Alpha Legion: Homeworld: unknown
Battlecry: "For the Emperor!"
Colours: Midnight Blue and Silver
Primarch: Alpharius
The Alpha Legion were, ironically, the 20th and therefore last, Legion of the First Founding. Alpharius was the last Primarch to be rediscovered, and he was found, not by the Emperor; but by the Warmaster.
This ultimately meant that Alpharius spent very little time beyond an initial meeting with the Emperor, as the Great Crusade was well underway by then and the Alpha Legion was needed on the Eastern Fringes. This had a serious impact on his relationship with the Master of Mankind, and Alpahrius came to respect and admire Horus more than the Emperor, whom he saw as distant and uninterested.
The Legion had a reputation for iron discipline and for Alpharius' habit of testing his troops and officers with random tasks and assignments, frequently absenting himself in order to see how they would operate without his leadership. Alpharius' preferred tactics involved several, flexible plans, careful preparation and infiltration of the enemy to weaken their position before any assualt.
The Legion was known for it's initiation method; unlike most Legions, the Alphas conducted group indoctrination. While most neophyte Space Marines would be tested as individuals, the Alpha Legion recruits had to succeed as a group, and if one failed, all failed. This strong emphasis on unity served the Legion well; and continues to do so. Even after witnessing Alpharius' death at the hands of Roboute Gulliman on Eskrador the Legion held together and still roams the galaxy as a tight-knit force.
The Alpha Legion has no recorded homeworld nor daemon-world; Alpharius' death before the other Traitor Legions entered the Warp precluded his elevation to daemonhood. And it remains unclear whether the Alpha Legion even worship the Choas Gods at all. Certainly they have never displayed the mark of any patron nor have adopted the colours or tactics of one.
The Legion's favoured tactic is to sow dissent from afar. Propaganda is disseminated to a planet's population, cults are encouraged and supplied and Legion infiltrators poison water, blow up supplies and spread terror and confusion. This support of heresy and cults makes them a prime target for the Inquisition. On no less than 3 occasions, the Legion have been declared destroyed, but have re-appeared with no apparent loss in capability.
Before the Heresy, the Alpah Legion wore purple armour with silver trim and green icons and their symbol was a chevron, crossed with stylized chain-links to form an 'A'. Since then, they have adopted new colours and the Hydra as their emblem. The Hydra, famed in old Earth myth for growing heads where one was cut off, is symbolic of the Legion's indomitability.
Source: Codex: Chaos Space Marines, 3rd Edition by various
Submitter: Simguinus
Hive World Terra