Red Road to Terra edition
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>The Red Road to Terra is a brutal campaign of open war between traitor and loyalist as both sides rush to Terra to save or slaughter the Emperor of Mankind. What major battles does your legion fight in this campaign?
>At the onset of the heresy there is dissent among the legions. Loyalists have some among them who would turn traitor, and vice versa. How does your legion deal with this? Is there a selective purge a la Istvaan III?
>How would the Warmaster try to tempt your primarch to join him?
>How would the Warmaster use his Eyes on your legion? What paranoia would they prey on? What misconceptions would they fuel?
Since it was in the last thread
>can we use stuff like Angry Marines?
No.
What if it's really, really well veiled?
Also, how do Warbands work in this setting? Because Chaos "wins" there's less reason for the Legions to break up but there's also no reason for them to split down into chapters. I'm asking because I'd like to make some Chaos successor groups, but don't know how they would fit in.
Question: The Second Sons rule over Calixis-sector, the main setting of Dark Heresy RPG. Do the same ancient threats and prophesies that threaten that area in the basic 40k timeline still apply? If so, do the second sons combat them or let the populace be torn in madness and fall to hells untold?
Second Sons user here. I actually haven't read the FFG source books. What is there out there?
I had been thinking most of their territory is empty and basically devoid of life, save for token stuff that only serves to support them for the time being. Also radiation and poison based Nurgle Demons.
There are too many things to list, so I'll just give the biggest bad: The tyrant star and the prophesy attached to it. If you want, I'll go fetch the prophesy itself, but in nutshell, it is a black star that appears over worlds, brings madness and mutation and disappears. It is also, some sources say, the herald of the End that even chaos will not survive. Very lovecraftian in the lore surrounding it, Komus the Tyrant Star is largely a mystery left for the GM to decide the full nature of.
>The Red Road to Terra is a brutal campaign of open war between traitor and loyalist as both sides rush to Terra to save or slaughter the Emperor of Mankind. What major battles does your legion fight in this campaign?
Having been sent far far away, the Hawks are not involved.
How does your legion deal with this? Is there a selective purge a la Istvaan III?
Traitors would be few, but those without direct control of ships would be targeted by the Spectre Corps. Those who DID have control over a vessel would be top of the Hawks TO DO list, and by the M40 would have been largely hunted down. Any who have not would be considerable villains, likely some of the most dangerous and deadly of the Traitors alive.
>How would the Warmaster try to tempt your primarch to join him?
The Warmaster sought to play to Raydons sense of brotherhood. He sent him far away, and upon his return was going to frame the Loyalists as the antagonists in the civil war. Most of Raydon's closest friends were traitors and the Warmaster relied on his bonds to bring him over.
Little did he know that Raydon's Vigilator Primus had secretly attended and survived the Tournament of Blades. He reported back to Raydon what he witnesses securing the Hawks for the Loyalist cause.
>How would the Warmaster use his Eyes on your legion? What paranoia would they prey on? What misconceptions would they fuel?
Eyes would need to be chapter serfs, the genetic traits of the Legionnaires making infiltration into their ranks difficult in the extreme. They would prey on the confusion of a brother v brother conflict. Seeding disinformation, to prevent an accurate assessment of the situation.
>Warbands
Well actually there is, the Legions might concievably breakup because they like to be autonomous and the daemon primarchs typically isolate themselves post heresy.
>Battles during the Heresy
Let's see:
Xun and a delegation are on Cadia, but manage to get off-world. Hmmm. It seems odd that the betrayal doesn't really cripple any legions for the Heresy or kill and primarchs. Did something screw up the plan? I'm thinking that in the absence of another cause, part of the reason for the lack of success is that the Sky Serpents strategium has been preparing scenarios for Astartes vs Astartes combat, as they're aware of purges and Xun has heeded the Warmaster's warnings about Faustus. That and Xun required an understanding of how to fight Astartes to patch potential issues in his own forces. I'm also thinking that Anshul wants to take the time to talk Xun into joining the Chaos side.
Also, Cadia is decently close to Terra, so what stopped the loyalists from making a straight shot to Terra at full speed? Warp Storm?
Xun makes his best attempt to get to Terra, but has to swing out of the direct line to get there.
With Anshul in hot pursuit, Xun attempts to hide in the rocky and debris strewn Fenris system, where a short and inconclusive naval battle ensues. Xun is, however, able to outmaneuver Anshul and use this advantage to get to Paramar before the warp routes can be closed.
