Warmasters' Triumvirate XVIII

Did you see the suggestion for:
That sounds good. Calls for backup and nobody comes, so the sheriff tries to defend a whole bunch of Pacha's or Piter's worlds.
They're not particularly well defended, but they've got great infrastructure and luxury accommodations, none of which does Kane any good.
Of course, everyone has good reasons for not diverting, and if Kane wasn't trying to be John Wayne, he'd probably evacuate the worlds and sacrifice a bunch of the population to hold a more defensible spot, and yell at whoever conquered those worlds later.
But he's not, and he's not in a genre where this is really going to go well
So the legion is massacred on a few worlds they're trying to defend and the Ork Warboss comes to Alamo where Kane is defending
(It goes without saying that the Warboss has a cool cowboy name.)
Planet Hadleyville? Nah.
Anyways, it's High Noon
And Kane kills the Warboss in a shootout, which works pretty well, and they clear the orks off the planet. Waaaagh Black Bart is halted, and that's what really matters
But it's cost the Gunslingers enormously
Kane has flashbacks to Yuma and decides he can't trust anybody
Not the legions who couldn't be bothered to help him (we can work that out later for people he has a particular grudge against)
Not for the so-called humanitarians like Pacha and Piter who can't even be bothered to properly defend people
And not the Emperor "beloved by all", who doesn't even validate his struggle
Kane and the Gunslingers gave everything they had at High Noon and for nothing.
From then on Kane bitterly looks out for his own legion.

>Indian-looking dude w/ turban and crazy eyes

I can get into that. Mustache needs to be bigger tho.

Can I get a Bogdanoff rundown Little Falcon? This looks to be the same thing we were doing last year.

The emperor gets critically injured by Orks during Ullanor. He was planning on choosing a Warmaster after the campaign, but he had narrowed to three.
Thinking himself a clever girl, his contingency plan was to have the three declared a Warmaster Triumvirate. They'd balance eachother, see? And by having three, you'd lessen the threat of chaos.

Except that doesn't work out so well because each one wants to be in charge and there's not a framework for power sharing. So after some attempts to enforce Nikea go horribly wrong, civil war flares. The result is two empires and a chaos.
The Western Imperium is a theocracy with a metal cult and the East is the police state. But an awesome one with an innovative tax policy and mechanicum toys.

Awesome. How does the Chaos space work?

We've not really gone into it. I'd been assuming that they're in the eye and maelstrom, but I dunno.

I think it would make sense for them to have the same territory as in the OU. It's not like the Imperium or Separatists are going to take it from them for one, and I'm not sure they're cohesive enough to hold non-warp storm territory for any meaningful period of time.

We should probably figure out who gets the job of offing Malcador, my vote would probably be Isheko, but not sure what other options we'd have except maybe Marduk himself?

Isekho with his venoms, yeah...
Maybe Marduk could trick secretly Rokuten to do it. Lure him with power and such...then *BLAM*, Malc is ded, Rokuten gets shit, gets mad, and rejects Marduk

Problem with Rotuken doing it is that the seps would probably find out and banish him from thier realm.

What if he goes with Chaos at first, and then he falls back to Seps?

Well, Malcador IS an obstacle for Rokuten to take the Imperium, but so is every warmaster. Rokuten would possibly snitch on Marduk to affirm his honor read: get brownie points and position as warmaster.

I was thinking he would stay with the loyalists, then split when some idiot comes forward with "muh chapters".

That would only happen post-Brotherwar though. By the time it gets going, I feel like everyone should have ended up on their side.

I agree. I'm not entirely sure the Seps would accept Rokuten if he'd fought against them for the entirety of the heresy period. on another note, what happens to the Ogre Legion after Rokuten's assassination attempt/death?

Civil war.

The Successor Wing intends to split from the Seps for them killing Rokuten. They claim that they are not obligated to remain with the seps because their lord was Rokuten.
The Retainer Wing intends to stay with the Seps because Rokuten betrayed Frederick. They claim that since the Warmaster was Rokuten's lord, he is therefore the Ogre Legion's lord.

