This article concerns the Space Marine Legion rank. For the Space Marine infantry unit, see Centurion.
Luna Wolves Centurion
A Centurion was the generalised term given to the rank held by a senior Astartes line officer of the Space Marine Legions that was in use during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia. A Centurion served as a battle commander middle-tier line officer, as well as taking on more specialised functions which helped give an Astartes Legion its unusual operational depth and strategic flexibility. The actual name of the rank could vary from Legion to Legion, depending on its particular culture and traditions.
History
The ancient Legiones Astartes were composed of tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of Space Marines. As such, each Legion required a substantial core of leaders, champions and line officers. Whether one of these officers, generally called Consuls, were actually a Captain who commanded a company composed of a thousand or more Legionaries on campaign, or a Shield-Lieutenant given charge of a boarding party in a savage void battle, to have risen through the ranks of their Legion meant that they had already demonstrated their worth in the bloody fire of conflict.
Consul
Pre-Heresy Emperor's Children Legion Champion and a Master of Signal
The term Centurion was often used to represent one of the specialist officers of the Space Marine Legions, who were collectively referred to as Consuls, although this covered many different ranks and specialties such as the Chaplains, Fleet-Captains, Blood Chieftains, Vigilators, Legates and even the psykers who became Librarians. The following are the most common examples of officers of what would be considered Centurion rank found in the Space Marine forces of the Great Crusade, although many others existed in particular Legions:
- Chaplain
- Legion Champion - A Legion Champion’s sworn task was to hunt down and slay the commanders and heroes of an enemy force in single combat. Armed with the finest weapons available, these deadly warriors embodied the honour of their Legion.
- Legion Praevian - A Legion Praevian was a unique position within a Space Marine Legion who were often assigned as the commander of a cohort of Battle-Automata, the walking engines of death forged by the Legio Cybernetica and bonded in service to an individual Space Marine Legion. These cohorts were comprised of either Castellax or Vorax-class Battle Automata.
- Legion Delegatus - A Legion Delegatus was a mid-ranking Legion officer, such as a Centurion, tasked with a specific mission by Legion high command and formally deputised to act in all matters with the full weight of their commander's authority. As such, they could mobilise the Legion's resources to the full, deploy its assets and, if performing a mission of vital strategic worth, assemble a strike force of chosen warriors.
- Librarian
- Master of Signal - A Master of Signal was commonly attached to the forward elements of a Space Marine assault, providing communications support across the wider warzone, and was capable of calling down a pinpoint bombardment from either orbiting fleet assets or static artillery positions nearby, engulfing the foes of Mankind in flaming destruction.
- Moritat - A Moritat was an unofficial designation given to certain Astartes of the ancient Legiones Astartes who displayed suicidal urges and a blatant disregard for overall combat doctrine. Operating independently on the battlefield, these individuals were often employed as efficient shock assault troops and assassins. From its earliest days, the Raven Guard Legion employed more Moritats than did many others. The individuals assigned to this duty were often those considered extreme in their methods even by the cold-blooded Xeric (the original Terran members of the XIX Legion) and they were often used -- willingly -- to undertake missions from which they were not expected to return. This bygone rank no longer exists amongst the Adeptus Astartes of the late 41st Millennium.
- Vigilator
Wargear
- Artificer Power Armour
- Bolter
- Combi Weapon
- Volkite Charger
- Melta Bombs
- Combat Shield
- Refractor Shield
- Boarding Shield
- Iron Halo
- Jump Pack
- Space Marine Bike
- Legion Jetbike
Optional Wargear (For Centurion Terminators)
- Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour
- Combi-Bolter
- Power Weapon
- Volkite Charger
- Power Fist
- Lightning Claw or Pair of Lightning Claws
- Chainfist
- Thunder Hammer
Optional Wargear
- Volkite Serpenta
- Plasma Pistol
- Heavy Chainsword
- Charnabal Sabre
- Power Weapon
- Power Fist
- Single Lightning Claw or Pair of Lightning Claws
- Thunder Hammer
- Melta Bombs
- Paragon Blade
- Combat Shield
- Refractor Field
- Boarding Shield
- Jump Pack
- Space Marine Bike
- Legion Jetbike
Sources
- The Horus Heresy - Book One: Betrayal (Imperial Armour) by Alan Bligh, pp. 190-191
- The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Imperial Armour) by Alan Bligh, pp. 134, 137, 153, 280-281
- Forge World - Legion Champion and Master of Signal