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Apologies if this has been asked before...did a search but couldn't find it if it has.

I've just finished reading Space Marine Battles - Battle of the Fang. At one point a Wolf Priest says "For every Legion he created, there was a purpose. Some were blessed with the power to build, or the skill to administer, or the capacity for stealth. Our gift was different. We were made to destroy"

So the Space Wolves are the Destroyers.....I would think the Ultramarines are the Administrators....Imperial Fists or Iron Warriors the Builders?.....the Raven Guard for Stealth?

What roles were each of the original Legions created for?

From what I've seen, it's less that the legions all had individual roles and more that the space wolves saw individual roles in the other legions. We almost never hear about these assigned roles outside of the space wolves or Russ. Primarchs may have had various dispositions and talents given to them that they used to mold their legions, but I personally believe it is foolish to assign such pigeon-holed roles to legions that have been shown to be highly versatile and flexible.

Alpha Legion's purpose is obviously infiltration and espionage.

Thousand Sons were Sorcerers.

Imperial Fists and Iron Warriors were builders and wreckers, respectively.

Warhounds were warriors.

Etc. etc.

However, I believe most people think that the SMs were also just a tool for the Emperor, much like the Thunder Warriors, which Rowboat at least thought as well.

Space Wolves were executioners (target population)

Warhounds were population killers

As I see it:

Dark Angels- Promote ceremony and brotherhood
Emperor's Children- Promote greatness and the quest for perfection, to be role models
Iron Warriors- To wage siege warfare
White Scars- To hunt the more evasive and powerful enemies of the IoM
Space Wolves- To destroy entire civilizations
Imperial Fists- To design powerful defenses for the planets of the IoM
Night Lords- To teach the enemies of the IoM to fear mankind
Blood Angels- To act as the vanguard in battle, to sacrifice themselves for the IoM
Iron Hands- To explore the use of cybernetics and technology in the every day lives of the people of the IoM
World Eaters- Really they are a combination of the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and Night Lords. Not really sure what their unique purpose was.
Ultramarines- To oversee and administer the planets and resources of the the IoM
Death Guard- To wage chemical warfare
Thousand Sons- To research and perfect the use of sorcery
Sons of Horus- To lead other legions into battle
Word Bearers- To control the masses with the tool of worship
Salamanders- To perfect the art of craftsmanship, to build
Raven Guard- To stealthily eliminate the enemies of the IoM
Alpha Legion- Oversee espionage and Imperial Intelligence

It's very important to remember that this is just a Space Wolf's interpretation. The Space Wolves liked to think of themselves as executioners.

The reality is that the Space Marine Legions had one singular purpose. To reconquer the galaxy. The other "missions" some of them gave themselves were just that: self-assigned.

Hence why the Emperor punished Lorgar for wasting time building temples, and why everyone but Horus thought Alpharius was a goober for wasting time constructing elaborate strategies just to prove he could.

I thought I had read that the Space Wolves, Salamanders, and one other legion that I don't recall all had something special built into them? Space Wolves had a heightened sense of smell, or something to hunt people. And I believe Salamanders had some sort of flame retardent skin or something? Can't remember what the Salamanders thing or the third legions thing was.

The Legions have the same purpose all military units do...

Follow the orders of their commander, as far as battlefield uses..the special snowflake concepts came as a after thought..or their equipment and training may have reflected more diversity...I think alot of these ideas are more predilections then purposes.

NauticalKendall wrote:
I thought I had read that the Space Wolves, Salamanders, and one other legion that I don't recall all had something special built into them? Space Wolves had a heightened sense of smell, or something to hunt people. And I believe Salamanders had some sort of flame retardent skin or something? Can't remember what the Salamanders thing or the third legions thing was.

Most legions inherited something from their primarchs, but it doesn't mean that it had anything to do with the intended purpose of that legion.

