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A Loyalist Legion Overseer of the Imperial Fists Legion.

A Legion Overseer was a centurion of the ancient Space Marine Legions tasked with commanding the mortal Human troops of the Imperial Army that served as auxiliaries and garrison forces for every expeditionary fleet of the Great Crusade and later with the Loyalist and Traitor forces of the Horus Heresy.

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A more detailed look at a Loyalist Legion Overseer of the Imperial Fists Legion.

The bygone Legion rank of consul was often granted to a centurion and collectively they were referred to as the Legiones Consularis in High Gothic, although this covered many different ranks and specialties. Consuls like Legion Overseers served as both officers of the line and experts in their particular tactical specialty, in this case making the most use of mortal troops.

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A Traitor Legion Overseer of the Sons of Horus Legion; note the Daemon-inspired helm and the power whip used to "motivate" the Legion's mortal allies through fear and pain.

Once a Space Marine of the Legiones Astartes reached the rank of centurion, they were given specialist responsibilities and perhaps a fancy new title. Overseers were placed in charge of the Legion's unaugmented Human allies of the Imperial Army and later their allied Chaos Cults if they were Traitor Legions, and their ability to factor Solar Auxilia, Imperialis Auxilia and eventually fanatical Chaos Cultists into Space Marine battle plans became increasingly vital as casualties mounted during the Horus Heresy.

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A more detailed look at a Traitor Legion Overseer of the Sons of Horus Legion.

Loyalist and Traitor armies both employed Overseers to command their mortal auxiliaries, but their methods of motivation sometimes...differed. Particularly brutal Overseers saw no issue with lashing their subordinates, wielding wicked power whips to instill discipline in rowdy cohorts of mortal Traitor soldiers.

The element of fear is a powerful tool in any Overseer's arsenal, and Traitor Overseers were sometimes decked out with a terrifying (borderline Daemonic) mask to put the fear of Horus himself into any mortals with funny ideas. Their power armour was less ornamented than that of their Loyalist counterparts, but the message delivered by their excess of skulls and chains was no less clear to the mortals under their command -- obey.

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