Battle Of Paramar-- Xun and company team up with the Mechanicum and a band of Negators in system for refit to stall the Asura advance. Xun manages to contact his legion and attempts to contact Terra.
What he does will depend on just how quickly the Warmaster kills the Emperor.
Meanwhile, Tepectitlan comes under attack from the Iron Hearts, and, on the opposite side of the galaxy, in the Segementum Tempestus, the fleet of Baqar Hadbaal comes under attack from their erstwhile allies in the Bloodhounds. Baqar defeats them and makes for Terra, in hopes of answers. En route, he hears disturbing rumors from small fleets docked for refit at a forgeworld, and, discovering the way to Terra shut, goes on a rampage before escaping back to Tepectitlan.
>What if it's really, really well veiled?
That's OK. Just keep in mind this is supposed to be a setting that's played straight, so things like the Angry Marines don't quite fit the tone. 40k in a general is a setting that's characterized by being '5 minutes to midnight', just on the cusp of the end of the universe. Imperium Asunder is five minutes AFTER midnight, where the world is already over.
>Warbands
It's very hard to hold together a whole legion of chaos space marines. Chaos is inherently entropic, and the legions break down very easily with one captain or another taking his men to do his own thing, especially once the primarchs start vanishing. The Warmaster manages to keep a close rein in the core worlds, but out in the chaos marches (the regions worlds outside segmentum solar but west of the firewall) loyalties twist from moment to moment. Plenty of room for chaos warbands
Well. I'll get to work reading more about it. The Tyrant Star sounds particularly interesting.
Alright, excellent. I had some ideas for Hounds and Sons warbands.
I might actually make the Tyrant Star an object of worship for one. It seems right up their alley.
>what stopped the loyalists from making a straight shot to Terra at full speed? Warp Storm?
>Anshul wants to take the time to talk Xun into joining the Chaos side.
Possibly a good use of Anshuls PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER would be the creation of a warp storm.
So are all the legions at least named or are you guys missing any? I'd be willing to try and start work on one or some other SM or CSM force.
>The battle for Malphas
Beginning as a joint offensive between the Undying Scions and the Negators to take an unwilling human world, Malphas was where the Heresy was first revealed to Sarco Funerus
>Betrayal at Armageddon
After retreating from the Negators to warn the greater Imperium of their betrayal, the Undying Scions made their way to Armageddon, where Sarco knew his brothers Gengrat Vannevar and Saul Sheridan were campaigning. Instead of a warm welcome, however, Sarco and his legion were greeted with a nuclear firestorm. Funerus dueled Vannevar over the blasted hellscape that Armageddon became even as Sheridan and his legion were corrupted to the service of Nurgle.
For the most part, the Legion remains loyal, due to a combination of placement and ideology. However, splinter groups do from, believing that Chaos must be harnessed to fight chaos. Many of these run off to join with the Warp Raiders, but for the most part, Xun reacts like Jaghatai did and sends them out as Sagyar Mazan.
>Tempting Xun
The Warmaster relied on a combination of brotherhood and lore to get Xun on his side. For this reason, he had Anshul try to talk Xun into accepting chaos, but Xun was unconvinced on philosophical grounds.
>The Eyes vs Sky Serpents
The Warmaster would be best off ramping up suspicion in the legion because the two are familiar with each other. They Sky Serpents had decent security, but were also quite capable of driving themselves insane. All he had to do was imply that there was a breech to get them to ramp up from Tacticool Operator security to full Romulan mode.
Here is the prophesy. Deleted first post because of accidental name tag.
XXIII In that place there shall be a gathering,
XXIV Among them will be the deluded, the damned, and the lost,
XXV They shall take their place beneath the light of a sun that shines not and whose power they will know not,
XXVI The herald shall return from that echoing and great place,
XXVII He will return and there will be great power with him,
XXVIII But his power shall be that of the lost and others, even the damned, shall know it not,
XXIX Fools will be his bearers, his coming will be the coming of ruin and death though it be not of his own making,
XXX And so with all in motley and blood the players shall wait and the darkness shall pour, clawing out of a dark sun and vomit darkness into the offering bowl.
Ha! Nyzart here.
In the canon universe this is exactly what Lorgar does during the heresy. He sacrifices billions of people in Ultima Segmentum to create the Ruinstorm, a massive warp storm. Part of Horus' pact with the Dark Gods is that they will allow him and his men safe passage through the warp despite the storms, allowing them to move with impunity and making travel dangerous and slow for loyalists.
