You wouldn’t think you could conceal eight feet of muscle, armour, and jet-black tresses in the shadows, but the Raven Guard make it work. If you like sneaking around, jumping out from behind people, and making cool tactical signs with your hands* – all while dressed in eternally fashionable black-on-black – you’ll want to pay close attention.
That’s right, our utterly unbiased Legion Day articles have reached the last – and best – of the Loyalists. These ominous operators show an uncommon regard for the feelings (and bodily integrity) of anyone not clad in power armour – after all, unlike some of their brothers, the XIX Legion manage to champion the little guy without burning his house to the ground.
Even before joining their Primarch, the XIX Legion were winning hide-and-seek-and-stab championships throughout the Unification Wars. Drawn from the slaving Xeric tribes of the Asiatic Dustfields, the XIX were the Emperor’s weapon for ending wars before they began – but while the V Legion raced ahead of Imperial forces, these pale saboteurs crept into place to assassinate leaders and strike at the enemy’s soft bits. Very honourable.
Never one to turn down a free pocket knife, Horus Lupercal wielded the XIX Legion as a weapon of his own Luna Wolves. Nicknamed the “Dust Clad” for their grey armour and war paint, they were the hunting hawks of the future Warmaster – rooting out rebels and repressing resistance fighters with cold blooded callousness.
When Corvus Corax finally united with his sons in the latter half of the Great Crusade, his feathers ruffled at the brutal tactics the Legion employed to force compliance. Their ruthlessness reminded him a little too much of the oppressors he had just defeated on Kiavahr – but Corax saw potential. Not much one for smiles himself, he found common ground in their serious (some would say dour) demeanour, and their reluctance to reveal themselves until the critical moment.
It didn’t take long for the Lord of Shadows to start purging his Legion’s most distasteful terror-tactics (and officers) as he refocused his sons toward the rapid response techniques he’d developed while freeing his own people. Much more wholesome. After an awkward adjustment period,** the Raven Guard embraced their Primarch’s way, using surgical strikes to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties – placing them among the rare few Legions who respected certain rules of war.
Always a fan of stylish secret agent gadgetry, Corvus used Kiavahr’s artificers to place his Legion on the cutting edge of new technology – even the Mechanicum got jealous. The Iron Hands might be loaded with shiny new bionics, but the Raven Guard had everything from fancy stealth flyers to a whole new iteration of lightweight power armour named after their Primarch.
The Raven Guard inherited a lot from their Primarch, up to and including his predilection for birds, monochrome, and making enemy commanders wish they left the fancy head crests and topknots at home. Corax’s battle-mantras split his sons into specialised divisions, keeping the Legion flexible and efficient in its structure – as opposed to letting them huddle up in their own secret clubs.
There are three divisions, each with their own perk. For example, your humble line infantry are classed as Talons, and are tasked with using their relative agility to creep up the battlefield ahead of the main assault, avoiding enemy fire through stealth and caution.
Your bikers and lighter vehicles are Hawks, supporting allies with speed and guile, while Dreadnoughts and heavier infantry – including those with jump packs – are Falcons, who unleash rapid-strike assaults with a fury to match any distractingly-shiny Blood Angel. Each element of your Legion excels in its role – a savvy general can tailor their performance to suit any battle plan.
Speaking of battle plans, the Raven Guard excel at keeping your opponent on the back foot. When the enemy lines your sneaky boys up in their sights, the sons of Corax have the training and equipment to Fade to Black at will, leaving their foes shooting at nothing. The Night Lords only wish they were this good at leaping into the shadows...
When the Primarchs were cast across the galaxy, Corvus Corax arrived on Lycaeus, a distant prison-moon orbiting the industrial world of Kiavahr. Raised by the moon’s enslaved inmates, the young Primarch was less than thrilled by the brutal oppression of Kiavahr’s tech guilds. More cautious and patient than his brother Angron, Corax stockpiled weapons, sabotaged key systems, and trained his fellow slaves – until he was finally ready to launch a riot that overwhelmed the moon’s defences.
As tensions rose between Kiavahr and its newly-liberated moon, the Emperor arrived – his flair for dramatic timing is a lot better than his parenting. After an extremely secretive father-son heart-to-heart,*** he left – presumably wishing Corax “good luck” with the angry planet of tech guilds glaring up at him. Fortunately, Corax had a knack for improvisation – and a lot of explosives.
Bombing a planet into submission with atomic mining charges probably wasn’t how Corax hoped to finish his rebellion – he’s not Perturabo, after all. Still, when the dust settled, he’d killed millions to liberate billions – call it a life lesson from dear old dad. The rebels renamed their home to Deliverance, praising Corax as their deliverer, and he took on the XIX Legion – transforming it in his image.
Believe it or not, that’s still one of the most noble of the Primarchs’ origin stories.
As a generally morose character, you’d be forgiven for thinking Corax was ripe for recruitment into the Traitor ranks, but – unlike his brother-in-gothiness Mortarion – he had no love for Horus. It might have had something to with the Warmaster spent years using his Legion as a private hit squad. Purging of the Legion’s Terran officers also removed most of those involved in the insidious Warrior Lodges – a happy accident, indeed…
When Corax heard of the Warmaster’s treachery, he was eager to deliver a boot to the face – leading most of his Legion straight into the Dropsite Massacre. On the killing fields of Isstvan, the Lord of Shadows found himself locked in a duel with Lorgar – only for Konrad Curze to intervene just as he was about to deliver a cathartic killing blow. Fate once again conspired to ensure Corax can’t have anything nice.
The tattered survivors of the XIX Legion managed to make a daring escape, and their Primarch asked the Emperor for help rebuilding their numbers. In a moment of frankly uncharacteristic generosity that would have left Fulgrim seething with envy, the Master of Mankind gifted Corax with a fragment of the gene-tech used to craft the Primarchs themselves.
Soon Corax was at work creating a newer, stronger breed of Space Marine, who could be recruited in a fraction of the time. Unfortunately, it… didn’t end well. The Alpha Legion can take some of the blame, but honestly, how often has mucking around in a shadowy lab turned out for the best?
With his hopes and dreams ruined once more, Corax reorganised his much-reduced Legion for smaller, more focused campaigns. The Raven Guard spent the remainder of the Horus Heresy doing what they do best – striking from the shadows, liberating beleaguered systems, and looking fashionably miserable at all times.
The saga of the Raven Guard is masterfully laid out in a series of novels, including Deliverance Lost, which sees the sons of Corax make a daring breakout from the disaster at Isstvan V – and return to Terra, to briefly regroup alongside the Imperial Fists.
If you want a glimpse into the mind of the Primarch, Corax: Lord of Shadows takes us into the depths of the Great Crusade. And if you’re after more tales about their harassment campaign after Isstvan, Corax compiles a number of short stories – including the Raven Guard’s desperate rescue of Leman Russ after his defeat by Horus.
If this glimpse into the shadows of the XIX Legion has got you hooked, this handy guide will show you how to paint up your Raven Guard warriors for maximum special ops stealth.
Tomorrow sees the last instalment of this series, as we try to pin down the slippery Alpha Legion. If reading about all these different forces hasn’t made it any easier to choose,**** head over to the Horus Heresy website and take the quiz to Discover Your Legion.
* Cawing loudly is optional.
** A lot of the old Legion was conveniently assigned to suicide missions, in other words.
*** Did he share the truths of the warp that so enraptured Magnus? Or just the secret to his incredible hair?
**** They’re all interesting in their own way… even if none are quite as stylish as the XIX.