Great Crusade - Notable Expeditionary Fleets: Expeditionary Fleet DesignationCommanderSpace Marine ComplementImperial Army & Other Support Forces1st Expeditionary Fleet(Principia Imperialis)Emperor of MankindUnknownUnknown, included the Legio Custodes and many Titan LegionsThe 1st Expeditionary Fleet was also known as the Principia Imperialis and for many solar decades it was the primary Imperial force that carried out the Great Crusade. Commanded by the Emperor Himself, at times it was handed over to the control of Horus, first among His sons, when He needed to search for the other Primarchs. The Principia Imperialis was among the most well-equipped of Imperial military forces and was disbanded some time toward the end of the crusade.3rd Expeditionary FleetUnknownVIIth Legion (Imperial Fists)UnknownThe 3rd Expeditionary Fleet was an Imperial Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade commanded by the Imperial Fists Legion. They were instrumental in the discovery of the Consus Drift, a belt of stellar debris which lay in the dark between stars close to the Sol System. It was home to billions of humans who had been stranded there for millennia, caught in the Warp tides, whirpools and flats of dead calm. As the fleet rolled in the void, damaged and confused, they were attacked by the human Drift Clans of the archipelago of void cities known as the Mirror Race. The Imperial Fists counterattacked, driving the Driftborn from their ships, and then continued their assault by launching gunships, boarding torpedoes and breaching pods into the void cities. Battering their way into the heart of each city, the Imperial Fists stopped only when their hands held the controls of the cities' life support systems. They demanded their immediate surrender or face annihilation. The Drift Clans immediately surrendered. The 3rd Expeditionary Fleet left after repairs were made, but not before the Imperial Fists had taken the youngest and strongest male warriors of each of the Drift Clans. Of those who survived initiation into the VIIth Legion, all were inducted into a single unit; the 356th Company. Over the next century, the 356th Company's reputation for excellence in out-hull void warfare and starship assaults was without peer.4th Expeditionary FleetPrimarch Lion El'JonsonIst Legion (Dark Angels)UnknownThe 4th Expeditionary Fleet was originally under the command of a much smaller contingent of Space Marines from the Vth Legion, the White Scars, and was commanded by a White Scars Captain (Khan) named Shang Khan. The 4th Expeditionary Fleet was one of the smaller Imperial fleets deployed during the Great Crusade and was comprised of the Battle Barge Invincible Reason, the Imperial Army troopships Noble Sinew and Bold Conveyor, the Frigates Intrepid and Dauntless, the Destroyer Arbalest, and the White Scars Strike Cruiser Swift Horseman, later replaced by the Dark Angels Strike Cruiser, Wrath of Caliban.7th Expeditionary FleetLord Commander Suleiman GrimmIst Legion (Dark Angels)UnknownThe 7th Expeditionary Fleet was the name of a Great Crusade expeditionary force led by Lord Commander Suleiman Grimm of the Ist Legion, the Dark Angels. They were instrumental in the Imperial Compliance of the colonised world of Lascal in the celestial wasteland known as the Grail Abyss, located between the spiral arms, forming the extreme border of the Segmentum Obscurus and the edge of known space. This terrestrial world had been a feral Ork holding before the coming of the 7th Expeditionary Fleet. After exterminating the xenos threat, Lascal became a forward outpost of the Great Crusade, and later a naval fleet anchorage was constructed there in orbit under the auspices of the Lucien Mechanicum, with which the world would continue to maintain distant ties. Though the frontline of the Imperium's expansion moved on, Lascal was maintained as a fleet anchorage, a link in the binding chains of Imperial control of the galaxy. By 902.M30, the world of Lascal became an independent and self-sustaining Imperial colony.8th Expeditionary FleetUnknownIVth Legion (Yet unnamed as the Iron Warriors)UnknownThe 8th Expeditionary Fleet was the name of a Great Crusade expeditionary force led by an unknown Warsmith of the Iron Warriors Legion. In the earliest years of the Great Crusade, the 8th Expeditionary Fleet formed a key and leading element. This force conquered or reclaimed twenty-nine coreward system-clusters and annihilated several interstellar xenos realms in a protracted eleven-year campaign which played a key part in the establishment of the Imperium's control of the Segmentum Solar. All were achievements for which it was recognised and commended by the Emperor in turn. Most famously, they would go on to help liberate the Forge World of Incaladion, the homeworld of the Titan Legion, the Legio Fureans. When contact with Mars was reestablished, it was