Legion Assault Company Organization

[Bloody Legionnaire]

I've been working on my World Eaters for entirely too long and I'm making a hard push to finish them up. I want my Army to be based on Khârn's 8th Assault Company, they will be modeled as they were participating in Isstvan III. I know there is the description of Legion Organization:

 

 

 

 

 

But... are there any descriptions of the Organization and Composition types of an Assault Company? 

 

[battle captain corpus]

I would imagine that originally the structure would be similar to that of other companies. However by the time of the betrayal you can start playing a little more loosely with them, due to purging of the ranks and the general freedom etc.

 

BCC

[Sandlemad]

I can't think of any but I would imagine the differences from 'regular' companies would largely be in composition rather than organisation. So assault and breacher squads would predominate in the line in place of tactical-configured units, with heavy armour limited to troop transports (we know the WE were surprisingly talented at mechanised warfare) and a handful of support vehicles. There were certainly destroyers like Skane's squad, maybe some assault-configured terminator units for cracking particularly tough nuts. 

 

That said there's a line in, I think, Betrayer that describes Khârn's 8th as being 'swollen' or 'oversized' or something like that. I suspect that with the gradual breakdown in discipline in the late crusade and early heresy, as well as Khârn's own status as equerry to the primarch and de-facto legion second, the 8th started pulling in numbers and units well beyond what it should have had according to conventional organisation charts. So you could probably justify almost anything. Khârn gets what he wants.

[Bloody Legionnaire]

I can't think of any but I would imagine the differences from 'regular' companies would largely be in composition rather than organisation. So assault and breacher squads would predominate in the line in place of tactical-configured units, with heavy armour limited to troop transports (we know the WE were surprisingly talented at mechanised warfare) and a handful of support vehicles. There were certainly destroyers like Skane's squad, maybe some assault-configured terminator units for cracking particularly tough nuts. 

 

That said there's a line in, I think, Betrayer that describes Khârn's 8th as being 'swollen' or 'oversized' or something like that. I suspect that with the gradual breakdown in discipline in the late crusade and early heresy, as well as Khârn's own status as equerry to the primarch and de-facto legion second, the 8th started pulling in numbers and units well beyond what it should have had according to conventional organisation charts. So you could probably justify almost anything. Khârn gets what he wants.

 

Yeah Sandlemad, that is essentially what I was thinking. The biggest thing I'm trying to figure out is whether or not Assault Companies would have Tactical Squads within their composition. I'm inclined to think yes, but, just in smaller numbers compared to the ranks of Assault Squads. 

[Marshal Rohr]

An ‘assault company’ in the Heresy isn’t like an assault company in 40k, where it’s all fast Attack choices. It’s going to be a self contained combined arms formation meant to be tasked with spearheading any larger operations. A tactical or line company isn’t meant to fight by itself, but all together with dedicated armored and artillery echelons in support. At the head of that will be the assault company, consisting of units meant to get in close range firefights and breach defenses. It’s where you will find your destroyers, rapier carriers, breachers, chain axe wielding word Bearers and jump troops supported by vindicators, whirlwinds, and Medusas.

 

I’d demarcate it like this:

 

Assault Companies:

HQs: Siege Breakers, Warmongers, Champions, Mortificators, Praevians

Troops: True Grit Tacticals, Breachers, Despoilers, Support with meltas, flamers, and volkites

Elites: Vets, Terminators, Destroyers, Dread Talons

Fast Attack: Seekers, Jetbikes with anti-armor, outriders with anti armor

Heavy Support: Heavies with volkites, multimeltas, and missile launchers, vindicators, whirlwinds, Medusa, land raiders

Edited June 8, 2019 by Marshal Rohr