Sons of Fire

Summary of Legion IV

Legion Tactics

Area Denial was the main forte of the Sons of Fire, which made them lethal in urban warfare and in Zone Mortalis operations. As time went on this specialization was joined by a growing hunger for fire, a need to inflict pain by fire, to burn, not merely disintegrate. This led to the use of special types of flamer fuel, that which instead of disintegrating the target outright would scorch and burn them, leaving them broken and bleeding and waiting for the kiss of the Sons of Fire’s flaming axes. These bloody practises went unnoticed initially, but as the crusade dragged on more and more noticed the pyromaniac tendencies and hunger for both blood and fire that would doom the Legion.

While the Sons of Fire did utilise field armour, support vehicles and transports, these were not given any primacy in the Legion's tactical doctrine. The only exception was flame-weapons tanks such as the Malcador and Predator Infernus, and the Land Raider Redeemer invented by the Sons of Fire as an assault transport that would later be adopted by other Legions.

Legion Equipment

At its creation, the IV Legion, like almost all the Space Marine Legions of the time, followed the standard "Terran Pattern" of organisation as laid out for all the newly created Legions, but even in this earliest period the Legion's procurement and outfitting showed a considerable bias towards direct assault and operations within the close and deadly confines of the kinds of battlefields designated as "Zone Mortalis”, with a speciality on using area denial weapons such as flamers which were most effective in this type of warfare. Once Inferox took command this trend continued, and the Legion's organisational structures were kept largely intact and further streamlined, with its echelons being modified into specialized line infantry formations known as Conflagrations. A Conflagration was a Battalion-level hybrid of tactical/close assault troops for the main part, supported by dedicated heavy assault units such as Terminators and specialised units such as Land Speeder squadrons. This organisation lent itself well to a highly aggressive strategic posture and belligerent tactics involving area denial, burning the enemy out of their fortifications and positions.

Weaponry and tactics were streamlined to be simple and direct. Bolter, Melta and Flamer became their principle weapons, keeping supply needs to a minimum. Noteworthy is that the Sons of Fire quickly became associated with the use of alchem and radiation weaponry to a greater extent than any other Legion, especially the use of burning Phosphex which the legion soon specialized in. Though the Great Crusade was launched to conquer worlds and not destroy them, unless there was no alternative, in such warzones where there was no hope for human life or where the only option was complete purgation, the usual caveats and protocols restricting the use of contaminate weapons by the Emperor's command did not often apply and these warzones were often entrusted to the Sons of Fire who took great joy in burning them to the crust.

Legion Doctrine

The Burned King was always a twisted soul. Twisted like a flame. The Sons of Fire are no different, obsessed with burning. Everything. They set entire systems ablaze for the Emperor, but they found a new master in Khorne. Before the Heresy, they tried to mask their all consuming desires for fire with a cold, calm and ruthless exterior, which broke down when Khorne claimed their souls. They were present on Terra and the Burned King is now a daemon prince. On Istvaan they collected all of the dead loyalists, and burned their bodies and armour to slag and ash, before piling their scorched skulls in a pyramid inside of a captured ship, and firing it into the Warp.

In the aftermath of the betrayal at Istvaan III, the Sons of Fire became ever more insular and uncontrollable on the battlefield as their desire for Fire and Blood took them over, turning them into double-edged sword even to their allies as they burned whole swathes of the battlefield, uncaring who was incinerated. All-out infantry assaults supported by fast moving armour, with the aim of immediately closing into bloody short range and melee and always with the intent to burn the foe from the battlefield became their only goal; inferno for its own sake beyond any strategic objective to the contrary.

Maranthos Egille, Primarch of The Silver Spears

Appearance

Towering, Dark Skinned, Near-African features. His skin is mostly burned.