Editing Helios Angels (section)

=Organisation and Doctrine=
From the beginning, the First were with their Primarch. His ideals for the perfect force shaped every facet of their battle philosophy. Although the original organisation of the Legion was based on the ''Logos Terra Militia'', Hektor was quick to implement changes. He drew heavily on the military of his idol, Sekander, even renaming his formations and ranks to match those of the ancient Terran warlord.  For ease of understanding, the equivalent forms from the Logos Terra Militia are presented in brackets after the First Legion's own style.

The smallest formation within the First Legion was the squad, known as a '''Lochos''' within the Legion. Squads varied widely in both size and specialisation, with the majority of units ranging between 10 and 20 Space Marines, with 16 as a commonly occurring number. Each squad was commanded by a '''Lochagos''' (Sergeant). The specialities and equipment of squads in the Helios Angels included all of those generally found in other Legions. They had no qualms about the use of Destroyer and Seeker units. Hektor's men also maintained a substantial pool of armour and vehicles, thanks to the industrial worlds in their domain and good relations with the Mechanicum.

At the heart of Hektor's Legion was the '''Speira''' (Company). This was a grouping of roughly sixteen Lochos under the leadership of a '''Syntagma''' (Captain) and his '''Ouragoi''' (Lieutenants).  The number of Ouragoi varied depending the Syntagma's make-up. Common formations were based around a "square" or "triangular" format. In either case, each Ouragos would command two tactical Logos and a support Logos, while the Speira's specialist assets (such as Veterans, Dreadnoughts, support weapons, tanks, and flyers) remained under the command of the Syntagma.

The larger formations of the Legion were often purely organisational, as much of the Great Crusade was fought by relatively small groups of Astartes. A handful of Speira, knows as a '''Taxis''' (Battalion) fell under the authority of the '''Strategos''' (Lieutenant Commander). The Strategos was responsible for deploying Strike Cruisers and Super-Heavy Vehicles to the toughest theatres of war. He also maintained an elite bodyguard, known as the '''Agema'''.  These veterans were hand-picked from the ranks of those who had followed a Strategos through his career and could only be parted from him by death or the word of Hektor.

The highest sub-division of the Legion was the '''Phalanx''' (Chapter) led by a '''Phalangiarch''' (Chapter-Master). Each Phalanx was commanded from a powerful Capital Ship and Hektor's Phalangiarchs were among the most powerful warlords of the Imperium. Like the Strategoi who served them, the Phalangiarchs each maintained an Agema, though their bodyguards would often number in the hundreds.

Exalted above all others was the Primarch Hektor Cincinnatus and his war council, the '''Hetairoi''' (Companions). The demands of unending war meant that this cabal rarely met in person, but they would regularly holo-conference using the sophisticated facilities of the Legion flagship, the ''Bucephalus''.  Among the Hetairoi were the most ancient and knowledgeable warriors of the Legion, together with plenipotentiaries from Hektor's most important vassals.  Together, they were responsible for administering the First's vast war machine and planetary domains.  

For the first century of the Great Crusade, '''Ajax Camillus''' the Shield of Hektor, and '''Leonidas Manisicus''' the Unyielding, were the main "trouble-shooters" among the Hetairoi, travelling from one difficult area to the next and re-imposing the will of the Primarch.  After Hektor's second Century reforms, Ajax Camillus and Leonidas Manisicus were joined by three other '''Ephors''' and given special responsibilities and powers to stamp out nepotism in the First Legion. The Ephors positions would remain after the alteration of title to the Heralds of Hektor.


==Tactics==
[[File:Heliotaroi.jpg|200px|thumb|A terminator from Hektor's elite guard, the ''Chrysaspides''.]]
''Hektor understood the most fundamental truth of warfare. He who dared - the spoils!''

'''-Maranthos Egille, the Silver Spear'''


Hektor's peculiar military genius was his eye for terrain. He had an intuition for surveying any battlefield - be it a seemingly featureless desert, a foreboding mountain range, or the void of space. Picking out the focus-point or "place of decision" was his specialty. Battle-plans were then developed intuitively, but a typical pattern was to use the Space Marines' firepower to shape the enemy deployment before a devastating assault was launched by the Legion's elite formations. Each commander had their own modification to this principle. Sebastion Rex used fortification to change the terrain itself. Maranthos Egille would lead from the tip of a lancing assault with bikes to disrupt his foes to make them more easy to decimate. Daedalus Appius cycled out soldiers from the frontline to the rear, allowing them to rest and be healed until redeployment. 

This style of warfare came readily to the Primarch's gene-sons, but others found the method to be startling. Hektor came to play on this, privately studying cartographic data ahead of allied conferences then feigning a nonchalant manner as he greeted outsiders and pretended to look at the lay of the land for the first time. The Primarch would then appear to concentrate intensely for a few moments, before stabbing out a finger and declaring, "There! That is where the battle will be won!" Often times this was followed by a surge of approval, as Hektor proved time and time again his declarations correct.

In pursuit of their model battle, the First Legion developed several elite formations. Most common were the Agema that accompanied her Strategoi and Phalangiarchs. These were veteran soldiers, often trusted with Terminator armour and relied upon to carry the day on countless battlefields. Although the precise talents of the Agema varied depending on the inclination of their commanding officer, it was typical for these hardened soldiers to be outstanding melee fighters.

Above the regular Agema formations were the '''Chrysaspides''', or "Golden Shields" as they were called in Low Gothic. These were Hektor's hand-picked bodyguards, led by his life-long friend '''Hephaestion Horatius'''. They were veteran warriors, chosen for their skill-at-arms, fearlessness and their combat record. Honoured with golden Terminator armour, they were often seen as kin to the Emperor's own Custodes. The Chrysaspides' customised armour was further augmented with systems that generated and discharged bursts of blinding light to incapacitate nearby foes. 