I made collage of all the paint schemes
>The Red Road to Terra is a brutal campaign of open war between traitor and loyalist as both sides rush to Terra to save or slaughter the Emperor of Mankind. What major battles does your legion fight in this campaign?
The Angels fight in the eastern sectors of the galaxy in a campaign called the Great Hunt, where the Void Lords and Bloodhounds each claim the other has turned traitor. The Angels fight both forces until they can establish the truth of Graha'nak's claims.
>At the onset of the heresy there is dissent among the legions. Loyalists have some among them who would turn traitor, and vice versa. How does your legion deal with this? Is there a selective purge a la Istvaan III?
Any who dare suggest siding with the Warmaster or making peace are summarily executed.
Publicly.
By Alexios himself.
>How would the Warmaster try to tempt your primarch to join him?
He would argue that the Emperor is leading the Imperium toward doom and internal collapse.
>How would the Warmaster use his Eyes on your legion? What paranoia would they prey on? What misconceptions would they fuel?
The warmaster would fuel political intrigue, feeding military successes to arrogant and pompous commanders, assasinating good leaders who set aside personal squabbles, stuff like that.
>It seems odd that the betrayal doesn't really cripple any legions for the Heresy
I think you have a misconception. Thousands of loyalists die at the tournament from the artillery, crippling them. It's as bloody as Istvaan V
Nice. Didn't realize how much I liked the Oathsworn scheme until now.
I reckon the Negators could do with a ltitle more of that blue. Maybe on one of their fists, or on the top bit of the helmet that kinda sorta looks like a very small mohawk.
Pretty full up actually, feel free to read up on some and throw out some ideas on how to improve them though.
CSM in particular are pretty hollow.
Sounds cool.
Was not aware. Then I think Anshul should definitely do it, good way to show his power.
I agree though that very few legions seem "crippled" most seem very large post-terra.
Some still near 100,000.
Only the Blades and Hawks are down to >40,000 if I recall correctly.
Oathsworn are apparently pretty scattered and fucked up.
That said, the Legions have had just over ten thousand years to rebuild.
We have 20 legions but a large number of them are abandonware with nobody really writing about them, including. Pick your poison if you feel like writing, or maybe present new ideas for non-astartes factions like the Collective, Resurgent Eldar Empire, or the Void Dragon's slaves.
>The Bloodhounds
Chosen of Khorne, expert huntsmen, their homeworld is early modern british after a global communist uprising.
>Silver Spears
The user who OP'd them pops in from time to time but he's too busy to post regularly. Slaaneshi perfectionists, similar to Emperor's Children except their primarch is more like Lucius than Fulgrim
>Warp Raiders
Eldaraboo farseers and worshippers of Malal who farsee the best and worst possible outcomes of the Heresy and the Crusades afterward, trying to manipulate them with hit and run tactics to outcomes they deem desirable.
>Storm Hammers
Space Wolves except not so much vikings, more Gustavus Adolphus and Swedish knights.
>Judgement Bringers
Artillery specialists with daddy issues. Criminally underdeveloped
>Void Lords
Loyalist Night Lords who spend so much time drifting through the void between stars they're a bit cooky.
>Oathsworn
Their primarch is a master of genesmithing so they have lots of geneseed and consequentially lots of soldiers. Commanders are skilled apothecaries. During the heresy 99.99% of them die, the remainder swear oaths to various masters.
>The Behemoth Guard
Tzeentchy warpsmiths who make biomechanical monstrosities. Their primarch is dr jekyl and mr hide except both at the same time. Pic related
>>Warp Raiders
>Eldaraboo farseers and worshippers of Malal who farsee the best and worst possible outcomes of the Heresy and the Crusades afterward, trying to manipulate them with hit and run tactics to outcomes they deem desirable.
It's worth noting that they fail spectacularly and end up making things, much, much, MUCH worse.
Post legion Icons! Most of them are missing!
True, I had forgotten about the Oathsworn, but I was referring to immediately post-terra, not in current timeline.
There's lots of areas that need filling in on the wiki. Some Legions have a ton of stuff, others have very little, in which case feel free to jump right in and start making up things that Legion or a particular sub-Chapter of your creation did
The Legion has a few of them, this is the big one they put on the prow of a star ship or a land raider door.
>Judgement Bringers
Was orbital drops amidst the bombardment part of their schtick?
They could drop beacons amid the shells for accurate teleports after the preparatory bombardment.
>Void Lords
I'm thinking they've got a parallel with the Judgement Bringers. Big difference is that the Void Lords go in for terror and are rather feral about the whole thing, but also have no qualms, while the Judgement Bringers are fundamentally unsatisfied with their role in life, but lack the will to do anything about it. They both do the JUDGEMENT HAS COME thing, but the Void Lords have absolute faith in the Emperor and their animal totems and battle trance.
