Warmasters' Triumvirate XII

Just a quick note, you're gonna be filling in a loyalist slot.

By the time the Ruinstorm finally drops, the Siege of Terra is already over, correct?

>Just a quick note, you're gonna be filling in a loyalist slot.
Probably.

>Zelbezis is actually built around the idea of becoming a head of state. That already puts him way ahead in my book.
Rokuten conquered his planet.
>Plus, I feel like a Warmaster's legion should be slightly more vanilla. The Ogre Legion's Samurai theme is too prominent for me to consider them a good fit for Warmaster.
In my opinion, the Legion's theme doesn't matter.

Unless they're the sep Warmaster. Then by all means. That was the allure of Gregoire in my opinion. Xun would have made a great revolutionary Warmaster.

Xun would have, yeah Gyahdred doesn't have the incredible charisma.

Most Primarchs conquered their planet. That's not really a big deal. Rising to the role of tyrant and having to rule with an iron fist is part of Zelbezis' thematics, which makes me think he's a far better choice for Warmaster.

He should keep in mind that he's gonna fill the Pillars' slot, so yes, probably.

>That's not really a big deal. Rising to the role of tyrant and having to rule with an iron fist is part of Zelbezis' thematics, which makes me think he's a far better choice for Warmaster.
That's not a very big deal either. It's pretty much the same thing.

That has not been answered. I would say no, because HOW and WHEN are we going to get a three-way brotherwar if one side is passive at the point of the third faction reconnecting with the rest?

If the heretics are defeated before the Revolutionaries return, then it's just them vs. loyalists. If the Revolutionaries just stay in their space, then it's just loyalist vs. heretics. If the Emps actually got axed, then the loyalists disperse and it's just heretics vs. revolutionaries.

In a way... Shouldn't the Siege of Terra end in basically a race between Heretics and Revolutionaries/Separatists of who gets to the Throneroom first and they basically shit eachother's shit up along the way?

The "Escogidos": These are the best melee fighters in the Legion. They are part of Linares' retinue, and go with him to everywhere he goes. They carry power weapons and shields. The shields are a metaphor: a shields usually means protection, and as the Primarch's honour guard, they have to protect him (He doesn't needs them, but they carry them nonetheless) They are few in number, but highly effective.

Also

Kadir is in Ultima Segmentum. That means that, probably, is being cut from the Imperium itself. How do we manage this?

>Note: Kadir is not moving
>Another note: It's not falling, either

But the problem is, that if the Brotherwar goes 3 ways immediately, that means the Imperium goes full Ecclesiarchy in only a few short years, which would lead to certain Primarchs, Raj anyway, abandoning the Imperium and going with the Seps.

It could work if we really put emphasis on the Seps hating the fact that humans are now running the Imperium, and not as much on the abandoning of the Imperial Creed. In fact, much like in canon, the Ecclesiarchy shouldn´t rise up until after the Heresy.

Kadir being taken by the Seps is the only real solution I see for it.

I don´t know what are talking about. I say, let the guy specifically intended to become a tyrannical ruler become the tyrannical ruler. I get it, your dude has been given the role of Warmaster, for some reason, and now you´re digging in your heels, but whatever man. I wanna see what other people think about this.

It seems the only reasonable solution...
Maybe, if the Titan Marchers go Seps, they could let the Silver Blades be there and not fuck too much with them. After all, they were close battle—brothers.

>I say, let the guy specifically intended to become a tyrannical ruler become the tyrannical ruler.
But that's pretty much Rokuten as well.

The Veterans of the First and Third
These two chapters were chosen to be with the expeditionfleet of their primarch. Their veterans are now routinely chosen to escort their primarch on missions.

I never got that impression off of him. Rokuten is the HONORABRU Samurai warrior, that's his 'thing'. Zelbezis' 'thing' is being a tyrannical dictator. Pretty much all Primarchs have something in their backstory related to how they're great leaders of men and the like, but that's not special at all. Zelbezis is the only one where it's a core part of the character.

Yeah, but I don't want them to go Sep. Him dying while protecting the Imperial Palace riding a Titan is literally the first idea I had for the guy, before anything else.

