More interestingly when showing Abaddon’s reaction tosplinter warbands, it makes the effort of showing him to be a shrewder leaderthan many would guess. It gives just enough to make theminteresting but no more, not going overboard on its focus nor leaving themwoefully underdeveloped as other books might. Specifically it speaks of groups whostill venerate the primarch even in death, many of who still bear the old Sonsof Horus colours over Abaddon’s black. This isn’t to say that the Codex: Black Legion completely denies the idea of Black Legion warbands,and it in fact it finally explains some points people have questioned before.Chief among these is what happened to the elements still loyal to Horus whenAbaddon took control of the Black Legion. Others meanwhile consist of various factions who are listed under asingle name such as the Hounds of Abaddon, berserkers who hold Khorne’s favour,Others being the Oath-Broken, those who have failed the dark gods and Abaddon,distinguishable by their reliance upon crude replacements for their brokenbodies. Several of thesefactions are devoted to specific gods or have additional roles within the force,with the possessed of their number serving as Navigators for the Legion’sships. The book details a fair number of these factions in turnwith brief but very well written points covering each. Rather than repeatedly fighting one another, every factionmaintains some degree of co-operation as a result of Abaddon’s presence andserve him.īetter yet, they actually have some role within the legion as alarger force. Beyond perhaps the Word Bearers, AlphaLegion and Iron Warriors they remain the only sizable group to maintain anyreal cohesion. Built out of members of theother traitor legions, renegades and traitors, they have considerable strengthbut more than that they have unity.
Rather than just consisting of the remnants of the Sons ofHorus, the Black Legion is a true crusading force. In fact given the latter’s use of a giant flying space gun, Abaddon isseemingly tied with Daala for levels of incompetence and insane schemes.Thankfully it’s with this book this finally changes, fleshing out not only the Legionitself but finally giving some real meaning to the idea Abaddon has beenwinning all the time.
From Horus’ death to Abaddon the Despoiler’s repeated massslaughters of Black Crusades, it seems their every major campaign ends in totalfailure. As a whole, the Black Legion is mostly regarded as a jokewithin the fandom.