The Helion Legion is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of Ultramarines lineage created during an unknown Founding. It is a fleet-based Chapter with no known homeworld.
Raised as they were from the vaunted lineage of Roboute Guilliman, the Helion Legion was founded to provide guardians for the furthest-flung Imperial worlds at the very edge of the galaxy.
Due to this isolation, the Helion Legion is often forced to confront those Imperial worlds who attempt to break away from Terra altogether as well as the omnipresent threat of Orks. Many fringe worlds have also begun to display signs of Necron awakenings as well.
Currently, the Helion Legion is defending the isolated Industrial World of Arkalli from multiple invasions by both greenskins and Nurgle's Plague Marines.
Chapter History[]
The Helion Legion stands resolute against its old foes -- the Orks -- during the Defence of Arkalli.
Though its exact origins are unknown, the Helion Legion has continued to faithfully serve the Imperium of Man throughout its existence.
A stalwart and dedicated Chapter, the Helion Legion is often isolated at the edges of the Imperium for long periods of time, working with scarce supplies and little reinforcement. The Chapter is forced to hold several far-flung star systems together through its efforts.
Facing the ever-present threat of the warlike Orks, the Chapter fights off wave after wave of greenskin raiders who seek to plunder these war-torn Imperial fringe worlds.
But the Orks are not the only threat the Helion Legion faces, for even now a new threat emerges on the horizon -- the ancient Necrons. Signs of Necron awakenings have begun to emerge on several of the furthest worlds in the sector where the Chapter is currently deployed.
Notable Campaigns[]
- Defence of Arkalli (Unknown Date.M41) - During the final solar decades of the 41st Millennium, the Helion Legion participated in the Defence of Arkalli. The vital Industrial World of Arkalli is located in the heart of a cluster of several Imperial worlds that lie at the limit of the Astronomican's reach at the galaxy's edge. When the Helion Legion arrived in the sector, news reached the Chapter of a large Ork WAAAGH! that had made its way to Arkalli to steal its machinery and resources for its own twisted Mekboys. It was with haste that the Chapter deployed to halt this menace and free Arkalli's people from the savage Ork occupation. The increasingly dire situation was further exacerbated by the arrival of a Plague Marine warband.
Chapter Organisation[]
Due to its engagement in almost uninterrupted warfare on the Imperium's frontiers for millennia, the Chapter's numbers began to dwindle faster than they could recover.
The Helion Legion was forced to take drastic action to restructure the Chapter in order to maintain its military readiness and commitments throughout its assigned sector of the galaxy.
The Helion Legion divided the Chapter into several self-sufficient companies -- each acting as a mini-Chapter unto itself -- with its own Scouts, Veterans and support forces. The Helion Legion now possesses seven such autonomous companies.
The Chapter's Grand Master often travels between his far-flung domains, along with his own company of warriors, recruited from the best that the different Battle Companies have to offer. These Veteran warriors are often fitted with the finest wargear the Chapter possesses, bedecked in all of the ornate heraldry and history that the Chapter can muster.
A typical Helion Legion company consists of the following:
Headquarters:
- 0-1 Captain
- 0-1 Librarian
- 0-1 Chaplain
- 0-1 Command Squad (Consisting of 1 Standard Bearer, 1 Apothecary, 1 Techmarine, 1 Company Champion and the Librarian and Chaplain listed above)
Elite:
- 0-1 Terminator Squad
- 0-1 Dreadnought
- 0-2 Veteran Squads
Troops:
- 0-3 Tactical Squads
- 1+ Scout Squads
Fast Attack:
- 0-2 Assault Squads (Only one squad is equipped with Jump Packs)
- Scout Bike Squads
- Land Speeders
- 0-1 Land Speeder Tornado or Land Speeder Typhoon
Heavy Support:
- 0-1 Devastator Squad
- Predators
- 0-1 Land Raider
- 0-1 Whirlwind
Chapter Combat Doctrine[]
The Helion Legion deploys to a backwater Imperial world, ready to face the myriad threats that assail Mankind.