The Retainers win. Boshin War IN SPACE!

Then the Warmaster dies and they have another Civil War due to the Retainers' declining influence and the growth of a new wing, the Spherists, who are an offshoot of the Successors with an emphasis on integrating the Mechanicum read: seizing Mechanicum assets.

Ogre Legion politics are a bitch.

Do you think the Separatists retain the use of battle robits?

Yes.

I'd like to write a bit about Emil and the Steel Souls at the First Siege of Terra. Probably the high-water mark of their assault, leading up to the moment where they're forced to retreat.

How much have we decided about the First Siege thus far? In particular, who all are defending the Throne area, Emil's primary target (to the exclusion of all else, he goes a little nuts during the Siege).

First siege by seps got moved to a neutral planet and happens dorectly after Malcador bites it.

Wow. That's a pretty big change. Why was it we decided that?

That's debatable. And probably a debate we need to have at some point, since there's a lot attached to "do they have Thallax and shit or not?"

On the one hand, the Separatist Mechanicum is going to be more free in regards to how innovative they can get. (which may not always be a positive, the AdMech does what they do for a reason).

On the other hand, they don't have Mars, they don't have the "Seat of the Omnissiah", so the unity of the SepMech is going to be unstable at best, unless we spend some effort building a framework for why it's not.

(Also all our Navigators are going to be kinda fucked since they won't be able to return to Terra. That's actually going to be a MASSIVE issue now that I think about it. No competing to be Paternova, no access to their familial assets or lore, none of it. Why don't all the Navigators on Separatist ships try to bail out and rejoin the home clan? They already think of themselves as better than the Imperium anyway and they're damn near a galactic power in their own right, what could possibly tie them to the Separatists?)

>mechanicum stuff
Gyahdred is the machine Dalai Lama. He's got the Separatists covered.

>Navigators
Different families have rivalries. They may declare neutrality in an astartes quarrel and nobody dares to piss them off. Different clans are loyal to different legions anyways in the OU.

So basically, Gyahdred can provide stability, but I'm thinking that there's a number of forges that recognize the legion and Stovokor as sovereign, a number that are independent but are chill, and some crazy weirdos who have nothing to do with them, dealing directly with other legions.

A few threads ago, some people were having an issue with why the seps would bother seigeing when they could just Brexit and consolidate thier power.
So it was decided that Malcs was going to host a peace treaty between Je'she and Frederick's camps and try get it all back on track, on a neutral planet.
Marduk is planning his chaos movement and doesn't want peace to be achieved so has Malcador assassinated. Then lays the blame on both door steps to ensure the civil war happens.

>On the other hand, they don't have Mars, they don't have the "Seat of the Omnissiah", so the unity of the SepMech is going to be unstable at best, unless we spend some effort building a framework for why it's not.
Instability best ability.

>(Also all our Navigators are going to be kinda fucked since they won't be able to return to Terra. That's actually going to be a MASSIVE issue now that I think about it. No competing to be Paternova, no access to their familial assets or lore, none of it. Why don't all the Navigators on Separatist ships try to bail out and rejoin the home clan? They already think of themselves as better than the Imperium anyway and they're damn near a galactic power in their own right, what could possibly tie them to the Separatists?)
>Split from main branch
>Fight main branch indirectly
>Try to become new Paternova

>Gyahdred is the machine Dalai Lama. He's got the Separatists covered.
Depends on the forge world.

Mmk. Well, that proooobably covers the SepMech, although it seems odd that a Primarch could rise to such heights of influence as to eclipse Mars/the Omnissiah. But, I'm prepared to not worry about it because *something* has to keep the Seps' vehicles working lol.

The real issue is the Paternova I think. I don't think fluff was ever intended to account for possibly entire Families getting separated from Terra completely. Even Houses that lose their physical assets completely are still part of that gene-struggle whether they like it or not, right?