...
BRILLIANT
Here's my first iteration
>Grah'anak
I'm thinking he's another Tarzan-Primarch. Maybe an artifical world from the dark age of technology. Think Treasure Planet, tribes hunting through forests growing inside of gigantic, ruined machines.
It could be an abandoned forgeworld, maybe with parts still marginally functional, deep beneath the surface.
Grahanak fought dinosaurs and relic robots like Conan in Spess.
>Legion Organization
I'm thinking they were pretty fleet based, with a lot of distinct nomad predation fleets coming and going.
>I'm thinking he's another Tarzan-Primarch. Maybe an artifical world from the dark age of technology. Think Treasure Planet, tribes hunting through forests growing inside of gigantic, ruined machines.
>It could be an abandoned forgeworld, maybe with parts still marginally functional, deep beneath the surface.
His established 'homeworld' is the Void Lord, a massive space hulk.
I tried.
>sword pointing up with laurels
>sword pointing down with larels
opposites attract, brother.
Didn't even notice that, wow
I like it.
Alternate idea: something like the middle of pic related
The sigil of the seven archangels, which not coincidentally looks quite a bit like an Ankh.
Where are these being made
...
While I'm at it, a destroyer of the XIIIth legion.
thin your paints
Huh. That works too, I guess. Just seems at odds with the animalistic character I've been envisioning, unless it's a hulk filled with monsters and some scrappy survivors for him to lead in purging the xenos.
Is it a Ork rok style space hulk or is it an archaeotech dark age of technology star fort type deal?
I'm thinking a relic ship built into an asteroid infested with not genestealers would be pretty cool.
Like some of these maybe?
I'm not sure of much beyond that. Space hulks can certainly be pretty big, and usually have stuff living on them.
>Graha'nak finds himself on the !Nostromo
>small sustainable population of regressive humans onboard
>large population of xenos on board
>!xenomorphss that use hit and run tactics to sow fear and terror
>Graha'nak learns from them
>teaches the horrible monsters what fear really is
I'm 100% on board with this.
Yes. Very yes. He leads the humans in purging them and is half way to getting the reactor running again when the Emperor finds him and says 'dude, nice ship'.
I'm thinking the Void Lords have fewer ships than the Warhawks, but they're bigger and more heavily armed. More relic ships and more naval craft than the mass produced bombardment vessels of the Judgement Bringers.
Space hulks are BIG. They might not even have a true fleet at all, you could fit an entire legion in one of those bad boys. They'd probably just have some escort ships or something for support.
Yeah, that'd nicely account for everything. I also like the idea of him being unexpectedly philosophical. He wears his barbarism as a badge of honor, but is pretty pragmatic in it and has a code that he's perfectly happy to explain if he's ever asked. It's crazy, but he's thought about it.
Right, hence the question of whether it's a genuine space hulk or an old star fort built into an asteroid. Question of the amount of control involved and that sort of deal. And they would have had a legion fleets prior to linking up with the primarch, too.
>And they would have had a legion fleets prior to linking up with the primarch, too.
That's an interesting point. Maybe the legion is SIGNIFICANTLY different before Graha'nak shows up and teaches them the meaning of terror.
Little bit of column A, little bit of Column B. It started out as a star fort, but has since collected debris and devolved, but still has a semi-functional core.
Also, a little progress note on my current story about Armageddon and the fall of the Sons. I've decided it's gonna be from the perspective of a remembrancer. For what should be obvious reasons.
I like the idea that they don't have full control and the hulk just sort of drifts around, with them terrorizing the shit out of whatever systems it ends up in.
I can dig it.
I like that. What do we want them like before Grah'anak? Berserker? Sneaky dudes? Nice guys?
Do the old and new get along?
I think that's something that works best post heresy. During the crusade, they need to be able to campaign.
I also like the idea that Grah'anak is religious enough that it's not so much that he loses the ability to navigate so much as puts his course in the Emperor's hands.
I think it should be debatable in universe as to whether the void Lords appearance during critical moments in a crusade is due to their savvy and naval prowess or the will of the Emperor.
> want them like before Grah'anak
I say keep them as compliance & space bullies.
But then he gets there and shows them they are actually inefficient. Essentially ramps the terror tactics to 11.
>I like that. What do we want them like before Grah'anak? Berserker? Sneaky dudes? Nice guys?
