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Sure, half of them could, but Angron, Russ and maybe the Lion were designed for war. If the Emperor had waited a little longer, the Lion would've gotten very bored once all the beasts of Caliban were gone.

For me, in some ways the Iron Warriors has the most legitimate grievance of all the traitor Legions. They were pretty much completely used, ignored, then discarded when appropriate, constantly.

They never get any recognition, despite fighting what were likely some of the hardest wars under the worst condition imaginable, and then get forced into garrison duty while their glorious brothers crusaded and had legends made around them.

I'd be p*ssed too.

The Night Lords and Alpha Legion also had pretty good reasons for turning. The cult legions were explained the least well, but that's because they were already tailored towards the god they ended up serving.

Angron turned because he hated the Emperor. He viewed him as a weakling and a coward who directs battles from safety on high, in other words, the same kind of person as the slavers who forced him and his gladiators to slaughter one another. In After De'Shea, Angron begrudgingly accepts the Emperor as his master, and less begrudgingly accepted control of his Legion (You know, after killing the seven highest ranking members of it with his bare hands). When the Emperor left the Great Crusade without bothering to tell any of the Primarchs why, this further justified Angron's low opinion of the Emperor, and although I haven't read False Gods or Galaxy in Flames yet, I can only assume he also was displeased with the formation of the High Council of Terra, as other Primarchs have been.

Angron betrayed the Emperor because Horus told him exactly what Angron believed, that the Emperor was a coward and a weakling unfit for rule. He's not quite as one-dimensional as people seem to think IMHO. At least, he wasn't. Khorne does things to people.

Magnus joining Horus is obvious. Magnus did so to save his Legion.

Mortarion is harder to say, in the novels he hasn't been as expanded on. But if I had to assume, I would say it would be because of his loyalty to Horus, the only one of his brothers not to ostracize him, and his hatred for the weak. The High Council of Terra would be a personal insult to him.

Fulgrim just happened to be insecure enough and unlucky enough. The Laer sword played on his insecurities and corrupted him, and then in his time of weakness, he gave it complete control.

Those are the specific deity-aligned Legion reasons for turning, IMO.

Konrad Kurze joined Horus, because he was reproached by Rogal Dorn on what he did to prisoners of war. And that we was plagued by nightmares of the future, causing him to go insane, attack dorn and then to be locked up.

@Void Dragon, Why was the Council a personal insult to Mortarion? He came from a planet where tyrants ruled, didn't he?

Durza wrote:@Void Dragon, Why was the Council a personal insult to Mortarion? He came from a planet where tyrants ruled, didn't he?

Mortarion despised weakness. Having weak humans have a position of authority that none of the Primarchs, the best of humanity and the ones who have won the galaxy for the Imperium, had would be seen as some ol' bs by him.

This is just speculation though, I haven't read a HH book that prominently features Mortarion.

Ah, forgot about that. Flight of the Eisenstein features him, but apart from a liking for neurotoxin, he seemed like a pretty rational individual.

He seemed pretty sinister in A Thousand Sons.

Haven't read Flight of the Eisenstein yet.

I haven't gotten round to reading A Thousand Sons yet... must get it.