But I guess if the Navigators actually *do* come and go as they please between Seps and Loyals, sending sons and daughters to either, both or neither side depending on the political winds... If no one tries to crack down on them for it because "Lol get fucked we're Navigators", maybe that's sufficient.

Mmk. So what's actually getting sieged/attacked? The neutral planet?

The idea here is twofold.
First off, a lot of forges resent Martian dominance, like Ryza in the OU. So a lot of world's use Gyahdred as an excuse to keep independence.

Second, Mars is controlled by heretics and blasphemers.

First part works fine. Politics always gonna politic.

What makes them "heretics and blasphemers" though?

>What makes them "heretics and blasphemers" though?
Everyone is heretics.

Is it ever established in canon what Malcador thinks of Magnus? I'm trying to decide what if any relationship Emil and Malcador would probably have, and I'm drawing a blank.

At some point we probably need a blank Legion template that everyone can start filling in on 1d4chan. Anyone know how to make something like that? It'd help make sure everyone is stylistically on the same page and make it very obvious which Legions have holes in their fluff yet to fix.

I believe that Malcador is meant to be the only commonly respected ground left between the seps and the Imperium. So they are signing some kind of agreement to get both factions reunited and working for the same cause again. Things go tits up after Malcs dies. Not sure if it is a siege so much as a straight up brawl with tensions overflowing on both sides. I guess we should discuss which legions from both sides are actually there apart from the 2 warmasters then the Imperial and Seperatist writers can start to fluff it out?

Seems reasonable.

I still can't quite make up my mind regarding exactly how "separate" the Steel Souls want to be. They could just as plausibly be resentful as fuck about Nikea and utterly horrified by the Imperial Cult as they could be Separatists largely just as an accident/historical quirk of where they were when the Ruinstorm came down...

True, though I had been thinking that following the censures Gyahdred's first move had been to protect the remaining psykers. I'd been thinking he'd shuttled to defend Emil and I think he'll send off an additional company or three to Elsu with Distant Thunder.
In the case of Distant Thunder's augmented guard, they find that the planet's already been stripped and abandoned or whatever, but Gyahdred tries to fortify Emil's homeworld or whatever unless Emil stops him. This is before the war breaks out properly-- Gyahdred is hoping that having forces from his legion standing by Elsu and Emil will prevent censure, less because they're powerful, but because it'd be much more controversial, if that makes sense.
He focusses on Emil because he knows him better and because he trusts Marduk to keep Elsu safe. Ironically, he's right. Marduk does see to Elsu's defense...

Nonimat IV's location was never well known outside the Steel Souls Legion, and doubly so post-Nikea when Emil influences the AdMech to actively erase its location from Imperial records.

It's best defense is its utter isolation drifting through the void with no companion star. More than likely if Gyahdred were to ask Emil about fortifying the planet, Emil would tell him his forces are better used elsewhere.

Gyahdred sending observers to work alongside the Steel Souls would probably be okay though. I don't see any real reason the Legion would object.

Alright. So what I'm thinking is that following the disaster in the Librarius, Gyahdred sends out things to Pacha, Lambach, and Emil. Pacha doesn't know, Lambach comes and helps out, starting that friendship, and Emil is reserved but helpful. Gyahdred also observes that Emil is tight with the Emperor and is involved in some sort of secret construction project. (You can't hide logistics patterns on that scale from Gyahdred.)
He has no idea what they're for, but figures Emil has info and stuff with the Emperor and sees a likely kindred soul, but as the introvert he is, respects Emil's privacy and maybe sends some guys to do that collaboration we were discussing. Klagri may get his start in some weird stuff this way.
So Gyahdred sees Emil as the Imperium's best informed psykers and when the Emperor foes down and people start burning psyker libraries, Gyahdred feels the need to preserve what he considers the Imperium's best hope. It helps that he kind of likes Emil, but this is a matter of long term survival.
Every bit Emil let's him in will strengthen the bond because Gyahdred runs largely parallel to Emil.
He also trusts Emil because the Emperor trusted Emil.

