Editing Corsairs Gallant (section)

==Legion Doctrine==
The Corsairs Gallant are, in many ways, entirely unlike most legions, operating almost entirely outside the norms that even diverse legions often share. Their doctrine is crafted by a number of factors, not the least of which is the old maritime culture of Manden and its expansive trade league that was incorporated into the Imperium. The legacy of the House Troops is reflected in several ways, including the Fillibusters but also in the general deployment and tactics; Manden forces were true marines, naval and often light infantry designed to be mobile, self-sufficient, and adaptable. Another major factor was size; due to the restrictive nature of Corsairs Gallant geneseed, the legion was significantly smaller and thus forced into certain tactical options by near necessity. Further, the wealth and culture also led to specific kinds of weaponry and tactics, including low-impact as a defining characteristic of their operations, something that makes them exceptionally good at pacifying human worlds where a lighter touch often goes far.

===You Break It, You Bought It===

The habit of the Corsairs Gallant to engage in low-impact operations stems less from a moral position and far more one of practicality; destroying what you intend to conquer is inefficient and pointless, and not to mention counterproductive when dealing with a population you wish to submit willingly. This concept goes back to the earliest days of Manden, in which total war was seen as anathema. This is not to say that they were, or the Corsairs are, squeamish; on the contrary, the cutthroat nature of their politics and tactics is well documented, but tempered by the pragmatic nature of their piracy. Furthermore, Manden culture had a long habit of attributing the consequences of a given action to the most notable cause, as determined through a mixture of rhetoric and complex legal codes, but most of which boiled down to the concept of 'if you break it, you bought it.' As a result, Corsairs avoid destruction precisely because of a cultural mindset that they would be responsible for fixing it afterwards.

Of course, plunder is still also a part of that culture, and intact plunder is naturally more valuable. As are productive, intact economies, all the better to exploit.

===Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast===

The Corsairs Gallant are often thought of as a lightning strike force, which is not inaccurate but also misses the point in many ways. They are not reckless, but rather will gather intelligence for some time before they ever join combat, infiltrating agents and assets into position well in advance if possible. If not, they will meticulously prepare for their insertions, allowing for the chaos of battle that naturally follows, but nevertheless operating off the assumption of battles being in and out and done, not standing engagements. This both makes them hard to pin down but also often weak to those who ''can'' manage to do so. In this regard they work well as a supporting force or against developed populations; outside of naval engagements, they struggle against certain kinds of xenos forces. However, they are to certain kinds of urban operations as the Pale Hounds or Smoke Stalkers are to wilderness, and their Zone Mortalis expertise from their naval focus makes them equally good at similar environs in hive worlds and their equivalents. 

Preferring highly skilled and accurate operations over simple speed, they embody the idea of 'slow is smooth, smooth is fast,' as well as working light to remain mobile. Integrated specialists on a squad level, highly mobile vehicles and air assets, and rapid insertions and exfiltration are their calling card.

===Mastercrafted Simplicity===

The Corsairs Gallant are exceptionally wealthy, and relatively small, a combination that allows for far greater quality of gear than many of their contemporaries, not the least because they focus often on far simpler and reliable arms crafted to perfection over more complicated and, thus, hard to produce and maintain gear. This also means that certain items, though, are simply far more common in their legion than others; artificer-grade armor, refactor fields, and digital weapons all are found in relatively high numbers and by far lower ranking officers than many other legions, and their Veterans can be found wielding master-crafted weaponry en masse, or as nearly en masse as such formations get.

On the flip side, they shun complicated weaponry as well as dangerous ones; plasma is nearly anathema to them, and other weapons are disdained because of their dangerous use in shipboard environs. The only real break with these habits is their preference for gravity based weaponry.

===Legion Apart===

The Corsairs Gallant in many ways simply do not operate like a normal legion, and also are both oddly integrated and kept at arms length by other organizations. Though they do operate as the primary force in a number of expeditionary fleets, such the primarch's own 36th Expeditionary fleet, a great number of Corsairs Gallant forces were instead attached to other fleets and forces. Operating a larger fleet than most legions despite their small size, they would often attach strike cruisers in numbers as high as a dozen to as small as only a single craft to other expeditionary fleets, and serve as a sort of dedicated strike force to them. This simultaneously made them more used to working with other forces and also often somewhat standoffish, as their habits could put them at odds with other legions. However, this also meant that the Corsairs Gallant often had the greatest access to information, and had a reputation for being conniving and duplicitous to some; more than a few legions simply did not like them, considering their ways very unbecoming for an astartes. However, the human components often enjoyed having a Corsairs Gallant attachment; it usually also presaged merchant and traders coming aboard as well at regular intervals, allowing for access to goods and services often hard to come by.

Operating in this way, the Corsairs Gallant served as a the role of storm troopers to many, and indeed operated with Imperial Army and Solar Auxilia forces to the point of direct integration. Several other legions also often deployed with them. This continued even into the Brotherwar, when until quite late a number of legions and forces could be found employing them on all sides of the conflict, though never in opposition to each other. Such strike cruisers would come and go at odd intervals, and it was not until Rahman's actions to both save his Separatist brothers from Mot Hadad's dire grasp and declare for them that the Corsairs became far rarer sights among other forces. Indeed, there were reports of Corsairs Gallant troops operating in support of Loyalist forces for a significant time after, which both contributed to the duplicitous reputation of the legion... and to their mastery of information on the conflict.