What if they're sort of by-the-book, TOO by-the-book, and they pay for it with losses on a lot of campaigns, making them a comparatively weak legion. Then they find Graha'nak, who is all instinct and improvisation, and let go of their strictures and rules, embracing barbarism.
Like white guys in a black gang, the Terran Legionaires are even more tough and barbaric than those recruited from the Void Lord, because they chose the thug life instead of being born into it.
But everyone knows you don't choose the thug lyf, it chooses you.
Unless you're just so damn thug you force the Thug Life to bend over.
Anything I should do to flesh out the Undying Scions or Sarco Funerus more? Ya got any more of those prompts man?
I'm actually iffy on the Heresy. How long does it actually last from betrayal to the Emperor's death?
In canon, the heresy lasts for six years.
Yeah, but they need to fight their way to terra. In ours, the Warmaster starts there.
Anyways, I'm leading to questions of battles in the heresy.
A matter of months, no more than Ia year.
Adjusted for Warp travel I guess.
Largely because I don't think we need to stretch it out, likewise the Warmaster would strike hard and fast.
>Initial betrayal
>Red Road, many battles grouped together, a large delaying action from Loyalist forces as they try and reach terra.
>Battle of Terra.
--- (end of Heresy proper)
>Exodus
>Firewall
>Council of Titans
--- (technical end of unified resistance)
Well, we know that Sarco first learned of the Heresy on Malphas where he battled Aodhan for the first time. He then went to Armageddon to warn Gengrat and Saul, but Gengrat was already a traitor and Saul turned to chaos shortly after. I'm not sure what happens after that.
In canon:
Horus is tainted on Davin in 004.M31
The Battle of Terra is in 014.M31
The Scouring, the retreat of the traitors, lasts until 017.M41
So that's more like 13 years in total. Our heresy is shorter and bloodier, but not TOO short and bloody. Maybe ~6-8 years?
>In ours, the Warmaster starts there.
The Warmaster is allegedly present at the Tournament of Blades. He duels Klaus Staffel and loses. Both traitors and loyalists have to fight their way to Terra in a big scramble, each side trying to slow down the other without being slowed down themselves.
Traitors do reach Terra earlier than the loyalists though, and our siege of Terra is MUUUUUCH longer based on the new Oathsworn stuff. Canon siege is only 55 days. Oathsworn siege sounded like it took years.
>The Scouring, the retreat of the traitors, lasts until 017.M41
M31, obviously
Tell me more about Necrons and the Void Dragon's slaves among the Scions
Alright, what do you want to know?
Operation Iraqi Freedom was (intended to be) quick and decisive but it dragged on for a decade. Even regional wars take longer than a year, and galactic wars naturally take a lot longer.
Is there anyone 'in charge' of the hereteks among the Scions? Do they have secret lodge meetings in the deep burial vaults of the vigil worlds? Do they communicate at all, or does each void slave think he is the only one? Do they have any sort of structure? Do they have kickass grimdark ranks and titles?
OK, so let's pin down the Siege of Terra.
>Warmaster somehow pushes the increasingly tense situation between Luna and Terra into open conflict.
>Uses this to get close to the Emperor, as he heroically defends Terra with the aid of x, y, and z legions.
>Things are going great, he'll be able to take out all his enemies and run Terra with nobody catching on until it's far too late
>a warning gets through
>crap crap crap, he's stuck between remaining Oathsworn and the Custodes on the other
>legions are coming
>race to terra, the red road
>the Emperor is dismantling his Web way system to prevent Warmaster from unleashing chaos should he breach the palace
>Warmaster controls most of the outer palace, trying to breach the inner sanctum
>seige of Terra by the loyalists
>something goes down and the Warmaster gets in, takes out E-Money?
>loyalist retreat
So is the Warmaster masterminding the Siege from the inside the entire time? He spends the whole Siege inside the Palace directing operations outside?
The astartes members of the Necropolis Cult are dreadnoughts and techmarines to a man, because they are the only ones with sufficient implants to be influenced by the void dragon. Other members include techpriests. The Necropolis Cult is very secretive and generally only strikes when victory is assured. I like to think that corruption by the void dragon is not unstoppable and that sufficiently strong-willed dreadnoughts such as Idrias Stern can resist it. I like the idea of a secret undercouncil that runs all the heretek stuff in the Vigil, and none of the members know who the others are in case they get found out. Titles might be unique to individuals, such as Gravekeeper or Undertaker except not Undertaker because everyone will reference professional wrestling when he gets brought up.
Should I post the story with Sgt Marius again?
