Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 249 Ahriman's Idea
When it comes to outstanding war commanders, most people might first think of the three chosen political commissars, especially the old one-eyed Arek, who was a ruthless man who could go toe-to-toe with the chosen god of war, the Bone Demon.

Of the remaining two commissars, Kane and Gaunt, the former may not be very good at commanding battles, but his exceptional luck makes him one of the Empire's top war heroes.

Aside from these three, the Empire has many other outstanding commanders, such as the Lord of Creedburg, who commanded the Battle of Kadia. He is a top-tier commander who could be collected by Tarasin.

However, the reinforcements Chen Xi prepared for himself were not these 'mortal' commanders.

After all, they haven't undergone any modifications, so their combat effectiveness is indeed somewhat lacking.

Comparatively speaking, Space Marines are undoubtedly stronger as commanders.

However, due to the unique political environment of the Empire in the 40k era, Space Marines no longer served as military commanders for the Empire. Especially after the Battle of Badab, the High Lords' distrust of Space Marines reached its peak.

Of course, this cannot overshadow the exceptional military talent and command ability of an Astartes.

In fact, any Astartes has the ability to command a front in combat without any prior knowledge of the situation.

Even the World Eaters who were nailed with the Butcher's Nail were the same; they were simply blinded by rage and slaughter, not actually turned into idiots like their Primarchs.

However, when choosing a commander, you should choose the most capable one. Otherwise, according to the rules and customs of the Warhammer world, all sorts of monsters and demons on the battlefield like to duel one-on-one or seek to be beheaded by the commander. If you are not good at fighting, you will not be able to do a good job in the promising profession of commander.

Therefore, a commander may not necessarily be a good fighter, but a fighter who cannot fight will definitely not be a commander.

After careful consideration, Chen Xi took stock of his remaining pieces and selected four powerful men from the 30k era.

Although the chess pieces are not the actual individuals, but merely equivalents with the same abilities, Chen Xi felt that with these four's skills, leading the expeditionary force to resist the attack of the space undead was more than enough.

After all, the names of these four people are:
Sigismund, the first captain of the Imperial Fist, the best Space Marine in one-on-one combat, Abaddon's loyal brother, and Roger Dorn's beloved son.

Remus Ventanus, the fourth captain of the Ultramarines and savior of the Battle of Cos.

Azek Ahriman, First Company Commander of the Sons of the Thousand, Chief Think Tank of the Thousand Sons, Sorcerer Supreme of the Black Raven School, Primarch Assistant and Advisor, Ariman the Red Letter Releaser, a Prodigal Son of the Legion, and the Thousand Sons' true and dear elder brother.

Gavial Loken, the last Shadowmoon Wolf, commander of the 10th company of the Shadowmoon Council, one of the four kings of the Shadowmoon Council, the one who disfigured Lucius, the one who stepped on Karn's toes, the first Ranger Knight, one of the founding mentors of the Grey Knights, and the last Shadowmoon Wolf.

Each of them possesses unique skills, and their fighting spirit and patience are truly astonishing!
Apart from Ventanus, whose resume might be a bit lacking, the other three would have been top-tier Legion warriors even in the chaotic 30k era. Sigismund and Loken were even ruthless individuals who had fought Abaddon one-on-one and made him suffer a defeat.

As for Ahriman, Professor Alaman is one of the strongest psionicists in the galaxy besides Marco Polo, and perhaps even the strongest. Even though Chen Xi pulled out Professor Alaman from his Legion days, as the Supreme Wizard of the Black Raven School, his strength is still not to be underestimated. Even Mephisto might not dare to claim victory against him.

Although as a counterpart it may not be as powerful as the original, even if each piece only has 80% of its strength, it is more than enough for Chen Xi now, even more than sufficient.

So after reviewing his upgraded privileges, he immediately returned to the 3K era, pulled out all four pieces, and put them into the military chest as reinforcements for the Ash Knight.

In addition to these four company commanders, Chen Xi also prepared a team of followers for each of them. Xi Jianxian was accompanied by a team of Templar Brotherhood members from the Legion era, Ventanus was accompanied by a team of honor guards from the Ultramarines of the 40k era, and Loken was accompanied by the elite Gastalin Terminators from the Shadowmoon Wolves.

It's not that Chen Xi was unwilling to equip them with powerful combat units, but rather that Chen Xi intended to use these four as commanders. Their squads only needed to serve as bodyguards and did not require strong combat capabilities.

Of course, things were slightly different for Ahriman. Chen Xi provided him with three Supreme Wizards and a team of Scarab Terminators.

After all, Professor A is one of the strongest psionic wizards in the galaxy, so having three assistants would make it easier for him to unleash various powerful spells. As for the Scarab Terminator, he was simply a bodyguard assigned to him.

"I have already informed the four of the situation. Next, you will be in charge of taking over the four strike groups of the expeditionary force and commanding them to resist the attack from the space necromancers." In a conference room of the Ash Knight strike cruiser, Chen Xi was giving instructions to the four company commanders.

Although both are called company commanders, the company commanders in the Great Expedition era were vastly different from those in the 40k era.

Leaving aside the difference between the number of troops a company commander in the Legion era could command and the number of troops a company commander in the 40k era could command, the difference in the scale of the battlefield they faced alone was enough to make a company commander in the 40k era look far ahead.

Especially in the later era of the second army formation, the legion was split into battle groups, and most of the first generation of sub-battle group commanders were former company commanders from the legion era.

“This is a difficult task. We need more Astartes, Your Honor.” Ventanus frowned as he looked at the sub-sector star map before him and the territory of the Necromancer Dynasty marked on it.

“This is probably not an easy requirement to meet. We are now in the 40k era, which is fundamentally different from the 30k era. The Empire has abandoned the large-scale use of Space Marines in combat. This is all the troops we have at the moment. We’ll just have to make do!” Chen Xi also felt helpless about this. If he had enough Astartes, why would he need to find these few strong men to save the day?
However, he added, "I will try my best to ask the Empire for help, in order to gather as many Astartes and other reinforcements as possible. If the space necromancer invasion breaks out in full force, the Empire will send more reinforcements."

But we can't count on that for now; we must first organize a defense with our existing forces. Only after we hold out can we consider reinforcements.

Therefore, I entrust the command of the expeditionary force to you four. Please let me know if you need anything.

“Uh, I have an idea!” Ahriman raised his hand.

(End of this chapter)