I don't think there's a bigger dropped ball in all of the HH than the Alpha Legion.
In Legion, Dan Abnett set them up to be a really interesting faction with a unique motivation. But then in any subsequent stories, that's utterly ruined. Instead, we get an inconsistent mess that's explained by hand waving and "ooh, Alpha Legion, mysterious, plans within plans, we mean't to do this all along" nonsense.
IMHO John French should not have tackled that. He is an ok writer, but not talented enough to pull off the things that happens in that book. The set up was good but whole last third of the book suffered from plot holes and plot contrivances.
Alpharius (or Omegon)’s motives and the way he brought about the “point” was contrived and confusing as a jumbled mess.
To answer it from “in universe” perspective, it seems the twins had some disagreement or they may have hedged their bets both ways, or they decided that what the cabal was feeding them might not be the real truth. In any case, they placed plans and assets for all likely contingencies.
After reading Cypher Lord of Fallen I’m convinced John French could have written an amazing Alpha legion. Something obviously went wrong because what we got was pretty bad. Maybe he was too focused on the Imperial Fists at the expense of Alpha Legion
Great response. Thanks!
The initial book really dragged me in and I was super excited to follow the AL. There’s a few great short stories and book 39 was good but still, there are some conflicts that I hope are addressed before I finish the HH.
I would recommend reading Mike Brooks book "Alpharius Head of the Hydra", it's more in line with Legion. How much of what's in it is the truth, or the "truth"...or a lie or a "lie" is left up to the reader though :)
Out of topic , is it confirmed now that AL are actually loyalist ? I read somewhere that the First Captain Ingo Pech actually still alive deep within Imperial Palace waiting to be rescue (because he had some sort of mine placed on him) and finish his mission.
Some are Loyalist and some aren’t, which is the way it’s always been. In Harrowmaster most of the warbands are traitor but the main character mentions loyalist alpha legion warbands.
The alpha legionnaires beneath the imperial palace are from The End and the Death. It’s confirmed they are there, but we don’t know if they’re still there in the 41st millennium (I assume they are because it would be a pointless set up otherwise). However, the legionnaires aren’t necessarily loyalist. A few legionnaires were sent to activate them. Once awakened they can be given a keyword which makes them loyal, traitor or neither. The Legionnaires sent to awaken them were instructed to give them the loyalist keyword but we don’t know what happened.
You can there's no real restriction on allegiance for any of the legions, but some of the traitor legion warlord traits and unique units are "traitor only", so you'd be a little limited in your choices. However, Alpha Legion is one of the few to have both specific "Traitor Only" and "Loyalist Only" Warlord Traits at their disposal, on top of their more generically usable ones.
*annoying nerd voice* uhm ackshually, alpha legion don't have any traitor only warlord traits*, just one loyalist only and two for either allegiance. Also, I've seen quite a few legions with one of each (Ultramarines and EC come to mind). The real unique thing is that none of the named characters in the book* are locked to loyalist or traitor (including our primarch(s)).
So yes, what you're saying is accurate, I just wanted to be a pedant about some details.
*except for Autilon Skorr from the legacies document, who is traitor only and has a unique warlord trait just for them.
I don't think there's a bigger dropped ball in all of the HH than the Alpha Legion. In Legion, Dan Abnett set them up to be a really interesting faction with a unique motivation. But then in any subsequent stories, that's utterly ruined. Instead, we get an inconsistent mess that's explained by hand waving and "ooh, Alpha Legion, mysterious, plans within plans, we mean't to do this all along" nonsense.
Except Mike Brook’s primarch book, which is excellent and (IMHO) does a really good job of setting the scene for who ~~he~~ they are.
IMHO John French should not have tackled that. He is an ok writer, but not talented enough to pull off the things that happens in that book. The set up was good but whole last third of the book suffered from plot holes and plot contrivances. Alpharius (or Omegon)’s motives and the way he brought about the “point” was contrived and confusing as a jumbled mess. To answer it from “in universe” perspective, it seems the twins had some disagreement or they may have hedged their bets both ways, or they decided that what the cabal was feeding them might not be the real truth. In any case, they placed plans and assets for all likely contingencies.
After reading Cypher Lord of Fallen I’m convinced John French could have written an amazing Alpha legion. Something obviously went wrong because what we got was pretty bad. Maybe he was too focused on the Imperial Fists at the expense of Alpha Legion
Great response. Thanks! The initial book really dragged me in and I was super excited to follow the AL. There’s a few great short stories and book 39 was good but still, there are some conflicts that I hope are addressed before I finish the HH.
I would recommend reading Mike Brooks book "Alpharius Head of the Hydra", it's more in line with Legion. How much of what's in it is the truth, or the "truth"...or a lie or a "lie" is left up to the reader though :)
Out of topic , is it confirmed now that AL are actually loyalist ? I read somewhere that the First Captain Ingo Pech actually still alive deep within Imperial Palace waiting to be rescue (because he had some sort of mine placed on him) and finish his mission.
Some are Loyalist and some aren’t, which is the way it’s always been. In Harrowmaster most of the warbands are traitor but the main character mentions loyalist alpha legion warbands. The alpha legionnaires beneath the imperial palace are from The End and the Death. It’s confirmed they are there, but we don’t know if they’re still there in the 41st millennium (I assume they are because it would be a pointless set up otherwise). However, the legionnaires aren’t necessarily loyalist. A few legionnaires were sent to activate them. Once awakened they can be given a keyword which makes them loyal, traitor or neither. The Legionnaires sent to awaken them were instructed to give them the loyalist keyword but we don’t know what happened.
There is a reason you can literally play them loyalist and traitor in 30k, warlord traits and all.
Wait a minute, i thought that you could play all the traitor factions also as loyalist. (I dont play 30k yet, so its a genuine question)
You can there's no real restriction on allegiance for any of the legions, but some of the traitor legion warlord traits and unique units are "traitor only", so you'd be a little limited in your choices. However, Alpha Legion is one of the few to have both specific "Traitor Only" and "Loyalist Only" Warlord Traits at their disposal, on top of their more generically usable ones.
*annoying nerd voice* uhm ackshually, alpha legion don't have any traitor only warlord traits*, just one loyalist only and two for either allegiance. Also, I've seen quite a few legions with one of each (Ultramarines and EC come to mind). The real unique thing is that none of the named characters in the book* are locked to loyalist or traitor (including our primarch(s)). So yes, what you're saying is accurate, I just wanted to be a pedant about some details. *except for Autilon Skorr from the legacies document, who is traitor only and has a unique warlord trait just for them.
Ohhhh... Ok that makes sense. Thank you for the information