The route of Astartes not wanting to let common humans be in charge should definitely be our choice. It makes the Revolutionaries engaged in combat, and takes away the goodguy appeal they'd have if it was about shutting off the ecclesiarchy.

As for the religious angle within the Loyalist Imperium, I say that the cult surrounding the Emperor isn't a fully organised force and that it is mostly through Yochin that they have a voice, at all. Like it's a bunch of contradictory confessions and interpretions with a very rough core ideal. They are a strong voice, but not a monopoly yet, which leaves enough room for Raj to try and uphold the ideals of the Imperial Truth.

Seriously dude. Seperatists. Not Revolutionaries, Seperatists.

Other than that, I agree with your post.

Iron Guard user here. Initially, I planned on having Zelbezis be a right-hand figure to a more sociable Warmaster - a role Grégoire filled perfectly. But now... Rokuten doesn't strike me as having the necessary presence, though that could just be me not reading his character correctly. Gyahdred, my personal choice for a SepWarmaster, suffers from the same, being a non-religious Lorgar to our warmaster.

Zelbezis as warmaster would however be interesting in character development, having to lead Valorn and Piter while representing the kind of order they always fought for.

Tangentially related, just listened to the Binary Succession, and man is the council of Terra full of petty fuckers. No wonder the separatists fucked off.

How are they going to be "separate" if the goal is to take over the Imperium and cleanse it from the corruption of lesser humans?

I mean it was brought up: Post heresy, they wanna do their own thing. Be remote from the Imperium they feel is beyond hope. Fair enough.

But being a Separatist, with separatist emotions and goals, is not going to lead to a three way brother war. "Revolutionary" may be the wrong name, either, I admit that, however a more appropriate name eludes me.

As we're going the "baseline humans a shit" route, how about Supremacists?

The way I took it, the Seps' primary goal is independance from the Council of Terra. They'll start off simply wanting to 'seperate'. Once shit starts going down they might head to Terra, but mainly to cause the Imperials to capitulate.

Better. I've grown way too accustomed to calling them Seperatists.

The first mention is out of place, I was talking about Kadir entirely.

Yes, I know what do you mean...maybe the Post—shitstorm Marchers go seps...don't know. They are your Legion, after all.

Kadir is going to be a pain in the ass of the seps

Oh, yeah, totally, the Siege of Kadir would be dreadful, but it'd have to burn eventually.

And no, after Raj the Marchers can stay loyal. Without a Primarch, a legion is much easier to influence. They'll think that, since Raj died for the Imperium, they should stick with it.

It would bring about some implications on how strong their support with their own non-astartes personnel is. We can override this to a degree, I still wanted to mention that.

>Primary goal is independence from Council of Terra
This, I have to say, is arguable. Whenever I wrote any ideas regarding this issue, I have tried to bring it across as a matter of [ThirdFaction] trying to rebuild their prominence in the Imperial politics, and I have refuted any other option. I may be alone in this, though.

So, apart from "Supremacists", what other options do we have to name them? "Usurpers"?

I'm still in favour of "Revolutionists"

I like the idea of them being a political movement at first, that´s how they get Primarchs on their side in the first place.

Once it comes to war, they want to be seperate, because they doubt they can take Terra. Then the Traitors show up, and they realise they can take Terra.

Saw people talking about what the Separatists would actually call themselves. Brainstormed a few ideas.

Imperio/Imperium Ultima (because Ultima Segmentum)
Imperio/Imperium Vitae (because their empire is still "alive")
Crusade Eternal
The Great Crusade (fuck all yall who gave up we still in this bitch)
The Eastern Lords
Eastern March
Unbroken Worlds
Union of Man

Thoughts?

>Remain the Imperium of Mankind because fuck those guys squatting on Terra lololol

I always figured the 3-way war was mostly the 10,000 years of endless combat between all sides where none can get a lag up on another because of the third, not a literal flooding of three armies onto one planet/sector/group of sectors for some giant brawl.

Which I could only imagine going Chaos' way since after all, a 3-way fight is nothing *but* chaos unless one party can take the other two at the same time comfortably, lol.

But perhaps I've misinterpreted what everyone was going for in that regard.