I'm in agreement with jareddm and Veteran Sergeant that this is something the Space Wolves focus on in order to grant themselves the honorific of "executioners" and not something that any of the other legions even seem to think about. The best evidence that the legions weren't designed with specific roles in mind is the fact that they were only assigned numbers until the primarchs were found, they were all just soldiers. Any roles they had later in the crusade/heresy was likely self-appointed and based on their primarchs personality, not by design of the Emperor.

NauticalKendall wrote:
I thought I had read that the Space Wolves, Salamanders, and one other legion that I don't recall all had something special built into them? Space Wolves had a heightened sense of smell, or something to hunt people. And I believe Salamanders had some sort of flame retardent skin or something? Can't remember what the Salamanders thing or the third legions thing was.

In HH book 3, in the Alpha Legion section, it says the Alpha Legion, Space Wolves and Salamanders were formed separately, presumably for specific goals.

 Orblivion wrote:

NauticalKendall wrote:
I thought I had read that the Space Wolves, Salamanders, and one other legion that I don't recall all had something special built into them? Space Wolves had a heightened sense of smell, or something to hunt people. And I believe Salamanders had some sort of flame retardent skin or something? Can't remember what the Salamanders thing or the third legions thing was.

Most legions inherited something from their primarchs, but it doesn't mean that it had anything to do with the intended purpose of that legion.

I'm in agreement with jareddm and Veteran Sergeant that this is something the Space Wolves focus on in order to grant themselves the honorific of "executioners" and not something that any of the other legions even seem to think about. The best evidence that the legions weren't designed with specific roles in mind is the fact that they were only assigned numbers until the primarchs were found, they were all just soldiers. Any roles they had later in the crusade/heresy was likely self-appointed and based on their primarchs personality, not by design of the Emperor.

not true they all had names before their primarchs discovered them. the world eaters where the warhounds. they renames themselves world eaters because Angron's rebels where known as the city eaters

BrianDavion wrote:

 Orblivion wrote:

NauticalKendall wrote:
I thought I had read that the Space Wolves, Salamanders, and one other legion that I don't recall all had something special built into them? Space Wolves had a heightened sense of smell, or something to hunt people. And I believe Salamanders had some sort of flame retardent skin or something? Can't remember what the Salamanders thing or the third legions thing was.

Most legions inherited something from their primarchs, but it doesn't mean that it had anything to do with the intended purpose of that legion.

I'm in agreement with jareddm and Veteran Sergeant that this is something the Space Wolves focus on in order to grant themselves the honorific of "executioners" and not something that any of the other legions even seem to think about. The best evidence that the legions weren't designed with specific roles in mind is the fact that they were only assigned numbers until the primarchs were found, they were all just soldiers. Any roles they had later in the crusade/heresy was likely self-appointed and based on their primarchs personality, not by design of the Emperor.

not true they all had names before their primarchs discovered them. the world eaters where the warhounds. they renames themselves world eaters because Angron's rebels where known as the city eaters

They didn't all have names but yeah. The legions before the Primarchs did tend to fill specific roles, or adopt certain fighting styles, etc.
"Looking back upon the calamitous age through which Mankind has endured, few can claim to know but a fraction of the Emperor's vision for the galaxy. Some hold that each of the great Space Marine Legions was created with a specific role in mind, and certainly this assertation is born out of the deeds and deameanour of many. The Imperial Fists were in so many ways the Emperor's loyal praetorians and champions, while the Ultramarines were his dutiful, resplendent hosts. To the XIX Legion would fall the sole of the Emperor's hidden hand, vengeful sentinels against recidivists and harrowers of those who would sooner flee than bend knee before their new master. "

That quote is from the Raven Guard section in Extermination.

Following on from changerofways...in the Battle of the Fang, the Wolf Priest also says "We were bred to perform the tasks that no other Legion could, to fight with such extravagance that even our brother warriors would shrink from treachery in the knowledge of what we, the Rout, would do to them. That power was exercised more than once..."

