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What can anyone tell me about World Eaters tactical formations pre-heresy? Working up background for a character in my army. Terran born ex World Eater who didn't get into the mad butchering thing.
Figuring he ran a tactical company and covered for the assault troops.

For what it can be read in Betrayer (which it's maybe not the best example for non-raging world eaters, but they're pretty rare XD) After an orbital descent, they were divided in companies with 1 aphotecarian and 1 psychic each. As the butcher nails were extremely dangerous and harmful for the psychic, they're really scarce in the troops, adding the typical reluctant spirit of the legion to this problem, which makes them to be always alone in battle, or grouped only with their kin.
Apart from that, almost all the strategy of the World Eaters is melee combat, running towards theirs enemies with a formation based in "which ones of them run faster" -which is not a formation at all imho-.

Finally, before the battle, they're usually covering flanks in a team position similar to the one that a pack could have, so I suggest you to check the space wolfs formation, as they seem to be pretty similar, at least in the books. One extra reason for this is that they basically dont like to be near between them, as they dont want to harm each other with the butcher nails singing, so they always have a prudence distance and never go too close even in smaller spaces.

I hope this can enlighten you a bit. For more "in depth" info, I would suggest you to read the book, if you have time. It has a lot of details of how do they fight and perform in battle and, as Kharn is still more or less "sane" in that book, you can read too what they SHOULD be doing in battle, no matter what they do in the end.

Have fun!

To add to what was said above, I get most of my info from Betrayer as well, and this is what I took away:

The World Eaters, when they were The Warhounds, weren't especially different than the other legions, with all of the normal tactical/support/devastator type units.

This changes after Angron is located and they become the World Eaters. At first, only Angron has the "Butcher's Nails" implants, and it makes him difficult to understand for his legion. Wanting to grow closer to him, they begin voluntarily having crude versions of the nails put in their own brains, and in time it becomes accepted that this is what everyone will do. The librarians cannot, as they cannot control their powers with the pain engine in their brain, so they fall from favor and are viewed with distrust, before being eventually purged entirely.

Kharn, in the novel, frequently curses that discipline can no longer be maintained. Regardless of battlefield role, World Eaters with the Nails would tend to lose all cohesion and plunge into the enemy recklessly. He views this as degeneration, a weakness of the Legion, not a strength.

A lot of other World Eaters might have felt the same way. They might have been excluded, demoted, even betrayed in the end. If your story is set during the Heresy, then its entirely possible they haven't yet had the implants. If looking for a post-Heresy explanation, your character might have bolted around the time Angron became a demon prince and began demanding Legionnaires build him a throne out of crew members. Alternately, they might simply have received a faulty implant, and the nails don't function, denying them the chance to be close to their Primarch.

So, according to Betrayal (the big black book), the Warhound Legion indeed followed the terran way of war, the Principia Belicosa.
However, it is stated that, even at the beggining, they were biaised toward infantry assaults.

It is stated that predators tanks aren't as common as in the others legions, and not used as infantry support but "in roving hunter killer squadrons [...] tasked to destoy ennemy armour and targets of opportunity".
However, amoured assaults / warfare is still used by the Legion, and well used (apparently, Ferrus Manus himself praised the 12th Legion for this, once).

With the coming of Angron, pit fights and gladiatoral combats became a thing. The Terran culture disapparead easily and quickly.
One could challenge its officer to death, to get its rank.
Discipline had always been harsh (as the War Hound were already violent and warm blooded), but it became even harsher.
Training became "as real as war itself".
Competition and conflict were apparently everywhere and everywhen, "the only measure and only judge".

Angron understood the importance of a structured Legion and command, but wanted to keep it simple and easy, streamlined.
"Its echelons (as its Chapter-levels structures were named) being biaised in make up toward line infantry formations.
These were by their panoply and tactics a hybrid of tactical/close assault troops fot the main part, supported by dedicated heavy assault units such as terminators and specialized units suche as land speeder squadrons."


At the beggining of the Great Crusade, when they used to fight alongside others legions, they were used as shock troops, or used to provide the killing strike, breaking impasses in a single attack.

There favorite tactics is described as the following: sending a first wave of numerous WE (mainly by drop pods) directly on a large concentration of enemies without preamble or manoeuvre, in order to:
1) get the ennemies pinned
2) reveal areas of high resistance

The the second wave, heavier and more armoured (titans in the example of the book) comes (several hours later in the example of the book) and destroy them, The ennemies is thus vulnerable, having lost their best tanks, best soldiers etc send to finish the first wave, but crushed by the second wave
Very high casualities endured however.

Observed strategic tendencies:
Shock assaults
planet-kill
zone mortalis (boarding, line breaker attacks)
close quarters assaults

In short, they were a Legion as the others (heavy support, strategies, even psykers, etc...) "considerably biaised toward direct assault" and aggressiveness (even vehicles crews had chainblades).
But as the Heresy progressed, they degenerated.
It may helps you, but as the events of Istvaan III are described, it is noted that some World Eaters still do not have the butcher nails (but they are "precious few" such individuals at that point).
And those aren't necessarly the ones betrayed (and the WE with the butcher nails aren't necessarly the ones who sided with Angron and Horus).

The first thing I specifically remember reading about the World Eaters was in book 3 of the Horus Heresy series where just before the assault they cut open their own hands and smeared the blood down the front of their helms. Totally awesome