Over the coming weeks, we’ll be exploring each and every one of the Legiones Astartes in turn to find out what makes them tick. Yesterday we took a look at the Dark Angels – the First and most (self-)important Legion. So from one flavour of hubris to another, today we’re looking at a Legion clad in pristine purple and graceful gold.
Do you strive for perfection in all things? Are your edge highlights so fine that they cause onlookers to swoon in awe? Are you a fan of meticulous battle tactics, but wish to leave room for a little theatre? Is it not enough to win – you want to look good doing it? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then the Emperor’s Children are ready to welcome you.
Drawn from Terra’s most aristocratic households, the Third Legion’s impeccable table manners made them ideal envoys for the Great Crusade. It takes a lot to outshine Custodes, but these Astartes even served as standard bearers for the Emperor himself – and after sacrificing themselves to protect the Master of Mankind during a devious assassination attempt, they earned the rare honour of bearing His personal sigil, the Palatine Aquila.
Sadly, the glory days weren’t to last – the Emperor’s Children were struck by a gene-seed blight that withered the Legion to a fraction of its strength. Fortunately, the surviving members realised that a hundred warriors could match a thousand warriors, so long as each of them was ten times as good. While some might suggest that “pride goeth before destruction”, they were probably just jealous of the Legion’s hard-earned individual superiority.
Where many of the Legiones Astartes specialised in one form of combat, the Emperor’s Children strove for perfection on all fronts – on and off the battlefield. These gilded warriors executed meticulously planned strategies that used their finely-honed skills to maximum effect – and delivered more than a little of the ol’ razzle dazzle in the process.
When all went to plan, the Emperor’s Children could easily take on many times their number without a hitch. Even if things went awry, the Legion could still be carried to success by the individual excellence of its warriors and the devoted faith they put in their leaders.
In the new edition of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy, these exquisite killing blows manifest through the Flawless Execution of spectacular charges that defy the expected order of combat, wiping out your foe before they can respond! You might also notice that their tanks are extremely good at pulling off a deadly Reaction – more on those abilities later…
Even on the rare occasions you find yourself losing a fight, you can still rely on your inspiring Warlord Traits to see you through. With a rousing speech – and a reminder not to embarass him in front of the enemy – an Emperor’s Children Warlord can become a Paragon of Excellence and encourage his followers to the heights of perfection that their Primarch demands.
Like his scattered brethren, the infant Fulgrim found himself on an unfamiliar planet. Chemos had sacrificed art and leisure on the altar of industry, its people forced to work without rest merely to scrape through the slow decay of their world. The young Fulgrim was taken in – against the wishes of the planet’s grey-suited ruling executives – and turned all of this around in short order thanks to his transhuman brilliance.
When his ravaged Legion arrived, they found a paradise of culture and beauty, reborn from ashes – small wonder their Primarch was referred to as the Phoenician. Excelling in all things, Fulgrim is an aesthete who appreciates elegance in both the arts and combat. With fine bones, ash-white hair, and violet eyes sparkling with delight, he is easily the most beautiful of the Primarchs – regardless of what the Blood Angels claim.
Fulgrim’s charisma quickly won over Horus, and he even built relationships with notoriously moody Primarchs like Perturabo and Konrad Curze. More surprisingly, he struck up a legendary friendship with Ferrus Manus over a shared love of craftsmanship. In a symbolic gesture of true bromance, they forged each other magnificent weapons – Fulgrim received the sword Fireblade, whilst Ferrus was gifted Forgebreaker.
Alongside Fulgrim, the Emperor’s Children took pride in keeping pace with Legions twice their size, celebrating every victory with some truly off-the-hook parties. It was a quest for excellence that both elevated them beyond lesser Astartes and proved their undoing – a poetic fate for such perfectionist souls.
During the Great Crusade, Fulgrim took on the Laer, a civilisation of serpentine creatures that messed around with the deepest depths of genetic meddling. Hungry to push his Legion beyond their already-extreme limits, he gave the okay for Chief Apothecary Fabius Bile to mess around with the Emperor’s handiwork. To some, this would be heresy – but to Fulgrim and friends, it was simply honing an already-great work to even greater heights.
Yet that wasn’t the worst thing Fulgrim picked up from the Laer. As the III Legion massacred the snakelike xenos, they came across a beautiful temple – and within, a fabulous sword that caught Fulgrim’s eye. The Emperor’s Children were used to claiming exquisite trophies from each victory, but unbeknownst to them, this temple was dedicated to Slaanesh.
The daemonic influence lurking within the sword began to stoke the Primarch’s already inflated ego. Soon, he found himself looking down on his former friends. Soon, his Legion’s penchant for perfection became an obsession. Soon, no victory was satisfying, no celebration was sufficient. His officers engaged in sordid feasts and vicious duels, his soldiers sought new sensory heights, and the Legions’ artists got really… expressionistic.
On Isstvan V, Fulgrim planted his flag firmly on Team Horus by lopping off his old BFF’s head. Friendship ended with Ferrus Manus – now the Blade of the Laer is my best friend.*
The Phoenician would eventually ascend to become a Daemon Prince, the mightiest courtier to the Prince of Pleasure. He now has not one, not two, but three swords. And a whip. Also, he’s a massive snake now – and Ferrus wasn’t the last Primarch he laid low...
His Legion ran amok through the galaxy during the final days of the Heresy, but their self-obsession saw them blow off the Warmaster’s orders during the Siege of Terra. Why make war when you can have fun? All those civilians seem to agree – just listen to them screaming for joy! They now roam the galaxy in search of new sensations, like wandering troubadours who play music for their keep (and to explode their enemies’ insides).
You can learn all about the descent of the III Legion in Fulgrim, which covers in detail the events of the Laer campaign – and the depravity that followed.
To see the Emperor’s Children in action during the Great Crusade, you can check out Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix, which shows him pridefully attempt to conquer a world using just seven soldiers.
To find out exactly how Fulgrim transcended his mortal form and became a towering daemon prince, you’ll need to read Angel Exterminatus, where the Phoenician himself creates an intricate plot involving an Aeldari legend and his brother Perturabo.
And finally, we’ve prepared a video showing you how to paint the Emperor’s Children – don’t worry, we won’t demand perfection…
Do you have what it takes to attain perfection and join the Third Legion? Find out if your lust for excellence is powerful enough by taking the Discover Your Legion Quiz on the Horus Heresy website, which is full of information on the incredible new edition of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy.
* Poor Ferrus. He worked really hard on that sword.