Due to their limited resources and inability to call upon other nearby Chapters for reinforcement, members of the Helion Legion have learned to make the most of their wargear and surrounding environment for resupply when fighting the enemies of Mankind.
Notable Helion Legion Members[]
- Masakari - Masakari is a battle-brother of the Helion Legion who is an accomplished demolitions expert. He always keeps a Melta Bomb close at hand to deal with unexpected encounters.
Chapter Appearance[]
Chapter Colours[]
Helion Legion armorials. Top Row (from left-to-right): Tactical, Devastator, Assault and Veteran. Bottom Row: Ancient (Standard Bearer), Assistant Squad Leader, sergeant, and Command (captain and above)
The Helion Legion Chapter primarily wears black power armour. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest guard is bronze, while the skull at the centre of the Imperialis is silver.
Parts of their battle-plate are also silver, including the top and vents on the back pack, the top and ear protection on the helm and the trim of the shoulder pauldrons.
The inset of the right shoulder pauldron is white, while the left shoulder pauldron inset is black. The inset of the right shoulder pauldron worn by a Squad Sergeant remains black, but the colour of the cross on the displayed Chapter icon is instead white.
Unique to this Chapter is that its battle-brothers place their Chapter badge on the right shoulder pauldron instead of the proscribed place of honour on the left shoulder pauldron in accordance to the dictates of the Codex Astartes.
Unlike their progenitors, who maintain strict adherence to the Codex Astartes, members of the Helion Legion instead make use of heraldic symbols unique to their Chapter. These are used to designate squad type (i.e. battleline, close combat, fire support, Veteran or command). The white squad specialty symbol is located on the left shoulder pauldron.
A white High Gothic numeral is placed on the inset of the left shoulder pauldron next to the squad specialty symbol and displays the designated squad number. The left knee guard is white.
A black, traditional Codex-proscribed squad specialty symbol adorns the left knee plate. It is not known how the Chapter designates company number, if at all.
Due to their unique Chapter organisation, all Helion Legion Scout Marines receive squad specialty markings, like their full-fledged battle-brothers, depending on the assigned combat role.
Those who are assigned as snipers or heavy support wear fire support markings, while those Scouts equipped with close-combat weapons and Bolt Pistols are authorised close combat markings. In the same way, Scouts who are armed with bolters or shotguns display battleline markings.
While the Helion Legion's overall colour scheme is standard for most of the Chapter, there is one notable exception. Due to the relic nature and scarcity of the few suits of Terminator Armour the Chapter possesses, all Helion Legion Terminators leave at least one or more portions of their power armour unpainted or repainted to display Ultramarines blue as a way to honour their genetic forebears.
Those Veterans who wear Terminator Armour are also known to replace the Chapter badge on their right shoulder pauldron with a roll-call of previous wearers of their individual battle-plate -- each one framed differently -- as a walking memorial. This "Roll of Honour" is meticulously hand-written and carefully maintained.
Each battle-brother who inherits a suit of Helion Legion Terminator Armour from his fallen predecessor will add his own name alongside all those who have previously worn it before going on to avenge his fallen brothers on the battlefield.
When he, too, eventually falls in battle and the armour is retrieved and handed down, it is up to his successor to continue enacting vengeance in the name of his fallen brothers.
Chapter Badge[]
The Helion Legion's Chapter badge is a stylised, black, four-pointed cross, overlaying a stylised, red sun and centred upon a field of white.
Squad Sergeants wear a variant of the Chapter's badge, with the cross white and centred upon a field of black.
Trivia[]
The Helion Legion was created by the Games Workshop designer Steve Cumiskey to show fans how to build a Space Marine Chapter and was featured in the Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook for 4th Edition and issues 297 and 301 of the UK edition of White Dwarf.
Sources[]
- White Dwarf 297 (UK), "Drawing a Line - Echoes from the Warp" by Steve Cumiskey, pp. 18-23
- White Dwarf 301 (UK), "Into the Wasteland" by Steve Cumiskey, pg. 90
- Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (4th Edition), pg. 246
- Helion Legion Terminators by Steve Cumiskey