Strictly speaking I haven't written anything regarding Emil and the Astronomicon/Webway Project itself. Largely because I wasn't fully clear on how both of those lore events were going to work in our AU.

If you're referring to the Soul Wires, they're not actually secret, they're just Emil stringing up proper "telegraph lines" all across the galaxy instead of just letting the Imperium rely on whatever the fuck buildings and people happen to be available.

>Commanders in the Dusk Phantoms
Most of them have advanced knowledge in one or more techno arcana. They also tend to be augmented, servo harness, etc. Call them Forge Captains?
There's also Shades, Iron, and Hands of Ruin, who focus on a specific way of war-- ambush, defense, and siege, respectively.
They then command forces containing Astartes, mortals, and mechanicum in varying balances.

Little of both, really.
Anyways, Gyahdred has a lot of reasons to support Emil, so how close they are is up to Emil. (Except the fact that they're both secretive introverts who have secrets to keep.)

Yeah I'm gonna say Lambach would spend some time with the Dusk Phantoms himself. Observing thier unique "flaws".
He'd leave the crusade in the hands of an exasperated Kaden like he always does when something interesting grabs his attention.

Yes, I did. We didn't get that far though. We were hashing out the details of his time on his homeworld. I forgot to put in my name btw.

Kashaln and Raj would surely get along great. Kashaln's chin was never quite as bushy though ;)

Isekho would be the most effective assassin, but there wouldn't be too much doubt about who did it if Malcador's ship is found filled with poisonous gasses. If Chaos wants there to be confusing on both sides, they'd have Malcador get killed in a less specialized way.

Maybe Marduk takes care of business in Person than? gives us a chance to set up a cool scene for him to undoubtedly be a bad guy.

A risky move, but that might just be enough. The point should really be to have the assault be brutal, but not obviously the handywork of one particular legion.

Stabbed in the back by one of his own men?

(Obviously working for Marduk)

'Ello 'Ello 'Ello what's all this then?

Almost finished but I preent Radcliff Kaden 1st Captain of the Chosen of Hecate. Shame I'll ruin him with my crappy painting skills.

Holy fuck, now we're getting a Hektor Heresy reunion too.

Hell, Marduk could even stage the whole thing as him coming to help as a peacemaker so Malc lets him in. Then Marduk goes full Arthas to reveal his treachery.

Heresy.

>Shoggoths

First appearing at the battle of Terra and becoming a mainstay of Leviathan Host front lines for the rest of the Heresy, Shoggoths are one of the most overt symbols of the legions corruption. Marduk had long eschewed the use of heavy armor as it didn't fit his highly mobile style of warfare but realized that to make war against both the Imperium and the Seperatists he would need to bring to bear every piece of his arsenals. Drawing his armored forces from reserves and storage, he had both his heretek genewrights and his Warpriests collaborated to improve and crew them.

The result of this diabolical fusion of biology and daemonology is the Shoggoth: a twisted mass of daemon-flesh stuffed inside a Chaos consecrated chassis of a Legion armored vehicle. These horrors were able to pilot the vehicles with a preternatural level of skill, the single minded creature having direct access to all the vehicles functions without the need for communication between crew members or even manual interaction with controls.

Worst still was a shoggoth's ability to manifest parts of it's body as close combat weapons from the tank. Lashing psuedopods or clawed tentacles spring forth from ports and hatches, ready to drag enemies towards gnashing mouths. Even if the tank was disabled conventionally, the shoggoth could still drag the hulk forward with it's limbs or operate the treads manually.

While originally a creation of the Leviathan Host, the shoggoth creature quickly spread amongst many of the Chaos legions as a means to make their stretched numbers go a little farther.

From a rules perspective, a shoggoth is actually an upgrade to an armored vehicle so you can applyit to anything from a Predator to a Sicaran, though the points price would be relative.

He doesn't help during the Siege. Marduk is eventually taken out by the remaining loyalist Primarchs piling on top of him. Keep in mind that Marduk doesn't become as strong as Horus does, because he doesn't know about Molech.

