I much prefer XIV's as, like others have stated, the Legion is very flux poor, and very slow. With reinforced bulkheads or heavy armor it can substitute as a frontliner, but will easily fall to a stacked remnant or any other stacked endgame fleet in protracted front-line fire. It shines in a spot where supporting cruisers (I use eagles and falcons) can pull in front to soak a few hits and deal some damage while they passively vent. It cannot take on enemy capitals 1 on 1. That being said, the legion is by far my favorite vanilla ship.
The reason the XIV is preferable to the normal variant is that it trades those high flux-cost large ballistics for potentially zero flux-cost large missiles. Generally, I run a locust and a squall as the 2 large missile mounts and maulers for the 2 side mediums. The front medium is a dual-flak, the 2 front smalls are railguns, and the rest are filled with vulcans, usually leaving the 2 back small mounts empty, leaving the locust, smaller support ships, or nearby capitals/cruisers to deal with PD.
For fighters, I use 1 of 2 combinations. 1 broadsword and 3 piranhas if I want the OP for a more combat-focused Legion (ITU, reinforced bulkheads, flux distributor), or 1 broadsword and 3 daggers for a more carrier-focused legion (ITU, flux distributor, expanded deck). I've had amazing results with both set-ups, and the Legion is most definitely one of the most versatile ships in the game.
I run very carrier-heavy fleets, when I have 2 astrals I put the daggers on them because of their recall, and leave piranhas on the legion due to their lack of fighter-focused ship bonuses, allowing the legions to act as semi-frontliners with reinforced bulkheads. I generally run 1 or 2 herons as well with sparks and whatever other fighters/bombers would compliment my current fleet. I don't use drovers.