Their equipment, morale, and tremendous battle-skill made their charges almost irresistible. Almost as important as their crack troops were the First Legion's artillery, romantically named the '''Lithoboloi''' in line with Hektor's reverence of Sekander. Sebastion Rex was the only notable exception, naming his artillerists the Iacobī after his chief artillery commander Yakobus. The First fielded a wide profusion of artillery vehicles, including customized super-heavies with awesome firepower. Their ability to move their guns was almost as impressive as the earth-shattering effect of the weapons.

==Fleet==
[[File:Warp Travel by The First Magelord.jpg|250px|right]]
The First Legion's armada was extremely formidable.  They were organised under the command of '''Orion Mucius''', a veteran of the Sacred Band.  Orion had been famed for his keen eyesight in the battles of the Unification Wars but this mere physical acuity was only a clue to the scope of his mind's eye.  Few outside of the Primarchs had Orion's ability for grasping the intricacies of a void battlefield, and he strove to impart his understanding to his captains.

Orion Mucius' bodyguard were known as the '''Hypaspezete''' and were drawn from the ranks of the Breacher Marines.  They were armed with round boarding shields and telescopic power-pikes with weighted ends that could be used as maces.  The Hypaspazete were well-accustomed to fighting in tight formations, thrusting forward a devastating thicket of pike points to annihilate their enemies.  Although they specialised in boarding operations, they were often deployed to planetary assaults to provide an added shock element.

At the eve of the Heresy, the Heralds of Hektor could deploy 128 Battleships and Battlebarges, 97 Grand Cruisers, 342 Heavy Cruisers, 408 Light Cruisers, 612 Frigates, 695 Destroyers, and 87 Auxiliary vessels.  The true scope of the warships sworn to them by the Imperial Army and Dark Mechanicum is unknown, but it was likely that the allied ships were even larger in number than the Herald's own fleet.


===Notable vessels===
Hektor's flagship was known as the ''Bucephalus''.  This mighty ''Gloriana''-Class Battleship underwent several refits in its long service.

==Support Formations==

'''Apothecarion'''

Strong ties with the gene-wrights of Luna gave the First some of the best-trained Apothecaries among the Legions, second only to the Eternal Zealots and Life Bringers.  Their commander was '''Machaon Empiricus''', but they revered [[Pallas Eugenesis]] as their teacher and "mother of the Legion". As in all of the Legions, these specialists were mainly responsible for recovering the gene-seed of fallen and healing the wounded on the battlefield. They also took charge of the Legion's Neophytes, performing the surgical implantation of the gene-seed and watching for any genetic impurities. By the second century of the Great Crusade, the influence of the Apothecaries over the Scholae Astartes fostered a cult-like veneration of Hektor Cincinnatus and Pallas Eugenesis in the Legion's domains and younger members.


'''Armorium'''

The First Legion were exalted above all others in the eyes of the Tech-Priests of Mars. No other Legion would have their requests granted so swiftly - or sometimes even anticipated.  These ties were essential in building Hektor's formidable artillery train. The Legion's Armorium was commanded by '''Daedalus Appius''', a veteran of the Sacred Band who had witnessed the signing of the '''Treaty of Mars'''. His Techmarines were extensive enough to field their own elite formation, dubbed the '''Olympians''' and equipped with swift and deadly Jetbikes.


'''Castra'''

When the Castra was split off from the Armorium, it was placed under the supervision of the highly-capable [[Sebastion Rex]].  The great fortresses built by the First Legion were not merely defensive emplacements and arsenals.  Each sheltered substantial manufactorums and hydroponic farms to replenish the Legion's Expeditionary Fleets.  Sebastion Rex was also highly innovative and experimented with new weapons and forms of "mobile" fortresses.


'''Librarus'''

Initially the First Legion's Librarus was a small but prestigious component of the Victualary, and its mainly mortal staff worked to chronicle the campaigns of the Legion, paying close attention to the difficult problem of supply.  Their work was little-noticed by the wider bodies of the Imperium but the Hetairoi paid close attention to the findings of the Legion Librarians.  However, the discovery of the psychically potent Primarchs [[Shakya Vardhana]] and [[The Voidwatcher]] led to a fundamental change in the Imperium's policy on psykers.  Previously, inductees to the Legiones Astartes had been taught the discipline to restrain their powers, and mainly benefited from the uncanny insights of latent ability.  However, from the fourth decade of the Great Crusade, these gifted Marines began to explore their powers.  '''Cassandor Honorius''' was given much broader license in overseeing the Librarus' investigation of the powers of the Warp.  Due to their long history as a communication and intelligence arm, the First Legion's Librarians specialised in the arts of telepathy and mind-reading.  Their efforts were often coordinated with the ''Frumentarii'' of the Victualary.  Some suggested that the most powerful in their ranks could read minds at long distance.

The Librarians' Households were somewhat different to those of their Battle Brothers.  In order to meet the need for psychic recruits, they drew many of their Adoptati from the Scholastica Psykana.


'''Victualary'''

Hektor Cincinnatus commanded the Victualary himself, citing the old Terran maxim, ''An army marches on his stomach''.  Though his interest in logistics was sincere and his efforts in the realm of supply both innovative and energetic, this department also served as a front for the Legion's military intelligence.  The First Legion benefited greatly from Hektor's many admirers, both mortals and the Space Marine veterans of the Sacred Band.  Those taken in by the Sun King's charm were often eager to impress him by disclosing the secrets they held.  This informal network was supplemented with hired scouts and information-brokers, usually granted ''Warrants of Trade'' in order to further their efforts.  Permanent factors set up shop on the centres of trade within the Imperium, and in major non-Imperial human domains such as the [[Komra|Core Worlds Confederation]].