Trying to overthrow the existing government to take their place is a political movement, though ;_;

I disagree about them not wanting to go to war initially. They got seven Astartes legions, they have the largest segmentum under their boot with tons of potential cannonfodder in the form of human auxiliaries. They were isolated through a warpstorm and when they reconnect it's like they see a loved one again they thought was dead. They're pissed that Terra is in unworthy hands, and they want their loved one back and unspoiled. So they take whatever they prepared in military power and just fucking go for it like Rambo.
That's how I always viewed it.
Ultima Smegmentum lololol I know i'm filthy but also a comedy genius

I think Imperium Vitae is probably most in line with my vision of the whole project so I'm casting my lot for that one.

I think we're getting to the case here. As far as I was concerned, and I think Xun reinforced that position as well, we were all focused on the timeline of the Horus Heresy and filling it with our custom ideas. I suggest we focus on that, because it keeps us contained and helps us be more focused on the project. 10'000 years is a hell of a timeline to fill and invites a lot of people straying into details that don't help build the general narrative.

Eventually, yes...or we can have a Cadia v2.0.

>Cadia eventually fell

Well...maybe just being ignored. Neither the IVth nor the Seps attack each other, so, laisser faisser, laisser passer.

Or they just besiege Kadir, and, seeing that it will be a difficult nut to crack, they just surround the planet without assaulting it,

What is a Virus Bomb?

Nah man, either Kadir burns, or it's in a different sector. It cannot survive against 7 (seven) legions on its own.

It could work, but we'd have to extend the war quite a bit though, from 7 years to 20 or something atleast.

The Ultima Union?

Sounds a little too Reed Richards/Susan Storm/Peter Parker-y to have both halves of the name start with U, but that's just my aesthetic sense.

Well, if there's no other option...I will move it.

Well I guess you're right. I love the idea of airborne Astartes though. Maybe instead of IG they used scouts in the same way? So standard procedure is to deploy scouts and Astartes to work in unity with one another.

A legion that values cooperation between Astartes and non-astartes could be really cool.

Key words to mash together:
>Confederation
>Confederacy
>Indepedent
>Systems
>Worlds
>Stars
>Union
>Ultima
>Eastern
>Man
>Human/ity
>Sovereign
>Fringe
>Halo

Confedercy of Independent Systems, obviously...

>Rokuten is the HONORABRU Samurai warrior, that's his 'thing'.
You are horribly mistaken. Rokuten is an ambitious warlord out to conquer the Galaxy that only seems to be an honorable warrior to some.

>Rokuten is an ambitious warlord out to conquer the Galaxy that only seems to be an honorable warrior to some.

And how does this make him the perfect candidate for the Warmaster position? By that logic every Primarch who conquered his planet, was able to make an empire and dreams to subject the galaxy is eligible.

We technically have the Leviathan Host and the Soaring Host who employ parachute drop troops already. Actually, rereading the rough tactics laid down in the docs (forgive me I forget sometimes), your only difference to the Soaring Host would be that you don't explicitly use psykers.
I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, that I already suggested to other legions that you should try to explore more general areas of combat and strategy, or try to figure what exactly you want to achieve and which strategies help you in that endeavour.

In that regard, you are admittedly in a difficult spot because we're trying to be both different to the canon legions as well as to other fanon legions. In that regard I must admit people have been very lenient towards me and the Loxodontii.

>
>>Rokuten is an ambitious warlord out to conquer the Galaxy that only seems to be an honorable warrior to some.
>
>And how does this make him the perfect candidate for the Warmaster position?
It doesn't, because there's no such perfect candidate.
He IS a master strategist though, and he's very good at hiding his intentions.

Yeah you're right, almost everything has been done before in one form or the other. Another idea I had, was Astartes being used in line formations with very strict discipline. I'm talking a single guy yelling "fire!" before each volley is shot at the enemy. Of course this would be very situational, but I'd be willing to expand on that idea to include tactics for vehicles and the sort as well.

Seems like a waste of their mobility, but Napoleonic Marines is an idea I have heard people toss around once or twice before.

Strict firing lines are the turf of Quaestor's Warden, already. WHAT we are lacking, though, is close combat legions. So what would you say about a Roman close combat legion with breaching shields in tight formation, using pistols and swords in tandem to soften up and push the enemy line?

