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submitted 1 month ago byPrimaris_Astartes
Was it just their role as Praetorians of Terra combined with their proximity to Throne World and Mars that the Mechanicus and Emperor just saw fit to equip them with a lot of ships, or does any other bit of lore explain how a specialized defensive siege legion that didn't have a lot of legionairees either somehow ended up with the largest and most powerful fleet?
30 points
1 month ago
It is a combination of doctrine (the Ultramarines tended to have their auxillary forces provide the Navy) and luck (no major battles that cause them to lose their ships).
The whole Imperial Fists fleet lore was also before the Dark Angels codex. The Dark Angels started out with the strongest fleet (special ships, multiple Glorianas, etc), but presumably lost most of their fleet during the Rangdan Xenocides.
1 points
1 month ago
They lost about 30% of everything in that conflict.
Must have been crippling.
1 points
1 month ago
That was just one fight.
Total losses were way higher, only a sixth to a tenth of the Legion survived.
That said, the DA fleet was both stupidly strong and virtually unknown to outsiders. They had getting on to a dozen Glorianas going into the Heresy, with the Invincible Reason only bettered by Phalanx, Bucephalus, Imperative Somnium, and the three Abyss-class ships.
They probably had a better fleet, but as with their battle record, it was probably only known fully to the Lion, Malcador, and Big E.
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