Killing the Emperor is obviously Chaos main goal. Killing him cripples the Imperium, has a symbolic meaning and gives the Chaos Gods their revenge.

Elsu could impersonate another and do the deed

It's more likely than you think.

Interesting concept (although isn't it basically the same as a Defiler/Soulgrinder?), but please get a different name than Shoggoth. Literally copying names is pretty lame, and will taint all public perceptions of your idea.

Eh, I assumed that at this point shoggoth had been used in enough different media for different enough entities that it'd be alright but fair enough. I just detest the "cram a scary adjective and a scary noun together" way of naming Chaos stuff.

Also, they're pretty much defiler tanks but instead of summoning a demon directly you half finish a bunch of clones and pour the semi-conscious slurry into a tank then summon daemons to possess it. I'd assume that would make it easier, because daemons prefer inhabiting living bodies but idk. Plus actual daemon engines are more a Forge Lords thing.

Just make up a name like "Gal Vorbak" or whatever. It's very easy to do, and you can tune it as you please regarding scary/scary combos.

Call it the Turghmata or the Fexarab or the Wolbrian Crusher or something. Make a reference to the planet name it was first built on, or the first Marine who summoned one of them. Then you can even tie it deeper into your lore.

Don't just grab the most generic Lovecraft thing in the world, lol. Cultural references lead only, and inevitably, to weak writing. You deserve better than that, surely.

I think it's a hell of a lot cooler than a Soulgrinder. It basically looks like a rhino until it gets close and them it gets all tentacly. It's like a demonic hermit crab.

Great concept bro! But I agree with the others, change the name to something more related to you.

I mean, most of my other names are just pillaged straight from mythology or history. But you have a point. I'll think on what else to call them.

Also slow day. Rough.

Sounds good, man! The kind of horrid abominable shit you'd expect Chaos to do.

Totally. Real shame. I'm gonna be around for quite a bit though.

I feel like we may have run up against a wall, given we've mostly go the overall timeline sketched out but really just need everything to be fluffed out and to incorporate the new factions.

I'll see if I can't find time to write something, maybe the Siege of Terra, later this weekend now that I finally am not busy.

Ok, I've been thinking about that event for a bit.

I think Emil's going to be there in person, accompanied by a modest honor guard of Steel Souls Marines. He's not going to really understand why he's there, only that some premonition makes him feel like it'd be a good idea. Emil respects Malcador, and he suspects this meeting may eventually evolve into some sort of Nikea 2.0 (Though he is of course mistaken because it never gets anywhere near that far), so his voice might be requested.

Were the Gods not leaning on all the psykers to blunt their skills (Clouded my mind, Darth Sidious has...), perhaps Emil could have helped unravel what was about to transpire, but in that time/place he is unusually without options.

There's probably a moment when Emil could plausibly escape the battle with either side, and this is when he ultimately chooses the Seps. (Should the Loyalist/Separatist/Chaos Warmasters wish to write some fluff regarding their last-ditch attempts to make Emil choose, that could be interesting)

Emil going Sep may also be because he's friends with Gyahdred more than the other Primarchs, if they've made inroads together by this point. Emil values "Family" above almost all else. But if one part of the family is betraying their Father's chief ideal, another part is sticking Daemons up their asses, and the third is still extending the hand of friendship... The choice is much clearer.

Thoughts?

It's cool, no rush.

Also I just now looked closely at that image. That's fucking sweet, dude. Really helps sell the concept.

I'm just lurking, without contributing much. Sorry.

Linares would go to the meeting. Family reunions are always a good thing, and this one is special because seps. He would attend, surely.

Well, everyone would consider it important, and we can't very well have 14 Primarch stomping around. I think that Malcador would basically ask that only those that show up with a diplomatic attitude are welcome... and I don't think Linares really fits that bill.

>I'm just lurking, without contributing much. Sorry.
Yeah, shame on you, person who is like me!

>I think that Malcador would basically ask that only those that show up with a diplomatic attitude are welcome
Diplomatic, you say.