Are we really lacking close combat legions? Last I checked, half of them seemed to have 'CQC specialist' tacked on.

>Hiding your true intentions
>From the Emperor
Yeah, that doesn't really work. I mean, the Emperor is a bit of an idiot, but he looks right through you.
And 'master strategist' is not something uniquely his. Zelbezis just makes way more sense. Zelbezis is a bit of a dick, but he's far more trustworthy, which is one of the key things the Emperor looks for in the Warmaster.

Definitely! Though I might try to come up with something different that Romans, since that theme is pretty overdone imo.

Thanks for the tip!

I checked and going through the tactic specialties, there's only three whom I can make out as explicit CQC legions (Golden Mountains, Silber blades and Pillars of Balance, the latter being in talks of being removed).

So, sure, those legions might be more close quarters when reading through their bios but in the docs we're still fairly low on melee legions.

Gunslingers also seem to specialize in close quarters, even if they use guns. I guess maybe one more if the Pillars are removed?

Close combat is always an odd thing for Marines. Strictly speaking almost *every* Legion in canon or AUs is good at CQC. It kinda comes with the turf of being a Marine, so saying you specialize in it is a little like saying "I specialize at being a human".

Even Angron/World Eaters specialize more in the sheer *brutality* of CQC more than CQC as a concept. Fulgrim and his boys also come close but they seek perfection in *everything* which just happens to include swordfighting.

Well, Romans/Macedons/Ancient Greeks are kinda-sorta the most distinguished example of high-discipline walls of shields and formation fighting, as far as I am aware that is. So it would definitely take some digging through history, or just ditch it all together and just say that's how your primarch learned to fight on his homeplanet, to justify it.

Right, the gunboos. And yeah, if we ditch the pillars as discussed then Newanon can sprinkle his stuff in.

I like Eastern Imperium.

We 30k-fy the split of rome. We could take some inspiration Form these and history in General.

Dude, just start out with something kinda weird, something not seen before. Either some obscure civilization, or animal or whatever. Add a bit of color and spice to the line-up.

The Civ 5 steam workshop is often a good place to look for aesthetically interesting civs

Silver Blades master the swords as their CCW, and have martial skill in very high regard. They are the kung—fu master to the heavyweight boxing champion

What about an carribean Voodoo Legion? Speaking kreol and using ritualized combat?

And yeah. Gunslingers love CC....with guns^^

We use an old terran Documentary for psycho indoctrination: Equilibrium

That'd make a good Traitor Legion I bet. If a bit cringy.

>JuggaLegion
>search your feelings, you know you want some Faygo
>magnetic weapons, magnetic weapons everyfuckingwhere

Not an excellent loyalist legion though, and I honestly don't think the loyalists need more Psykers. So unless one of the traitors wants to switch…? Keep in mind we should keep the Big Four covered.

At the core, an Astartes is good at everything, that is true, and especially when compared to regular humans they excel at everything even when they don't train it. However, even natural skills and strengths can be further honed. Hand-eye-coordination, stamina, you can always improve. To say a World Eater and a Raven Guard are at the same capacity for a good brawl would be unfair.

Also, there's more to tactics than just [gimmick]. If the World Eaters specialise in close combat, it means they apply lots of pressure to the frontline. They're making pushes to gain ground, to force the enemy back, and they're doing it as directly as possible. An ultramarine advances, takes position, fires, then advances again as the enemy retreats, but they might just as well hold position and pin them in place. I would assume a melee attack is more efficient in breaching lines.

So the question is again: what is the goal, the preference, of a primarch? What are the pros and cons of a tactic? In that regard, if a legion decides to go CQC, it isn't just because they're naturally better at it, they become naturally better because the focus on CQC yields benefits they choose over others.

I see your point. I mean, Horus ended up betraying him, but that was because 1.) That wasn't his intention from the start, and 2.) He had help from the Chaos Gods obscuring the future. Yeah, Zelbezis would be warmaster.

It does give me an idea for how Rokuten and maaaybe Zelbizis die, if Zelb user wants to hear it.

