Black Legion - Legion Combat Doctrine: The Space Marines of the Emperor's Legiones Astartes, like their modern counterparts, were genetically-engineered, psycho-indoctrinated warriors with superhuman abilities and minds and souls tempered for war. In addition, each individual Legion had its own idiosyncrasies and character -- the product of their gene-seed and unique warrior culture.In the case of the Sons of Horus, the combat doctrines of this most aggressive Legion were those of the application of overwhelming force directed to where the foe was weakest. These shattering blows were used to utterly destroy enemy command cadres, vital strategic support structures and wreak terrible slaughter on the pride of an enemy's forces, often turning the tide of an entire conflict with a single, well-placed and savage attack.Even on a personal level, the Sons of Horus took this merciless doctrine to heart and like the wolves they were once named for, were swift to exploit a foe's weakness, surrounding, and brutally tearing apart an outnumbered or exposed enemy before they could recover from the shock of an assault.The XVIth Legion was a truly flexible fighting force, able to adapt to almost any combat situation. With the treachery of Horus, their gene-father, the Sons of Horus Legion grew ever more savage and proud. Freed of the last remaining shackles imposed on them by the distant rule of the Emperor and the dim remembrance of Terra's martial traditions, they fought with callous, calculated fury, born both of the darkness in their hearts and shadowed powers which Horus had found communion with. Their battle tactics became ever more predatory, while the Warmaster himself saw to it that as the rebellion burned on, his own Legion lacked neither for recruits nor the finest weapons and wargear his enthralled Dark Mechanicum allies could supply.The Legion possessed an efficient chain of command, which fell into disarray after its Primarch, Horus, was killed during the Siege of Terra. In the years immediately following the end of the Horus Heresy, the Sons of Horus' discipline broke down completely, as the Legion dissolved into a number of competing warbands of Chaos Space Marines, each led by a different Chaos Champion who maintained his rule through the favour of the Dark Gods and often lethal discipline.First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon ultimately managed to restore a measure of discipline to the XVIth Legion and to bring its disparate warbands under his control after he assumed Horus' place as the Warmaster of Chaos, mainly through exercising a level of fear and violence that could cow even the greatest of the Legion's Chaos Champions. At present, the Black Legion shows more unity of purpose and structural integrity than many of the other Traitor Legions, and only the Word Bearers Legion has managed to maintain its complete Imperial military hierarchy intact amongst the forces of Chaos.The Black Legion generally favours close combat over ranged firefights, and Horus' tactic of "ripping the throat out of the enemy," the annihilation of the enemy's command apparatus through the use of a small force referred to as the "speartip," is still a favoured method of attack.Black Legion commanders seek to apply constant pressure on the enemy in a number of lightning fast strikes. These sharp but limited assaults are meant to disrupt the enemy and secure positions that can be used for fire support. This in turn keeps the pressure on while new attacks are being prepared.The time-lapse between each assault decreases with each advance, and the Black Legion commander will usually wait until the pressure reaches its highest point. When this occurs, the commander will lead the best Astartes amongst his warband, usually Aspiring Champions, in a final, devastating assault; an attack in which teleport-capable Terminators often feature. Hordes of daemons summoned from the Empyrean by the Black Legion's Chaos Sorcerers are also used for frontal assaults, and to pin the enemy in place while the Legion whittles them down.