[Marauderlegion]

So I have previously listened to and read some HH stories like Angel Exterminatus featuring the Iron Warriors and I wondered about their organization.

I was previously aware of the Grand Companies from their 40k release. In the later HH stuff, they mention Grand Battalions, so it logically fit in the the Grand Battalions were formed of Grand Companies.

Now I am reading Storm of Iron and the Characters from AE which I first got to know commanding Grand Battalions now command Grand Companies.

The Iron Warriors are a pretty huge Legion, before and after the Heresy, but is this a result of casualties or reorganization? Folks get demoted?

What do you guys think?

 

[Reaper45]

The grand companies are probably the remains of the grand battalions since by that point they would have been fighting for years without a steady influx of new recruits. So they probably renamed their battalions to a more fitting name.

 

[ckcrawford]

It seemed that in Storm of Iron, this particular war band made a deal with Abaddon to essentially grab that prize and give it to him in return for not having to be in the Black Crusade. The Iron Warriors have their own methods compared to most war bands and legions in creating more warriors for their legions. They are more of collectors than invaders really. Based on most stories they seem to pick targets they can win in order to take resources and slaves.

I think thats the best explanation for their appearance as a larger legion. Word Bearers and Black Legion are obviously bigger because they have bigger ambitions.

 

[The Warpsmith]

The IW still operate under "Grand Companies" but the actual sizes of these is inconsistent (kind of like Word Bearers Hosts or Alpha Legion Cells). Just think of them like better organized Warbands that still give a damn about the word of their primarch. Although there are actual "Warbands" that have broken from the IW (such as the Steel Brethren) and no longer consider themselves part of the Legion. Grand Companies however, though they dont always get along, still claim to be part of the Iron Warriors as a whole under Perturabo. Whereas Pre-Heresy a Warsmith was a Siege Captain of sorts, now that term is equivalent to any IW Chaos Lord and every Grand Company (no matter how large or small) will have 1 at the head.

 

[Marauderlegion]

So the Grand Battalions have kind of broken down (originally as presented with the IW release) to the more 40k-ish Grand Companies, whereas they were previously (more recently in the HH novels) organized into Grand Battalions for that more massive, epic pre-heresy feel?

 

[The Warpsmith]

So the Grand Battalions have kind of broken down (originally) to the more 40k-ish Grand Companies, whereas they were previously (more recently) organized into Grand Battalions for that more massive, epic pre-heresy feel?

Yeah pretty much. Pre-Heresy every Legion had a similar composition (Companies by many names) but only a few Traitor legions have retained some of their organization. IW and WB are some of the lucky few who still function as a whole when needed

 

[Rems]

Storm of Iron was written way before the HH series came out.

There were no Grand Battalions back then, the Iron Warriors had Grand Companies pre and post Heresy.

So there's two options; 1) an in universe explanation where Grand Companies are degraded remnants of the Grand Battalions. 2) Replace every instance of the phrase 'Grand Company with 'Grand Battalion', as the fluff has evolved since then.

 

[ckcrawford]

It seemed that this war band was different from most. I would have to look up their names, but I was under the impression that every grand company in Storm of Iron and the second book that followed, was underneath the command of "The Warsmith."

Its possible that "The Warsmith" was sort of a uniter of Iron Warrior lost grand companies and tried to make a united legion before being ascended.

 

[forkmaster]

I asked this very questions as well since I got confused. Berossus is a good example. He begun as a Captain of the 2nd Grand Company in the novella The Crimson Fist. Due to his failure in that novel he is hurt and intombed as a Dread. He is credited however to be the Warsmith of the 2nd Grand Battalion in Angel Exterminatus. The use of Grand Companies have disappeared completely from this novel despite being used pretty much every elsewhere.

In that novel we only have Forrix as the First Captain. Everyone else is credited either as a Warsmith (the equalence of a Captain) or a Lieutenant. I understand that Graham wanted to give the Legion a more personal Legion set-up but screwed with the previous stories. In the same novel he managed to mix up the EC Captains and what Companies they are supposed to belong to, when comparing between The Reflection Crack'd and Angel Exterminatus.

The same structure change can be said when in Fallen Angels, the Dark Angels have Chapters, but in Savage Weapons they have Orders.