determined to bring the newly discovered Forge World into the fold of the Imperium, but the Great Crusade was at that time engaged in major battles on myriad fronts and much of the Mechanicum's military forces were tied up in on-going campaigns. It fell to the forces of the IV Legion (not then yet having taken the name of the Iron Warriors). With the support of elements of the Legio Mortis and Martian Skitarii, in a gruelling protracted two year campaign that lasted from 842-843.M30, the 8th Expeditionary Fleet successfully helped Incaladion join the Imperium. In a single, bloody engagement known as the Siege of Incaladion, they suffered a staggering loss of nearly 29,000 Legionaries. The needless sacrifice of their forces saw the remaining IV Legion fall out of favour with the Imperial hierarchy.12th Expeditionary FleetPrimarch Roboute GuillimanXIIIth Legion (Ultramarines)Unknown & 170 God-Engines of the Legio Tempestus Titan LegionThe 12th Expeditionary Fleet was the name of a Great Crusade expeditionary force led by Primarch Roboute Guilliman and whose Astartes complement was made up of his XIIIth Legion, the Ultramarines and Titans from the Legio Tempestus, which played a pivotal role in the arduous wars of the Epsiloid Binary Cluster.27th Expeditionary FleetCorvus CoraxXIXth Legion (Raven Guard)Therion CohortThe 27th Expeditionary Fleet was the name of a Great Crusade expeditionary force commanded by the Primarch Corvus Corax and whose Astartes complement was made up of his XIXth Legion, the Raven Guard.28th Expeditionary Fleet (1st Iteration)Primarch Magnus the RedXVth Legion (Thousand Sons)Lacunan Lifewatch and elements of Prosperine SpireguardThe first iteration of the 28th Expeditionary Fleet was commanded by the Primarch Magnus the Red and its complement of Astartes was made up of his XVth Legion, the Thousand Sons. Though two versions of this fleet was documented, the records do not make clear whether this was the same 28th Expedition later commanded by Primarch Fulgrim or whether it was an entirely different unit with the same designation that was later transferred over to the Emperor's Children.28th Expeditionary Fleet (2nd Iteration)Primarch FulgrimIIIrd Legion (Emperor's Children)Archite PalatinesThe 28th Expeditionary Fleet was also the name of an expeditionary force during the Great Crusade commanded by the Primarch Fulgrim whose Astartes complement was made up of his IIIrd Legion, the Emperor's Children, and supporting military elements from the Imperial Army regiments of the Archite Palatines.40th Expeditionary FleetUnknownUnknownG9K Division KillThe 40th Expeditionary Fleet was an expeditionary force during the Great Crusade that was shadowed by an Astartes complement made up of the Space Wolves' 3rd Great Company ("Tra" Company).47th Expeditionary FleetPrimarch LorgarXVIIth Legion (Word Bearers)Ouranti DraksThe 47th Expeditionary Fleet was the name of a great Crusade expeditionary force commanded by the Primarch Lorgar and whose Astartes complement was made up of his XVIIth Legion, the Word Bearers. With the assistance of the 40th Expeditionary Fleet, the 47th Expeditionary Fleet took part in the Imperial Compliance of the Ark Reach Cluster which consisted of the first four worlds. The compliance of the fifth and sixth planet, Shrike, was successfully accomplished with the assistance of the 28th Expeditionary Fleet.51st Expeditionary FleetWarsmith Barabas Dantioch14th Grand Company of the IV Legion (Iron Warriors), flagship BenthosNinth-Ward Angeloi AdamantiphractsThe 51st Expeditionary Fleet was responsible for the Imperial Compliance of Lesser Damantyne and the construction of the mighty fortress called Schadenhold on that world. Unknown to the Iron Warriors on Damantyne, the Horus Heresy had already begun. When Warsmith Idriss Krendl, the new Warsmith of the 14th Grand Company (who was staunchly loyal to the Warmaster Horus) returned to Damantyne, which served as a garrison world for the Iron Warriors, in order to recover his troops and materiel, he ordered Warsmith Dantioch to stand down. Krendl then informed Dantioch that his fortress would be commandeered as a resupply point for the Warmaster's armies. Dantioch remained Loyal to the Imperium and refused to betray the Emperor for Horus. Warsmith Krendl then informed Dantioch that his beloved fortress would be crushed in the name of the Warmaster. For the next 366 days, Dantioch commanded his paltry force against the bulk of the 51st Expeditionary Fleet. When the siege was finally drawing to its inevitable conclusion, an Emperor-class Titan of the Legio Argentum was deployed against Shadenhold by the Traitors, but was eventually destroyed. As the fortress was about to fall, Dantioch teleported himself and a few other Loyalist Iron Warriors with him aboard the Traitor’s flagship Benthos in orbit above Damantyne. Using superb military