I dig it
Thinking further, this Warmaster is not someone people could love the way Horus was. Horus was Warmaster because he alone could get all of his brothers to work together. This Warmaster does not seem to have that skill. He is a master of manipulating others to do his will, but he can;t get people to willingly follow him. He is not loved (Perhaps he exemplifies the Latin 'Oderint dum metuant'), and certainly I expect many of his Brothers simply refused to follow his orders. When he was made Warmaster, the unity of the Legions probably came apart well before the first shot of the Heresy was fired, as Legion after Legion simply refused to follow his orders and the Emperor, buried beneath the Palace couldn't intervene.
There is no Warmaster. He's made up. Their primarch was never found. The Eyes simply created a fictional character to manipulate the legions. Different Eyes pose as him in different situations to keep people guessing.
>a secret undercouncil that runs all the heretek stuff in the Vigil, and none of the members know who the others are in case they get found out.
Awesome. Like the masked lords of waterdeep except with an actual reason to be masked. Sounds 2spooky.
The Leader of the Dark Imperium is actually the Emperor, turned to Chaos. The Eyes managed to imprison him, but keep up the charade of the Dark Imperium so that their brothers never find out and lose hope. As it is, they hope that one day the Crusaders will return and kill the Emperor, and so destroy the Eye of Terra.
How's this:
>the Undercouncil is a grim mockery of the High Council of Amaranth. While the High Council was founded to bring order to the Unyielding Vigil, the Undercouncil exists to exploit its weaknesses and widen any cracks in its seemingly impenetrable defenses. The members of the Undercouncil direct the guerilla forces of the Necropolis Cult in the name of their dark master, the void dragon, and remain anonymous to defend their peers in case they are ever found out. Despite the far-reaching consequences of their actions, very few even know of the existence if the Undercouncil, and fewer still have the wherewithal to uproot it from its hidden demesne.
Do the Scions have some sort of special anti-necron Inquisitial order to catch and question Undercouncil members? Do they even know the Undercouncil exists?
>The power of the Void Dragon is not unstoppable
Yet...
The clerics of the Funerary Guard are the main defense against the necron threat. Operating out of an abbey in the Felglare system, they also ensure that the traditions of the original Undying Scions legion will live forever in all if its successor chapters.
I like that. It certainly explains why the victorius traitor legions don't make the most of their initiative and why the traitors set up petty empires.
I personally like the idea of guys like Anshul flat out abandoning the plan in order to try and sway former allies. I'm thinking of Anshul dogging Xun all the way from Cadia and the two having a duel on Prospero after which Anshul decides not to crush the legion and despoil what will become the Jade Empire because he believes that Xun will accept his position.
Similarly, Gengrat goes off the rails trying to win over Saul. In his case, it kind of works out in the heretics favor, but not as Gengrat intended.
Meanwhile other legions just go nuts and let their vendettas drive them.
So at Terra, the Warmaster has his own legion, the Judgement Bringers, and presumably a few others.
Kashaln, Balthasar, and Aodhan prove difficult to control. Anshul is more interested in debating with Xun than burning worlds, but does manage to get his ass back in time for the final siege to summon daemons.
Gengrat is busy messing with Saul.
Meanwhile, the Iron Hearts are on a rampage, but are in it for themselves.
Maybe he also has a sizable contingent of Asura on Terra to fight the bio-engines of the Oathsworn.
Also I can see a lot of Silver Spears and Negators on board for the fight against Luna. There's also probably some loyalists on Terra being tasked with the assault, but they don't survive the campaign.
Meanwhile in all of this, Oramar and his boys are popping out of nowhere, sometimes with Harlequins in tow, and wrecking shit before vanishing.
As a result, the heresy takes a few years, but is relatively quick.
Basically:
>Luna Campaign
>Tournament
>Distraction actions and the red road to terra
>Three way war on Terra
>Siege of the Imperial Palace
>more red road and raids
>Siege of Terra
Perhaps the turning point of the Siege of Terra is Gengrat and newly minted Chaos-Saul arriving with their weary but still not irrelevant legions to relieve the defenders?
The traitor's War Effort would be very loose as a result. The Warmaster is certainly not micromanaging a grander strategy the way Horus did. It's every Traitor doing their own thing, with a few operating in closer support of the Warmaster but no co-ordinated effort against the Imperium. Really, if the Emperor had lived the Traitors would have been defeated far easier with far less damage to the Imperium as a whole due to how disparate their war actions were.
