[40k] Great Crusade Imperial military organization

Post by **NecronLord** » 2008-07-13 03:46am

DocHorror wrote:
NecronLord wrote: Corax is pretty much Spartacus, in spaaaaace.
You mean Angron.

Nah, Angron's much more of a loony than Spartacus. Corax was also a slave-rebellion leader, and rather more sane than Angron.

Cykeisme · Post by **Cykeisme** » 2008-07-13 08:38am

Angron was a gladiator, wasn't he?
What fictional or historical character most closely resembles his background?

Post by **NecronLord** » 2008-07-13 10:34am

Cykeisme wrote:Angron was a gladiator, wasn't he?
What fictional or historical character most closely resembles his background?

Spartacus (well, as a major historical figure; any of a number of more violent and less notable rebel commanders in the same war would probably suit Angron more accurately) is obviously the inspiration, however, that doesn't preclude more than one character from being based on the same source. Corax is also a tactical genius slave-rebllion leader, with similar success (in fact, Corax had more success than any real slave rebellion has ever had, alas, Corax was on the verge of conquering Khaivar anyway) The only fictional or historical characters that spring to mind that more closely resemble Corax, in the obstacles they dealt with and their methods are the leaders of the most successful gulag revolts. He's certainly not 'batman' by any stretch of the imagination, so much as a tremendously successful guerilla leader.

Falkenhayn · Post by **Falkenhayn** » 2008-07-13 02:13pm

The back button on my browser has eaten two essay length posts on this subject. My thinking keeps coming back to the idea of the Commitatus, and how the Emperor forfeited his position as a great captain to quite necessarily, work on the administration the Imperium, and put the Primarchs between him and the Astartes.

Morilore · Post by **Morilore** » 2008-07-13 10:56pm

Stormbringer wrote:
Morilore wrote:That's stupid. This idea supposes that the Primarchs are somehow indispensible, or so valuable that giving them absurd power is somehow worth the risk, even though the Imperium got along fine without them for several decades.
They were indispensable if the Emperor's plan was to go off right. They were meant to the be the incorruptible, demi-god commanders that they turned out to be and unfortunately there was no back up possible. It was a one time roll of the dice and the Emperor took the gamble because he had to have some one leading it in his stead. He couldn't lead from the front forever and pursue his plan. After all, there is only war and it was going to go one for millenia.

Why exactly must the commanders of the military be incorruptible, demi-god superhumans? Why not just have an extensive and redundant security service monitoring ordinary human commanders at all times?

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-07-13 11:01pm

Morilore wrote:Why exactly must the commanders of the military be incorruptible, demi-god superhumans? Why not just have an extensive and redundant security service monitoring ordinary human commanders at all times?

The trouble as I see it, was that checks and balances within the system were getting subverted as it is. By the time the rebellion finally erupted, even well meaning officials who tried to report excesses were getting assassinated. A really big problem was the issue of excessive hero worship which resulted from the charisma of the Primarchs and the indoctrination of the Adeptus Astarte. If you are going to have a security service to moniotr all the human commanders, you better have a force equal to the Astartes, or you risk having a firefight. Then the next question that comes up will be: Who will monitor the monitors?

Morilore · Post by **Morilore** » 2008-07-13 11:28pm

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:The trouble as I see it, was that checks and balances within the system were getting subverted as it is. By the time the rebellion finally erupted, even well meaning officials who tried to report excesses were getting assassinated. A really big problem was the issue of excessive hero worship which resulted from the charisma of the Primarchs and the indoctrination of the Adeptus Astarte. If you are going to have a security service to moniotr all the human commanders, you better have a force equal to the Astartes, or you risk having a firefight. Then the next question that comes up will be: Who will monitor the monitors?

Well yes, there are all these issues; having your generals built with such powerful charisma that men literally fall to their knees and lose control of themselves when they enter the room (a la Horus's entry in to the EC ship in Horus Rising) exacerbates them all, by making it even more difficult to speak truth to power.