So maybe the Wolves were the 'police' or internal security for the Legions and the Worldeaters were to destroy whole civilisations?

I think the Wolves saw themselves as that, but they weren't necessarily. In Betrayer, Russ goes to sanction the World Eaters, but he wasn't sent by the Emperor, which makes me think he took it upon himself to be that, it wasn't necessarily the Emperors role for them. But it might well have been, they did have the unflinching lapdog loyalty that would be needed.

 changerofways wrote:
As I see it:

Dark Angels- Promote ceremony and brotherhood
Emperor's Children- Promote greatness and the quest for perfection, to be role models
Iron Warriors- To wage siege warfare
White Scars- To hunt the more evasive and powerful enemies of the IoM
Space Wolves- To destroy entire civilizations
Imperial Fists- To design powerful defenses for the planets of the IoM
Night Lords- To teach the enemies of the IoM to fear mankind
Blood Angels- To act as the vanguard in battle, to sacrifice themselves for the IoM
Iron Hands- To explore the use of cybernetics and technology in the every day lives of the people of the IoM
World Eaters- Really they are a combination of the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and Night Lords. Not really sure what their unique purpose was.
Ultramarines- To oversee and administer the planets and resources of the the IoM
Death Guard- To wage chemical warfare
Thousand Sons- To research and perfect the use of sorcery
Sons of Horus- To lead other legions into battle
Word Bearers- To control the masses with the tool of worship
Salamanders- To perfect the art of craftsmanship, to build
Raven Guard- To stealthily eliminate the enemies of the IoM
Alpha Legion- Oversee espionage and Imperial Intelligence

The world eater's purpose was (according to the FW HH books) was to kill EVERYTHING, cull populations, massacre xenos in melee... and generally inspire fear and terror, and make examples (kinda like the night lords, but bloodier)

I thought the Emperor wasn't too happy with the sorcery with the 1k Sons?

He wasn't happy with how far Magnus went with it, because he knew of the corrupting power of the Warp. If he'd have told the Primarchs about that though...

 Talon of Anathrax wrote:

 changerofways wrote:
As I see it:

Dark Angels- Promote ceremony and brotherhood
Emperor's Children- Promote greatness and the quest for perfection, to be role models
Iron Warriors- To wage siege warfare
White Scars- To hunt the more evasive and powerful enemies of the IoM
Space Wolves- To destroy entire civilizations
Imperial Fists- To design powerful defenses for the planets of the IoM
Night Lords- To teach the enemies of the IoM to fear mankind
Blood Angels- To act as the vanguard in battle, to sacrifice themselves for the IoM
Iron Hands- To explore the use of cybernetics and technology in the every day lives of the people of the IoM
World Eaters- Really they are a combination of the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and Night Lords. Not really sure what their unique purpose was.
Ultramarines- To oversee and administer the planets and resources of the the IoM
Death Guard- To wage chemical warfare
Thousand Sons- To research and perfect the use of sorcery
Sons of Horus- To lead other legions into battle
Word Bearers- To control the masses with the tool of worship
Salamanders- To perfect the art of craftsmanship, to build
Raven Guard- To stealthily eliminate the enemies of the IoM
Alpha Legion- Oversee espionage and Imperial Intelligence

The world eater's purpose was (according to the FW HH books) was to kill EVERYTHING, cull populations, massacre xenos in melee... and generally inspire fear and terror, and make examples (kinda like the night lords, but bloodier)

I think of Space wolves as judge, jury, executioner for specific populations (governments). Where as the World Eaters came in when everyone needed to die. Population genocide as a better term isn't coming to mind.

The difference is that the Space Wolves are the Emperor's lapdogs, The World Eaters beat them in every field.
*Kharn Quote about the Space Wolves goes here*

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:

Hence why the Emperor punished Lorgar for wasting time building temples, and why everyone but Horus thought Alpharius was a goober for wasting time constructing elaborate strategies just to prove he could.