Hey fists here, Wanted to put together a list of gifts for each of the primarchs
Raydon Neratos of the warhawks
I gift the Neratos Blade
A sword that can change between regular blade, chain sword and razer whip. has a powerfield. Obviously master crafted
Raydon has many sword duels and in each focus on tactics and expert timing
thought this might fit
Engerand of the storm hammers
I regift the nine storm hammers
He aks the mechanicus to reforge his hammers when the emps finds him, thought id make each an Arc maul with a special thing
One of the primarchs, don't remember who, is deformed/crippled right? thought id make him a exoskeleton that helps him live
looking for some help with all that
Where are each of the primarchs at this time? are we all out crusading and have to take the red road? i was thinking Marcus would be on mars
going to go fix my wiki up a bit
i wrote this out nicer but accidently deleted the whole thing, i apologize for the crude writing
That makes a lot of sense. They force Sarco to withdraw and turn to Terra.
Too disorganized? It's also possible that the Warmaster is far cleverer than that and knows that many of his brothers have the attention span of a hamster on Crack and so let's them think that they're doing their own thing. And they are, but the Eyes have guys in all the legions and are calling the shots at the company level. The legion may follow the primarchs, but smaller forces are siphoned away to do the Warmaster's bidding. This is partially why Luna is such a big deal for him-- he wants those gene labs. He gets some of them intact, but not enough to really crank out his marines, so he goes with plan b and subverts other traitor legions to do his will, after all, it's not like Kashaln, Aodhan, or Balthasar would ever notice a few missing chapter's worth of marines.
Gengrat and Saul are harder to fool, but they're also more inclined to cooperate.
May i add a suggestion? Marcus remains on mars with much of his legion as such the warmaster sends one of the heretical legions to take mars and the fists. I'm thinking he sends one of the more tech savvy legions like the Behemoth Guard or Iron Hearts? They come in peacefully to help with tech development and make a place for themselves all before the Tournament. the whole time the primarch attempts to slowly turn Marcus to chaos and when the herasy begins proper the primarch comes to talk to Marcus one last time. Openly claiming to chaos and attempting to turn Marcus, When he refuses they fight and Marcus loses but manages to flee. Mars fights and Marcus dieing makes his final orders.
Pictured is a crude rendition of the Loyalists' reaction to Saul arriving at Terra after Armageddon.
I did sort out where everyone was once upon a time. A long gone thread.
I know Raydon was off to the East, racing back but arriving late.
He first joins in when everyone is fleeing, helping in the delaying action that allows the remnants to secure foothold while the Firewall cuts off pursuit.
So let's revise Xun's attempts to get to terra:
>Breaks from Cadia, ships retreating to the Fenris System to regroup in the comet belts. Anshul in pursuit, naval engagement.
>Infiltrators are sent down to Fenris to wait until they're clear to do sabotage behind enemy lines. Kill teams fight across the frozen wastes of Fenris.
>Xun makes it to Paramar. Teams up with mechanicum and some members of a traitor legion who are out of the loop and side loyalist. Massive battle in orbit and on the surface as the Arms of Asura try to take the surface to orbit batteries. Loyalists inflict heavy losses and the Arms are forced to withdraw. Xun manages to contact Tepectitlan and arrange for reinforcements.
>Warp storms worsen, and Paramar is prepared for evacuation, while Anshul links up with forces from the Silver Spears? To go after Xun. Xun is still trying to break through the blockade and there are several small battles in systems at the ring of the Segmentum Solar.
>Battle of Prospero. With the Astronomicon flickering, Xun makes for the reflecting caves of Prospero, to light a signal for his reinforcements and get a line on Terra. As he does this, his legion begins emptying the libraries. The Asura and Spears appear and attempt to disrupt Xun's ritual. Xun and Anshul debate the merits of chaos and withdraws. The decision is questionable. Anshul might have been able to kill Xun and take out much of his force, but reinforcements were inbound and odds were, he'd be engaged and vulnerable when they arrived.
>Still blocked, the Sky Serpents attempt a break-through and feints. One of those results in the Battle of Catachan, but eventually allies from Paramar manage to contact Ryza and a way is opened.
>Xun's fleet breaks the Siege of Ryza.
>Not sure what happens now. Maybe he makes it to Terra.
And then there's the Harrowing of the Jade Empire by the Iron Hearts
>before the heresy breaks put, odd raids begin on the legion's worlds
>scenarios for Astartes on Astartes are revised
>Terra-Luna Conflict begins
>Tornament
>Perpetrators of raids on Jade Empire are identified as rogue astartes.
