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There is a paragraph in Massacre (not Extermination but I can't change the title) that says:
"It remains a testimony to the undying resilience of the Legion that despite the losses at Istvaan V - losses thought fatal to the Legion at the time - it was able to maintain coherence and recover it's strength......"
This paragraph really bugs me. It's been shown in the same part of Massacre that around 1,660 Legionnaires survived Istvaan V (83,000 legionnaires went to Istvaan and 98% of them died - 2% of 83,000 is 1,660) and the total size of the Legion was 89,000 making a total of approximately 7,660 Salamanders surviving after Istvaan.
Why does anyone think that only having around 7,660 surviving Legionnaires is fatal for the Salamanders? After all the Emperors Children survived having being reduced to around either 200 or 400 (I can't remember which). The Raven Guard were reduced to around 4,000 Legionnaires so they were in a worse position and yet it's not noted that these losses were "thought to be fatal". There would have been Salamander apothecaries who didn't go to Istvaan so that can't be the reason and the Legions geneseed stocks were safe?
Is this simply a mistake, artistic license or something else? There is no record of the Salamander's geneseed being as destructive as say the Space Wolves or the Blood Angels so the geneseed rejection rate isn't noted as particularly high (unless there's something I've missed).
"It remains a testimony to the undying resilience of the Legion that despite the losses at Istvaan V - losses thought fatal to the Legion at the time - it was able to maintain coherence and recover it's strength......"
This paragraph really bugs me. It's been shown in the same part of Massacre that around 1,660 Legionnaires survived Istvaan V (83,000 legionnaires went to Istvaan and 98% of them died - 2% of 83,000 is 1,660) and the total size of the Legion was 89,000 making a total of approximately 7,660 Salamanders surviving after Istvaan.
Why does anyone think that only having around 7,660 surviving Legionnaires is fatal for the Salamanders? After all the Emperors Children survived having being reduced to around either 200 or 400 (I can't remember which). The Raven Guard were reduced to around 4,000 Legionnaires so they were in a worse position and yet it's not noted that these losses were "thought to be fatal". There would have been Salamander apothecaries who didn't go to Istvaan so that can't be the reason and the Legions geneseed stocks were safe?
Is this simply a mistake, artistic license or something else? There is no record of the Salamander's geneseed being as destructive as say the Space Wolves or the Blood Angels so the geneseed rejection rate isn't noted as particularly high (unless there's something I've missed).