strategy, Warsmith Dantioch and his men managed to commandeer the Traitors' vessel and set a course for Terra. Their goal was to assist the Emperor with the fortification of the Imperial Palace against the encroachment of the Warmaster and his Forces of Chaos. Warsmith Dantioch’s ultimate fate is currently unknown.52nd Expeditionary FleetPrimarch Ferrus ManusXth Legion (Iron Hands)UnknownThe 52nd Expeditionary Fleet was the name of a Great Crusade expeditionary force commanded by the Primarch Ferrus Manus whose Astartes complement was made up of his Xth Legion, the Iron Hands.60th Expeditionary FleetLord Marshal Ireton MaSadeSolar Auxilia1522nd Cohort & Shoar "Skull Taker" CohortsAt the head of the 60th Expeditionary Fleet, Lord Mashal MaSade flew from victory to victory until the War Council called upon him to break the deadlock of the Agathon Compliance. Agathon, a Hive World of some five billions souls, had until then, successfully resisted Compliance for nearly fifteen standard years. Under MaSade's orders the 60th Expeditionary Fleet would finally break Agathon's resistance and prove victorious. The cultic aristocracy that had ruled Agathon for so long was purged, and in reward for this final victory and a lifetime of services, MaSade and his officers were awarded right of conquest over Agathon and the "Old General" as his troops had nicknamed the aging Ireton MaSade, became its first Imperial Commander. They would later go on to play a key role in fighting against the Traitor forces within the Coronid Reach against the Cyclothrathine Mechanicum, and the Liberation of Numinal.63rd Expeditionary FleetWarmaster and Primarch HorusXVIth Legion (Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus)Byzant Janizars & 15th Hesperan LancersThe 63rd Expeditionary Fleet was one of the largest and most powerful deployed during the Great Crusade and it was the home fleet of Horus, the Warmaster of the Imperium and the supreme commander of the Great Crusade after the Emperor returned to Terra. The 63rd Expedition had the powerful Legio Mortis Titan Legion attached to it as well as Horus' massive flagship, the Battle Barge Vengeful Spirit. Their victories were manifold and Horus' generalship was legend, and so it was that the respect of their brother Legions rose to almost unrivalled heights.81st Expeditionary FleetUnknownVIIth Legion (Imperial Fists)UnknownAs a part of the 81st Expeditionary Fleet, the unique Imperial Fists battleship, Halcyon, helped conquer the Hecuban Conformity, breaking their forces in the hellish Aegisine War and brought the separatist human realm into Compliance. In the Battle for Taldane, the Halcyon accounted for six Eldar capital ships in lone battle, and Sigismund himself accepted the surrender of the Zurcon Freeholds from the Halcyon's bridge.90th Expeditionary FleetUnknownUnknownUnknownWhile exploring the region of the galaxy known as the Cyclops Cluster, located in the Coronid Deeps in the Segmentum Obscurus, the 90th Expeditionary Fleet happened to discover the lost Forge World of M'Pandex through sheer chance.125th Expeditionary FleetPrimarch PerturaboIVth Legion (Iron Warriors)Selucid ThorakiteThe 125th Expeditionary Fleet was the newly constituted force following the reunification of the IVth Legion with their Primarch Perturabo. This Imperial Expeditionary Fleet quickly became the battering ram of the Great Crusade. As they fought alongside each of their fellow Legions in turn, they gained an unmatched reputation for brutal efficiency in battle, mastery of armoured warfare and as artillerists without peer among the Legiones Astartes.140th Expeditionary FleetUnknown3 Companies of the IXth Legion (Blood Angels)Unknown Imperial Army Regiment (known to be 4,000 troops strong)The 140th Expedition's Space Marines were commanded by the Blood Angels Captain Khitas Frome. It is unknown if he also served as the Lord Commander of the entire expedition, though this would have been likely. These Blood Angels were lost in combat against the powerful arachnoid xenos called Megarachnids of the Death World dubbed Murder by the Luna Wolves after the 63rd Expedition arrived at the world to determine what had happened to Captain Frome and his Astartes.203rd Expeditionary FleetPrimarch AngronXIIth Legion (World Eaters)UnknownThe 203rd Expeditionary Fleet was a Great Crusade expeditionary force commanded by the Primarch Angron and whose Astartes complement was made up of his XIIth Legion, the World Eaters. The 203rd Expeditionary Fleet encountered the Lacrymole-infested world of Alpha Shalish. Spearheading an assault, the World Eaters Legion burst into the Lacrymole mound cities with righteous fury, cleansing the planet of their foul, man-eating kind with extreme prejudice, throwing off the shackles of alien rule by bringing the Imperial Truth to Alpha Shalish's beleaguered human population. The 203rd Expedition