The wolves would come to heel after the fighting had stopped.
Everyone 'came to heel' after the fighting stopped. What varied was when they considered the fighting to have stopped. Looking at it this way we can see that the Wolves are actually one of the more reluctant Legions, accepting nothing less than complete destruction.
I think the Ultra's, DA and IF were too honourable to fight other legions at first until they realised it was absolutely nescessary.
So the fact that the Wolves are overly eager to attack their fellow Astartes is a point in their favour? Whilst it is simultaneously being held against the World Eaters?
The Iron Warriors couldn't have done it as they were split round the galaxy, guarding/garrisoning....setting up for the heresy.
Logically, if the Emperor had intended for them to be the Executioners he wouldn't have had them on garrison duty.
Small legion, so they were more expendable - the wolves losing wouldn't be the same as Rogal Dorn or Roboute's legions losing.
If the Wolves are the only Legion capable of being the Executioners than they are by definition not expendable. Indeed this raises the question of why they were deployed to front-line duty in the first place. Losses there would potentially destroy their ability to preform their intended function.
History contradicts that assertion many times over. Time and again, we've seen how forces that enjoyed psychological advantages were able to trump enemies with comparable numbers and equipment.
Right. Obviously. Sorry, I wasn't making myself clear. Any battle between two Space Marine Legions is not going to be one between Spartans and 'lesser' Greeks, it's going to be fought between two bands of Spartans. Space Marines are all trained and motivated to such a massive level that there simply isn't room for there to be much difference between Legions. It would be very, very difficult (if not impossible) to motivate one Legion above the others but it is very, very easy to equip them to fight other Legions.
The Space Wolves certainly express such a mentality and motivation. You can call it self-delusion or genuine confidence, but they are not shy about expressing what they feel their worth and ability is.
Thanks, I will call it self-delusion. :grin:
The Space Wolves may very well have taken horrendous losses in purging one or both of the Missing Legions - perhaps that's why they are fewer in number than they should be. Victory in just the first of those campaigns would have given them invaluable experience and confidence for any subsequent such action.
Assuming of course that the Wolves actually played any part in the separate tragedies those Legions befell. Seperate tragedies that clearly did not prepare a single other Legion for the concept of inter-Astartes violence.
The Wolves didn't hesitate where the Thousand Sons did (and where most other legions probably would have hesitated as well).
I'd question whether the other Legions would've hesitated. We're shown repeatedly that the Thousands Sons are both one of the least likely to engage in violence and one of the most introspective of all the Legions. Those two traits make them likely to hesitate.
On the other hand we have accounts of Alpha Legion, Night Lord and World Eater warriors actually looking forward to and enjoying fighting other Astartes. Would they hesitate? Would the unflinchingly obedient Imperial Fists, or just generally unflinching Death Guard?
Remember that duel between lucius and loken? Lucius lost because loken sucker punched him.
Lucius was arrogant and Loken cheated. Hardly an exemplar of how the Emperor's Children fight. Look elsewhere in that book and you'll see descriptions of the sort of perfection I'm talking about. Perfectly intersecting fields of fire, perfect covering fire and so on.
Aside from isstivan most of his tactics are gambles.
So aside from one of the most brilliant master-strokes of all time. And of course that ignores a) warfare is always a gamble and b) Horus' tactics are never poor gambles.
Or are done because someone insults him.
Unlike the perfectly in control Russ you mean.
True, but they aren't reigned in. They have no control of themselves.
The Night Lords repeatedly demonstrate more control than the Wolves do. It takes far more control to skin a man alive than it does to hack him into pieces.
And until the Emperor betrayed them they were reigned in. Don't believe me? Just look at what they do once they're well and truly off the leash.
"Dishonorable tactics" Or what the wolves do in prosporo seems to work.
Dishonourable tactics? Like appealing to your enemy to surrender? That's what Russ did on Propero, he begged Magnus to surrender without a fight. Where was the Wolves legendary decisiveness then?
Flanking angron while he's distracted by Russ isn't a charge now is it?
That's not what the Wolves did. What the Wolves did was charge at the World Eaters, get beaten back and regroup around their Primarch.
But it wasn't alpharious main tactic, he wanted to prove himself to his brothers, most stuff he did was to prove himself, do you honestly think if he was ordered to kill say gulliman he'd do to in the most efficient way possible? Or would he perform a seriously complex plan that involves impersonating members of the ultramarines and making it obvious what was going to happen before it happened?
I don't see any reason to think Alpharius would make it apparent what was happening. He's not a super-villain. To date most of his plans against the loyal Primarchs haven't even revealed his presence, let alone his goal.