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A thought flew into my head while I was supposed to be doing work. Did pre-heresy World Eaters always utilize axes the way they do now?

At least after Angron was found they did. They also we lobotomized after he took over, so they were almost as battle crazy as they are now too.

Thanks, now I can plan my pre-heresy army without worrying that it isn't fluff friendly

They weren't quite as crazy as they are now...
That said out of battle I'd imagine they are largely lucid.
After they found Angron they began to seriously lose it, after the Heresy they got worse.

The legions were absolutely massive and varied. Even amongst legions that constantly get referred to as one-trick ponies. The World Eaters had masses of tanks, artillary, and heavy weapon squads just like any other legion. Using another melee weapon instead of an axe is no different.

 RunningWithScissors49 wrote:
A thought flew into my head while I was supposed to be doing work. Did pre-heresy World Eaters always utilize axes the way they do now?

They used every weapon at their disposal.

Before the Heresy, many of the World Eaters came from planet where the Emperor found Angron: Nuceria.

The ruling elites subjected the masses to Gladiatorial deathmatches. After they were inducted into the World Eaters Legion, many still used their gladiator weaponry. You can read about these Rampager Squads in the Forge World Horus Heresy: Betrayal book.

In The Betrayer, there was a definite internal conflict between the legionaries that still identified themselves (in their own minds, at least) as War Hounds and those who embraced the World Eaters thing full on.

Essentially, after they found Angron they all went a bit stir-crazy, and basically picked up anything they could lay their hands on and ran head-first at whatever they were pointed at. Brutal, yet effective

 Fotherington-Thomas wrote:
In The Betrayer, there was a definite internal conflict between the legionaries that still identified themselves (in their own minds, at least) as War Hounds and those who embraced the World Eaters thing full on.

True. It was probably more pronounced in the World Eaters, but the Sons of Horus (Luna Wolves) and the other traitor legions had the same issues.

 kronk wrote:

 RunningWithScissors49 wrote:
A thought flew into my head while I was supposed to be doing work. Did pre-heresy World Eaters always utilize axes the way they do now?

They used every weapon at their disposal.

Except for discarded weapons

Before the Heresy, many of the World Eaters came from planet where the Emperor found Angron: Nuceria.

The ruling elites subjected the masses to Gladiatorial deathmatches. After they were inducted into the World Eaters Legion, many still used their gladiator weaponry. You can read about these Rampager Squads in the Forge World Horus Heresy: Betrayal book.

To the OP, there is also a few good passages in Betrayer that talk about the effect of the Butcher's Nails on the legion. While Angron's Nails were insane, the World Eater that recieved the nails as a pounding and and itching in their brain, as it told them to go for combat and slaughter. They lost practically any and all attention span, they got fidgety when they would go too long without combat. There are plenty of passages in Betrayer where Kharn would feel the Nails pressing into his brain, practically begging him to let loose and attack people around him.

It really casts a light on how gakky of a situation Angron was put in, but your World Eaters will be fine with any and all sorts of weapons

Even in the ol' days they had chain axes and were unhinged.

They were already overly aggressive even before angron was found, when they got lobotomized, that's when the axe wielding crazy part kicked in.