Perhaps to give you a direction to work with; Instead of working off the idea of the Classical Greek or Roman EMPIRE's why not work within perhaps The Late Roman Empire (which was more or less a bunch of Saxo-Latin armies of essentially mercenaries) or instead of focusing on the Greek Phalanx why not work the angle of Alexander the Great's Companions: A heavily mechanized legion sort of like the White Scars meets the Ultramarines. Sky is the limit.

>A heavily mechanized legion sort of like the White Scars meets the Ultramarines
>Another tank legion

VENE AT ME, FRATER

I want a muscly Joker as their primarch.
When you put it that way it makes me want to call the Ogre Legion a cqc legion since they're already four fourths of the way there.
Take from your favorite movies, or search for a specific category of people (like, say, fighter aces this was my idea years ago, please don't use it but there's nothing stopping you if you do) and base the culture on a mish-mash of theirs.
>VENE AT ME, FRATER
docs.google.com/document/d/1zIbMDoKW5Lh-wWhmBRPUvhS576QJWXZQqYyFBq_nd-Q/edit
Soon.

Did the Emperor hire mercenaries during the Great Crusade? I've got an idea for our version of the Solar Auxilia.

Probably not. Either you were in service to the Imperium or you were the enemy.

I mean in the very early unification wars days. Before he had really unlimited armies and the legions to count on.

Name your Primarch Darth Gokuverine.
Give them massive psykic powers that are focussed entirely around close combat also they have adamantine skeletons with increased marine regeneration. ;)

They're all Loyalists too yeah?

Now that you mention it: Yes, Loyalists have the monopoly on Melee legions.

The Leviathans are basically melee, but thematically focus more on their ability to get into melee rather than the melee itself.

I realise I'm running a bit late on the special units prompt but here it goes.

Cerebro Dreadnaught: A technology Lambach had Emil of the Steel Souls help in designing constructing the Cerebro Dreadnaught is heavily modified to amplify the Psykic powers of those interred within. Using Cerebro Dreadnaughts can be extremely dangerous, and Psykics without well-trained, disciplined minds put themselves at great risk when attempting to use it. This is due to the psykic feedback that users experience when operating a Cerebro Dreadnaught. As the device greatly enhances natural psykic ability, users who are unprepared for the sheer enormity of this increased psykic input can be quickly and easily overwhelmed, resulting in insanity or even death. The Advantages are seen by both Lambach and Emil as worth the risk.

Phalanx Squads: Having learnt a majority of knowledge on Miletus Lambach incorporated a tactic famously used by the PDF of the planet into his Legion. A Phalanx Squad is usually a ten man unit. The front five armed with Power spears and storm shields who protect the rear five armed with the units heavy and specialist ranged weapons. The unit differs from the more common practice breacher units deployed by other chapters in void battles in that a Phalanx squad is a lot less cumbersome due to the lighter gear they carry. Often times incorporating Psykers who focus on defensive capabilities to enhance the units rate of survival. Phalanx Squads are usually employed to hold certain objectives or as bodyguards for heavily armed Dreadnaughts.

And added a bit about how Lambach sees himself
>Lambach Kropor (Myself)
I realise that many of my brothers consider me ill prepared for the role I am to play and believe perhaps that I am unworthy of leading the people of the Imperium.
I see no reason to dissuade the notion, I'll simply allow my combat records to show for themselves exactly how efficient my Legion can be.
The truth is that I have no care for it. Unlike Rotuken or some others I have no desire to rule over a populace of cowering mortals. The people of Miletus lived happy lives in service to my Father's Imperium without my help and I imagine they will continue to do so.
At the end of the crusade it is my hope to simply guide Imperial governance using the vast array of knowledge at the disposal of the formidable minds my father has gifted my brothers and I.
I doubt our Father intended for us to rule, should the mortals stray to far from the path Father has laid down it will be our job to guide them back, not to force them, unless absolutely necessary.

I'd still go with the idea that they see themselves as the true Imperium.

Yeah, Gyahdred is not the sort to want to lead to the front.

I'll think about the Warmaster bit when I get home.

Augmented Magi are fine, though, I think.

I hope you guys are taking into account the fact that whoever the SepWarmaster ends up being, he'll have to be willing to use Einchurt and the VI as they were intended. If they're too soft Einchurt wouldn't have any issue with the idea of disposing of them.

