this would normally be considered a good thing, but this is 40k and "freedom of thought" can only lead to bad things.

Each was dedicated to a different form of warfare of which two survived into the later 40k:

*'''[[Deathwing]]''' - Multiple subtypes of special operations, including veterans specialists, marksmen, linebreakers, and bodyguards. (Think Space Wolves or Luna Wolves)
*'''[[Ravenwing]]''' - Cavalry & Fast Attack, mostly focusing on the use of skimmers and aircraft but also able to use regular bikes and drop pods when needed. (White Scars)
*'''[[Stormwing]]''' - Initially described in the [[Black Library]] books as boarding specialist formation comprised mostly of [[Breacher Siege Squad|shield-wielding units]], it has been [[retcon]]ed by Forge World into general line infantry with a focus on close order warfare. (Ultramarines)
*'''[[Dreadwing]]''' - The Dreadwing truly exemplifies the Dark Angels role as the Emperor's Exterminators. Called in when you [[Exterminatus|just want something gone and you really don’t care about the collateral damage]], and weren't half bad as terror troops either. (Death Guard, Night Lords)
*'''[[Firewing]]''' - Excel in destroying enemy command structures, duelling, and assassination, they were the opposite of the Dreadwing. (Alpha Legion, Raven Guard)
*'''[[Ironwing]]''' - Heavy emphasis on battle tanks and mechanized infantry and had the highest concentration of Terminators in ANY of the Legions, including experimental suits unseen elsewhere. (Iron Warriors, Iron Hands)

A Dark Angel's membership in a particular wing seems to not only be based on their abilities but also their personality, attitude, and personal mindset; for example the Dreadwing are made up of the most brutal, destructive, and warmongering members of the Dark Angels whilst the Ravenwing (if they are anything like their 40k counterparts) are made up of the most impulsive, wild (by DA standards), and inquisitive members (being a speed freak helps). How they are designated into each wing is unknown...perhaps they are given extensive physiological evaluations or maybe they just have some sort of [[Harry Potter]]-esque sorting hat.

In addition to the ''Hexagrammaton'' is the <u>'''Hekatonystika'''</u> - also called the ''Hundred Esoteric Arts (although the exact numuber of orders fluctuates, there were hundreds of them over the crusade)'' and is divided into Orders each commanded by '''Preceptor''' and his Seneschals. These '''Orders''' are each tasked with the protection of some kind of lore that that useful in battle, such as combat about particular kinds of enemy or on certain kinds of battlefield; if necessary the commander in charge of a battlefield could request members of an order with knowledge relevant to the situation come together to form a '''Cenobium''' to concentrate their expertise and offer assistance in the same way that the whole force can reorganise according to the six Wings. The Orders stood alongside the wings and were complementary in many ways, such as the Order of the Broken Wings being anti-air specialists and preferring recruits from the Ironwing for instance. It was also possible to have membership of more than one Order, though this was considered rare. Some orders were extremely small and numbered only a handful of marines, others were massive and capable of deploying to the battlefield on their own as collections of whole Chapters of thousands of warriors.

In addition to the combat orders, there were also many Orders Civilis that were specialist in support and logistical roles, though they rarely numbered many full battle brothers among them, they were a means of honouring failed aspirants and serfs with important and vital positions.

This all stands in combination with the "standard" chain of command as laid down by the ''Principa Bellicosa'' of Chapters and Companies, meaning any individual Space Marine could hold several ranks and be the superior of his comrades in different situations. One example is given in HH9 Crusade where a simple line Legionary in his company actually holds the rank of '''Cenobite''' in his Order as well as '''Proctor''' of the Stormwing, therefore outranking his own sergeant in many situations, serving as an example of how the First Legion puts experience above authority.

Thanks to the Hexagrammaton and Hekatonystika the Dark Angels were almost impossible for outsiders to comprehend, Such disregard for strict and unchanging lines of command and control frustrated some legions and primarchs, especially Guilliman who had implored the Lion on multiple occasions to reform his legion to match the example of the Ultramarines, but for the Dark Angels it allowed them to adapt and evolve from moment to moment on the battlefield. these formations proved to be fertile grounds in the training of large numbers of highly skilled veterans, and leaders from amongst the Dark Angels; allowing them to function perfectly well when denied a central command, as they had already been forged into a flexible force that could function independently even in the most dire of circumstances.

The Dark Angels would even have a bit of fun with the other forces of the Imperium; upon arrival they would deliberately not inform the other Imperial forces, about who was in overall command of the Dark Angels forces, and then see if anyone was able to work it out; If anyone was able to do so they would have gained the Dark Angles respect and acknowledgement.

It has been hinted that because of the Dark Angels’ highly traditional and sectarian nature it made them ‘immune’ to the intrusions of the warrior lodges and acted as a similar buffer to infiltration and manipulation from the likes of the Alpha Legion. Luther outright laughed at Erebus's suggestion of the creation of a Dark Angel warrior lodge.
:*according to the Alpharius Primarch book, Alpharius himself (not the Alpha legion) was able infiltrate the legion, although even the most sneaky of Primarch's had a really difficult time doing so. Alpharius highly suspects that the Lion was actually fully aware of his infiltration but didn't take any action, which really annoyed Alpharius, as he couldn't get a good reading on whether he had been caught or not; which lends credence to the idea that the Lion was the only brother Alpharius was unable to truly read.