also fought alongside the Sons of Horus and their 63rd Expeditionary Fleet on the world of Aerius.376th Expeditionary FleetUnknownXIXth Legion (Raven Guard)UnknownThe 376th Expeditionary Fleet was a Great Crusade expeditionary force commanded by an unknown commander whose Astartes complement was made up of units drawn from the XIXth Legion, the Raven Guard. Overall command of the 376th Expeditionary Fleet still belonged to the Raven Guard's Primarch Corvus Corax.392nd Expeditionary FleetUnknownUnknownUnknownThe 392nd Expeditionary Fleet was a Great Crusade expeditionary force commanded by an unknown commander.406th Expeditionary FleetIron Father and Captain Lasko MidoaXth Legion (Iron Hands)UnknownThe 406th Expeditionary Fleet carried out multiple Imperial Compliance actions on various worlds during the Great Crusade, both before and after the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V. Following those events that decimated the Loyalist Legions of the Iron Hands, the Raven Guard and the Salamanders, the 406th Expeditionary Fleet engaged a Traitor Death Guard fleet in a vicious campaign around the world of Perditus Ultima.413th Expeditionary FleetMaster Ulan CicerusXIIIth Legion (Ultramarines), XV ChapterMarnean Armsmen & Serranic Peltasts, Demi-Legio of the Legio AtarusThe 413th Expeditionary Fleet under the commands of Master Ulan Cicerus, was sent to the world of Gardinaal, a solar empire at the edge of the Dominion of Storms to the galactic east, to bring it into Imperial Compliance after unsuccessful diplomatic overtures failed. The Ultramarines' attempt to take the capital world of Gardinaal Prime with minimal collateral loss would prove disastrous, as the Gardinaal utilised powerful STC weaponry and vehicles never before seen by Imperial forces. The Ultramarines and Titans were hurled back and forced to retreat off-planet rather than fight on with no possibility of victory. Nearly half of the demi-legio was lost and the Ultramarines' casualties were just as severe, but worse, over 500,000 troops of the Imperial Army lay dead or dying on Gardinaal Prime. Repulsed and bled dry, the 413th Expedition was unable to launch another assault. Breaking from the Warp to answer the Ultramarines call for aid, at the head of a new war-host, Ferrus Manus led an armada comprised of both the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet of the Iron Hands and the Emperor's Children Legions. During the final assault on the capital city, the Ultramarines, desperate to reclaim their honour from their earlier defeat, requested the honour of crossing the breach into the enemy citadel. The Gorgon acquiesced to the Ultramarines' request, but the price the warriors of the XIIIth Legion paid was high, for the defenders' counterattack was powerful, sparing none of their remaining might.611th Expeditionary FleetUnknownUnknownUnknownThe 611th Expeditionary Fleet was an Imperial Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade, and helped bring the Feudal World of Zavarich, located in the Cyclops Cluster in the Segmentum Obscurus, bloodlessly into Imperial Compliance in 876.M30. Zavarich entered into operation as a fully managed agri-world by the time of the Horus Heresy, and was notable for being one of a relative handful of such worlds in the region, and therefore retaining strategic significance because of this.670th Expeditionary FleetLord Commander Teng NamitjiraNoneCrescent-Sind 6th Torrent, Geno Five-Two Chiliad, Outremar, Regnault Thorns, Zanzibari HortThe Legio Xerxes Titan Legion was attached to the service of the 670th Expedition. The Primarch Alpharius and a force from his XXth Legion, the Alpha Legion, fought with the 670th Expedition during the tragic campaign to bring the world of Nurth to Imperial Compliance, but never became an official part of the 670th's order of battle. Lord Commander Namitjira remained in formal command during the operation, though of course he deferred to the Primarch's orders.817th Expeditionary FleetUnknownUnknownUnknownStationed at Hattusa at the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the Remembrancer Solomon Voss was attached to this Expeditionary fleet at the time, along with his collaborator Askarid Sha.915th Expeditionary FleetUnknownVth Legion (White Scars)UnknownThe White Scars of the 915th Expeditionary Fleet conducted a xenocidal purge against the Orks within the Chondax System. Most famously, they purged the greenskin menace on the world of Phemus IV.954th Expeditionary FleetWolf Lord BulveyeThe 13th Great Company of the VIth Legion (Space Wolves)Arcturan DragoonsThe 954th Expeditionary Fleet was the official name given to the Space Wolves' 13th Company and their supporting Imperial Army units. This same Expeditionary Fleet would ultimately be lost in the Eye of Terror after being ordered during the Horus Heresy by their Primarch Leman Russ to hunt down the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. This same fleet would not be seen again until 10,000 standard years later when they returned to realspace to aid the Imperium during the darkest hour of the 13th Black Crusade of 999.M41.1301st Expeditionary FleetChapter Master Deumos of the Serrated Sun Chapter of the XVIIth Legion (Word Bearers); Master of the Fleet Baloc TorvusSerrated Sun Chapter of the XVIIth Legion (Word Bearers)UnknownThe 1301st Expeditionary Fleet was the Imperial Expedition that undertook the Pilgrimage of Lorgar forty standard years before the start of the Horus Heresy for the Word Bearers' Primarch in his quest to discover whether the Old Faith of Colchis and the existence of its Gods was true. The outcome of this Pilgrimage confirmed for Lorgar that the atheism of the Imperial Truth was a lie and turned him against the Emperor of Mankind. Lorgar was the first of the Primarchs to be corrupted by Chaos based on the information brought back from the survivors of the 1301st Expedition during their extraordinary journey into the Eye of Terror itself. This Expeditionary Fleet is also notable for the rediscovery of the Feral World of Cadia, the exploration of the Eye of Terror as well as multiple Imperial Compliance actions following the events that occurred on the world of Khur where the entire Word Bearers Legion was dramatically censured by the Emperor for their continued violations of the Imperial Truth.2188th Expeditionary FleetUnknownUnknownUnknownThe 2188th Expedition disappeared under mysterious circumstances near the Word Bearers Legion's homeworld of Colchis, a disappearance that would lead to reports that the Warp in that region was unstable, prompting Imperial commercial traffic to avoid the planet, leading to its rapid economic decline before its destruction in the Great Scouring.3855th Expeditionary FleetUnknownWord Bearers Legion (The Bloodied Visage & The Crescent Moon Chapters)UnknownThe 3855th Expeditionary Fleet was a Great Crusade expeditionary force comprised to two Word Bearers Chapters, commanded by an unknown commander.Unnamed Expeditionary FleetWarsmith Khr VhalenIVth Legion (Iron Warriors), 77th Grand BattalionUnknownThe unnamed Expeditionary Fleet of the Iron Warriors' 77th Grand Battalion, was an Imperial Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade. The 77th, like a number of Iron Warriors detachments dispersed across the Imperium and all but forgotten, had become almost completely self-sustaining by the end of the Great Crusade, and when the Horus Heresy came, he and his forces were utterly ignorant of their Legion's betrayal. At the Battle of Paramar, he and his Legionaries would take bitter pride in their stubborn loyalty to the Great Crusade as brother turned against brother.Unnamed Expeditionary FleetHashin YonnadVIIth Legion (Imperial Fists)UnknownThe unnamed Expeditionary Fleet of the Imperial Fists commanded by Hashin Yonnad, Commander of the 39th Household of Inwit, was an Imperial Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade. Reckoned by many to be one of the Imperium's greatest strategists, Yonnad was charged with prosecuting the Imperial Compliance of the Araeneus Continuity, a series of planets close to the Sol System. Marshalling his fleet at Tallarn, thousands of warships carrying over 20,000 Imperial Fists, alongside millions of troops of the Imperial Army and the Mechanicum launched their assault upon the unsuspecting systems of the Araneus. Within two solar months the Continuity was reduced to the single core world of Araneus Prime. But even as the Imperium moved in to claim their prize, the worlds of the Araneus Continuity were beset by an unknown xenos menace. The Imperial Fists detonated warheads they had attached to each Warp Gate. Without their gates, the unknown enemies simply vanished. Their advance had been halted on Araneus Prime when its gate exploded. All but one of the systems of the Continuity had died, and at the cost of thousands of Imperial Fists and billions of humans Araneus Prime survived, but barely.Unnamed Expeditionary FleetArkhas FalXIXth Legion (yet unnamed as the Raven Guard)UnknownThe unnamed Expeditionary Fleet of the XIXth Legion (later the Raven Guard Legion) was an Imperial Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade. Comprised of three full Chapters, this fleet was under the overall command of Arkhas Fal, then Master of the XIXth Legion and bearing the title Shade Lord. They took part in the notable Imperial Compliance of the planet of Baratrum during the savage Battle of Hell's Anvil. Thousands of Imperial Army lives had been lost and they were unable to secure any foothold in the sunken metropoli of Baratrum. The arrival of the XIXth Legion fleet commanded by Arkhas Fal, and accompanied by a sizable contingent of Luna Wolves, changed the nature of the campaign.