>I hope you guys are taking into account the fact that whoever the SepWarmaster ends up being, he'll have to be willing to use Einchurt and the VI as they were intended.
God knows Rokuten is willing.

Are psychic Tech-Priests a thing? Has there ever been even one in the entire history of the Imperium?

I think the problem is removal of biological components reduces your presence in the Warp, and thus your psychic potential.

Source: I read it on Veeky Forums years ago.

There is some stuff with Zhao Arkkad, but I'm not sure if they're actually psychic techpriests or techpriests who do stuff with psytech.

Bumping before bed

So here's the problem I think I see:
The Chaos legions follow Marduk because he's Chaos supreme and crazy charismatic. He's Horus-esque.
The West follows Je'Sha because he's hero of humanity. He's like Sanguinius.
The East follows Rokuten because we need someone for them to follow.
There's not even quite a set of ideals. There's some legions who are in favor of a more authoritarian structure. Then there's Piter of the Proletariat.
Their big ideologue is accidentally Gyahdred, who really wants cleaner fiefdoms. But the best I can do for his motive for choosing Rokuten is that Rokuten is "Fun to be around".

If we insist on Rokuten, then either Gyahdred thinks he's malleable (fat chance), or Rokuten has another side to him.

The big advantage with Gregoire was that he had the well integrated command and control and the systemic vision to implement change in the Imperium. This, to me seems like the thing that would earn the loyalty of the Order people and of Gyahdred. Simultaneously, that sort of figure would appeal to someone like Piter.

To me it seems as though the Chaos Warmaster is a Priest. The Western Warmaster is a Warrior/Champion. The Eastern Warmaster ought to be a "Builder", but Rokuten is also a Warrior, not the thing to inspire Zb or Einchurt or Adras.
Painting by the numbers, so to speak, what I think we need is a Primarch who specializes in empire building.
He has an Ultramar type space and rules via an Astartes hybrid council, leveraging massive popular support by inspiring the masses, like Astartes commissars, pervasive propaganda, etc. Gulliman, Alexios, Xun, Gregoire, etc.
.

The idea would be a popular dictatorship, akin to perhaps Julius Caesar, but the key feature here would be that it would be progressive, rather than relying on conservativism. This approach would be required to gain the support of Gyahdred and I suspect Piter. Also makes it more grimdark when Utopia is to be built on the corpses of the dead. Besides, I'm in America and I'm tired of the talk of facists. The East is some sort of Empire, for the people, built on a greater future for all, not on fear. No Gods, No Kings, Only Men.
So we can whip up a Primarch, revive Gregoire, do a Xun expy in place of the pillars or what have you, but each of these has big problems.

Now, I do have one idea: Gyahdred.

As he is currently written Gyahdred is not the sort to become a Warmaster, but I've written him as conscious of his failings, analytic, and motivated to make change.
Might be that he takes some 50 years and, under the tutelage of Malcador, and with a lot of big data driven analytics, he manages to become unconventionally charismatic.
He'd still be secret and distant, but he'd have taken careful notes on his father and become something similar in persona. Gyahdred fights the things in the night so you may sleep soundly. Gyahdred keeps secrets too horrifying for the minds of men. Gyahdred walks with Shai Julie. He would, essentially, become a distant leader of a machine run realm.
And he would hate it. But he'd do it. And when he got old and critically wounded, they'd put him in a data loom and he'd manage things distantly and hate it.
All he ever wanted was his forge and a prosperous species, and now he has neither.

The Shield Wall

How could that be? Our own battle—brothers, the Chosen of Hecate, betraying us! Our beloved Emperor! After all these battles fought together!

The Silver Blades pushed against the formidable shield wall formed by the Chosen, without getting to break it in any point. Two squads found cover while pushing, and took positions there, providing fire support for their charging brothers. The sargeants spoke to each other, and made a plan: rotor cannons firing without pause, some battle—brothers shooting at the gunmen behind the shields, and the rest, charging towards them.