And then Alpharius planned the dropsite massacre, wrecked the Raven Guard, trolled the Khan, got his paws on MKVI armour and most of his Legion disappeared without a trace

Khonsu wrote:
The difference is that the Space Wolves are the Emperor's lapdogs, The World Eaters beat them in every field.
*Kharn Quote about the Space Wolves goes here*

Favourite Angron quote (From D4chan): "What would you know of struggle, Perfect Son? When have you fought against the mutilation of your mind? When have you had to do anything more than tally compliances and polish your armour?" [...] "The people of your world named you Great One. The people of mine called me Slave. Which one of us landed on a paradise of civilization to be raised by a foster father, Roboute? Which one of us was given armies to lead after training in the halls of the Macraggian high-riders? Which one of us inherited a strong, cultured kingdom? And which one of us had to rise up against a kingdom with nothing but a horde of starving slaves? Which one of us was a child enslaved on a world of monsters, with his brain cut up by carving knives? Listen to your blue-clad wretches yelling of courage and honour, courage and honour, courage and honour. Do you even know the meaning of those words? Courage is fighting the kingdom which enslaves you, no matter that their armies outnumber yours by ten-thousand to one. You know nothing of courage. Honour is resisting a tyrant when all others suckle and grow fat on the hypocrisy he feeds them. You know nothing of honour."

Choke on deez nuts, Papa Smurf. Guilliman could only quip this back before running the feth away:

"You’re still a slave, Angron. Enslaved by your past, blind to the future. Too hateful to learn. Too spiteful to prosper."

Their real purpose was...
To sell little plastic versions of themselves in the ancient past!

 ChazSexington wrote:

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:

Hence why the Emperor punished Lorgar for wasting time building temples, and why everyone but Horus thought Alpharius was a goober for wasting time constructing elaborate strategies just to prove he could.

And then Alpharius planned the dropsite massacre, wrecked the Raven Guard, trolled the Khan, got his paws on MKVI armour and most of his Legion disappeared without a trace

I agree. There definitely is a lot of terrible Alpha Legion fluff, but that's not really the topic here.

Just going to point out that the iron warriors hated the role they were labeled as, which lead to their resentment and bitterness of everyone else.

Every legion was shaped by it's early battles in the solar system and every primarch was shaped by their home planet, culminating in the traditional legion. We can see from the Night Lord series that curze was supposed to be an arbiter or judge, but how he grew up turned him into a vigilante/totalitarian character

 ChazSexington wrote:

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:

Hence why the Emperor punished Lorgar for wasting time building temples, and why everyone but Horus thought Alpharius was a goober for wasting time constructing elaborate strategies just to prove he could.

And then Alpharius planned the dropsite massacre, wrecked the Raven Guard, trolled the Khan, got his paws on MKVI armour and most of his Legion disappeared without a trace

Khonsu wrote:
The difference is that the Space Wolves are the Emperor's lapdogs, The World Eaters beat them in every field.
*Kharn Quote about the Space Wolves goes here*

Favourite Angron quote (From D4chan): "What would you know of struggle, Perfect Son? When have you fought against the mutilation of your mind? When have you had to do anything more than tally compliances and polish your armour?" [...] "The people of your world named you Great One. The people of mine called me Slave. Which one of us landed on a paradise of civilization to be raised by a foster father, Roboute? Which one of us was given armies to lead after training in the halls of the Macraggian high-riders? Which one of us inherited a strong, cultured kingdom? And which one of us had to rise up against a kingdom with nothing but a horde of starving slaves? Which one of us was a child enslaved on a world of monsters, with his brain cut up by carving knives? Listen to your blue-clad wretches yelling of courage and honour, courage and honour, courage and honour. Do you even know the meaning of those words? Courage is fighting the kingdom which enslaves you, no matter that their armies outnumber yours by ten-thousand to one. You know nothing of courage. Honour is resisting a tyrant when all others suckle and grow fat on the hypocrisy he feeds them. You know nothing of honour."