>Rubinek strikes at various facilities, forgeworlds, cutting a path towards Tepectitlan
>Siege of Tindalos, the forgeworld holds off the legion, Rubinek doesn't have the time to crack their defenses and so has to withdraw after two months.
>Burning of Anshul's home world
>Raids occur across the sector, intensifying even as astartes are sent to reinforce Xun's break for Terra.
>additional Auxiliae are called up and sanctions on the Legio Cybernetica are lifted. Astartes command these units, but the defense of the Jade Empire is fundamentally thanks to the determination of its citizens, both human and mechanicum.
>Shadow Crusade in the Jade Empire
>When word reaches Rubinek of the loyalist withdrawal and Xun's impending return, Rubinek mounts a desperate assault on Tepectitlan. Xun returns and fights him in the capital city, in the Imperial Administratum. Xun tears out Rubinek's heart atop the pyramid and hurls it down the massive stairway before offering the heart to the Emperor Ascended.
(This scene is often reënacted on the anniversary of this event, which is a holiday, commemorating the legion's care for the people and the people's role in their own defense. In the act of recreating that fight, participants are able to stand with Xun, ideally learning their own capacity for courage. In practice, it's just a day for hammy fake fights and outdoor cooking.)
>One of the primarchs, don't remember who, is deformed/crippled right? thought id make him a exoskeleton that helps him live
Sarco Funerus is crippled and put in a dreadnought but it sounds like you're thinking of Rubinek the heretek Primarch of the Iron Hearts.
>i was thinking Marcus would be on mars
So the Sol system is in all out war between the Eyes and the Oathsworn with each claiming the other is a traitor. The Emperor is incommunicado. If Marcus is on Mars, what does he do? Current canon is that the Dragon Shard of Mars escapes during the heresy, so do you have any thoughts on that?
Actually, thinking about that, why does the Dragon raze Terra while it's there? One suitably large Shard of the Dragon annihilated several planets in 40k canon when it slipped it's tesserract leash. What's stopping this one from doing the same, assuming it's even bigger and badder.
>Battle of Catachan
>Aztec Marines vs Indian Marines
Awesome
>Xun tears out Rubinek's heart atop the pyramid
Metal as fuck.
Maybe it doesn't so much escape, maybe it's stolen by the Necropolis Cult? It's not free, but if it strains, it can touch weaker minds.
The third big deal thing that the Sky Serpents do is the Odyssey of Baqar Hadbaal:
>be Hadbaal
>be cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything
>fleet comes under attack by traitor legions
>chase them off and withdraw to a forge to repair and figure out what the hell is going on
>the forge in this case is a minor facility, an asteroid forge intended for remote resupply
>naturally it's turned traitor too. Hadbaal takes it, but once he has it and repairs of his fleet are underway, he sees multiple inbound fleets. Confusion ensues as he tries to figure out who is on what side.
>a traitor counter-attack soon shows who is on what side and Hadbaal manages to just hold off the raid. The forge is stripped and the loyalist convoy vanishes into the warp.
>for the next few years they raid the trsiror rear as they make their way around the edge of the Imperium, eventually making it to the Jade Empire via the Storm Kingdoms a year after the firewall went up.
Loyalists from traitor legions in Hadbaal's fleet are welcomed into the Sky Serpents.
I'll come up with some cool things for Hadbaal to do, as well as some weird allies for him, but he's kind of like a Shadrack Meduson, but instead of escaping Istvaan, he stumbles into a galaxy gone mad.
Compiling the timelines again, having failed to find the old post, and figuring that even if I did the old stuff would likely be different now.
SO!
Prompts. Help me fill in the blanks.
The [Events] are going to be major or minor battles / engagements / events.
>Propose a name of a battle which we can delve into later.
>Tell us in general terms where your Primarch IS at each important marker (ie: ToB, the beginning of the siege, the end of the siege, how they flee east (straight line, head north first, south, a notable planet they stop at etc)
>Who is their main adversary (legion/xenos) during each phase (tournament/red road/terra/exodus)
NOTE: They don't need to be fighting the Primarch of the legion every step of the way, or at all. There a plenty of Legionary fleets that can chase and even overwhelm one of the Primarchs forces.
I also intentionally cut the timeline shortly after the Imperial Senate is founded, because the sequence of what happens next is still up for discussion. So if you want to post ideas go for it, but it certainly isn't the main effort.
Fists here, The reason the Dragon escapes is because Marcus blows the shit out of mars while escaping. I've asked a number of times for someone to volunteer as my combatant on mars during the herasy, most recently here