Two Blades charged together, in a hail of lead and splinters, shooting their sacred boltgun against their old battle— brothers. When at about 15 meters, they draw their Swords and charged, one of them jumping right into a shield, bringing it down. The other used that breach, and attacked the nearby Chosen. The gunmen behind killed the jumper Astartes, and more Blades breached through the whole made by him. The other Blade fought against 3 Chosen, surrounded by them and his comrades. The Chosen's movements were slow and cumbersome, their armors and bodies specially resilient. The Silver Sword couldn't penetrate their armor, it seemed like a lost fight. The rotor cannons appeared, and opened fire indiscriminately against the Chosen of Hecate. The shield wall was breached, but at a high cost. Thousands of Silver Blades still fought in that wall, not breaching it. Bolt rounds and swords striking hopelessly against the Chosen's shields.

When the fight finally finished, thousands of Silver Blades laid dead in a perfect straight line, where the shield wall originally was.

Okay guys, after waking up I read all your feedback and have decided on something a bit different than previous ideas.

As far as I can see there isn't really a legion in the AU that looks like this (though in canon 40k I wouldn't be surprised if you found similar).

So they have an overall napoleonic theme, and use grav-bikes with lances. They employ shock and awe tactics, with inital artillery to breach and soften any defensive positions. Before the dust has settled, the Astartes show up on their grav bikes, flying in at awesome speeds impaling their enemies.

So while they might come off initially as cqc experts, that isn't actually their prefered tactic, after disembarking the grav-bikes, they would grab a bolter from their bike, and engage in mid-range combat with organized tactics.

So obviously I'd have to flesh out the idea more, but what do you guys think?

So something akin to French Dragoons...I like this...and I already have Just what you need.

...wow I really am the Lucius Fox of the thread.

to expand a bit on themes- I'm thinking a really flashy and proud legion, a common characteristic for an Astartes would be vanity in the same way as the emperor's children is. But they aren't egotistical.

respect for other legions and non-astartes is a big value within the legion, and arrogancy towards others is shunned. I don't see them as being direspectful, ever. but they still value their legion and show an almost nationalistic proudness of it.

So to summarize: flashy colors, but a friendly face.

Exactly - French Dragoons.

You say you have what I need?

Not a jetbike, however I present to you;

> The Pursuer-Pattern Attack Bike:

A heavy modification of the standard Astartes Attack Bike, the Pursuer was developed to better support mobilr forms of combat. Designed as a more heavily armed and long lasting Attack Bike over the current patterns, the design sports a tricycle design, with the added space being made up of both the primary fusion reactor (similar to those used by the marines themselves) as well as an engine based off of the battle tested Rhino APC as a back up. This significant change not only kept the bike at the same top speed while increasing its combat load, but also allows hosts of Cossacks or other bike troops the ability to operate almost indefinitely. With these modifications made, the usual space dedicated to fuel has instead been given to storage for ammunition, rations and grenades. Finally the armament has been upgunned significantly, with the standard consisting of twin storm bolters and Two Astartes Grenade Launchers.

How do you feel about innovative tax policies and empire building?
Can I interest you in a position in an Imperium that still holds true to the Emperor's ideals?
I.e.

Sound great actually, I like it!

I was imagining grav bikes though, you think an even more modified version of the pursuer-pattern could work? You where the upgrade also made it grav?

almost like pic related, but with a lower profile and lighter body. something that would be ideal for maneuverability.

I shall take a crack at it

innovative tax policies... lol

Empire building sounds fun though. What areas are lacking right now?

First off, I'd like to make it clear that I agree with you that Rokuten does not fit the bill.

Now Gyahdred could certainly work, but I don't like the idea of you having to change your character in order to fit a particular role. I like Gyahdred as he is.
Whipping up a Primarch or reviving Gregoire is not ideal either, since we'd have to either boot our newfriend, or we'd have to up our roster to 24 legions, which is a no go to me.

I see where you're going Xun, and I have to say, good thinking.

Napoleon here could fit the bill as Seperatist Warmaster, assuming the Primarch acts a lot like the real Napoleon did.
A Napoleon Primarch would be a cunning strategist, a charismatic leader and an innovative ruler. Perfect fit for a Warmaster.

Would mean we'd have to move one of the Seperatists over to the Loyalists, but I think that we'll find someone who's willing.