Choke on deez nuts, Papa Smurf. Guilliman could only quip this back before running the feth away:

"You’re still a slave, Angron. Enslaved by your past, blind to the future. Too hateful to learn. Too spiteful to prosper."

I find it amazing that arguably the best quotes in 40k for me at least come from such a straightforward legion as the World Eaters.

Khonsu wrote:

 ChazSexington wrote:

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:

Hence why the Emperor punished Lorgar for wasting time building temples, and why everyone but Horus thought Alpharius was a goober for wasting time constructing elaborate strategies just to prove he could.

And then Alpharius planned the dropsite massacre, wrecked the Raven Guard, trolled the Khan, got his paws on MKVI armour and most of his Legion disappeared without a trace

Khonsu wrote:
The difference is that the Space Wolves are the Emperor's lapdogs, The World Eaters beat them in every field.
*Kharn Quote about the Space Wolves goes here*

Favourite Angron quote (From D4chan): "What would you know of struggle, Perfect Son? When have you fought against the mutilation of your mind? When have you had to do anything more than tally compliances and polish your armour?" [...] "The people of your world named you Great One. The people of mine called me Slave. Which one of us landed on a paradise of civilization to be raised by a foster father, Roboute? Which one of us was given armies to lead after training in the halls of the Macraggian high-riders? Which one of us inherited a strong, cultured kingdom? And which one of us had to rise up against a kingdom with nothing but a horde of starving slaves? Which one of us was a child enslaved on a world of monsters, with his brain cut up by carving knives? Listen to your blue-clad wretches yelling of courage and honour, courage and honour, courage and honour. Do you even know the meaning of those words? Courage is fighting the kingdom which enslaves you, no matter that their armies outnumber yours by ten-thousand to one. You know nothing of courage. Honour is resisting a tyrant when all others suckle and grow fat on the hypocrisy he feeds them. You know nothing of honour."

Choke on deez nuts, Papa Smurf. Guilliman could only quip this back before running the feth away:

"You’re still a slave, Angron. Enslaved by your past, blind to the future. Too hateful to learn. Too spiteful to prosper."

I find it amazing that arguably the best quotes in 40k for me at least come from such a straightforward legion as the World Eaters.

Yep, God bless Aaron Debski-Bowden!

We will never know what the War Hounds were supposed to become. Everyone forgets that they only went bats&^t crazy because of the Butcher's Nails. We will never know the man Angron was supposed to be, only the man he was forced to become.

I am of the opinion, that the original Legions did not have a specific purpose in mind originally. However, when a said legion was reunited with its Primarch, that Primarch's natural personality influenced that said legions style of warfare as well as its customs and courtesies. The Primarchs themselves were forces of nature, and the direct genetic offspring of the Emperor.

Each and every Primarch developed in ways according to the environment and planet he was scattered to. As well as, each Primarch received his genetic heritage in different ways than his fellow brothers. Otherwise, the Primarchs would have all been carbon copies of one another.

 TranSpyre wrote:
We will never know what the War Hounds were supposed to become. Everyone forgets that they only went bats&^t crazy because of the Butcher's Nails. We will never know the man Angron was supposed to be, only the man he was forced to become.

he was proably supposed to be the soft spoken diplomat..

dunno why but the irony appeals to me.

To conquer the Galaxy? They were in the end tools of war.

Now reading the new Space Wolves codex, in the section 'The Primarchs' it says 'Each was created differently and with his own unique skills, powers, and in some cases, incredible psychic potential.'

And later in the section 'The Legiones Astartes' it says 'Thus the warriors of the 20 Space Marine Legions echoed to some degree the particular strengths of the Primarch whose genes were used to develop their own implants'

Surely this implies that the Emperor had specific roles and duties for each Primark and his Legion.

If their only role was to be as a simple 'tool of war' every Primarch would have been a copy of Angron instead of having their own diverse characteristics.