Can I get a rundown of this AU and what's different?

There's a third not-as-heretical-but-still-bad-guys faction.

More, more writing. It is never enough.

docs.google.com/document/d/1h8ei8vPghWGX4QWraisHmE0YJrYI4QigRCKmciUZrHo/edit?usp=sharing

Place your bets folks, [Emil Vs. the Ruinstorm], the hot-ticket item at the top of tonight's listings!

Thoughts always welcome, as usual.

(Also, this is the literal moment when the "Stormbreaker" title that will someday be passed to the Legion's very finest warriors sees its origin. I didn't even make that connection until I was done writing the story, lol. Clearly the Emperor guides my writing or something, because it makes perfect sense now...)

But are they the Imperials or the Seps?

Yes.

Loyalists are pretty similar to the canon Imperium.
Traitors ARE MAXIMUM HERESY.
Separatists are not quite as much HERESY, but still are on the same level as Secessionists, which is still basically "Kill On Sight" 98% of the time.

Yes. Malcador would call for this meeting to be an entirely diplomatic affair, not one of warfare.

You can count on Rokuten to be going then.

And there goes Rokuten again, trying to be funny and/or edgy. Cool.

But seriously, he'll be there. Not to kill anybody though, because you can't just go killing other people who are trying to make peace.

Well, maybe. But he may be a reasonable person under certain circumstances, so he could pop up, listen and say something, or just stay behind and watch. Just in case someone tries something stupid.

The Seps are like Pre-Heresy Imperium, while the Terrans are canon Imperium.

Here's a framework for what the XVth is up to, also things I'd like input on, and to see versions of for other legions.

>Selected Campaigns of the Dusk Phantoms During the Early Heresy.

>Elcoa Muster Assault
-Following the Assasination of Malcador, Gyahdred infiltrates the Elcoa Muster with Nosferatii onboard transport ships
-Near the entire XVth legion fleet quietly tranlates into the Elcoa system, powered down as 'cold ships'.
-At the prearanged time, the Nosferatii sabotage various facilities in orbit and on the surface and the cold ships power up. The first target is communications.
-Caught by surprise, the Death's Heads suffer heavy casualties. Without their central chain of command, the legion behaves unpredictably, some ships continuing to carry out orders, others in what seems to be an omnicidal rage.
-Einchurt spends the battle seeking out Gyahdred to fight him in person, but, wishing to keep the DH viable for after the Civil War is won, Gyahdred avoids him.
-With much of the surface in ruins, and most of the survivors of the DH in secure bunkers or on starships, Gyahdred judges the damage inflicted sufficient to prevent large scale legion operations for several years and departs for his next objective.
-In this analysis, he is correct. He does not consider, however, the behavior of the shattered Death's Head's Legion.

>Harrowing of Yozhin
-Gyahdred terrorizes outlying systems, creating a massive refugee population, resulting in overcrowding across Yochin's fortresses.
-Several major sieges...

>Battle of Grethor

>Gyahdred and Emil's friendship influencing Emil to choose the True Imperium
Makes sense to me. We can do up a pre-heresy/pre-Ulanor joint campaign if you'd like. But yeah, Gyahdred's stance on Emil's stuff as vital for the Imperium seems like a very strong incentive to join that faction.

From what I know of 'em, the delegations should be:

>Loyalist
Je'She
Yochin
Raj

>Seperatist
Emil
Gyahdred
Frederick

The rest should be off fighting battles against the opposing factions, trying to gain as much territory in order to strengthen their positions of negotiations.

>Fighting battles versus other factions
Seems a little premature, given that this event is supposed to be the *beginning* of open warfare, right?

Also like I said before, Emil's not going to be there with a large force of soldiers. If anything he'd be there as much as an observer/maybe wanting to help Malcador as anything else.

That said, if the group deems it necessary I can have Emil bring a stronger detail, it's just that neither Gyahdred nor Emil strike me as particularly "active" supporters among Fredrick's possible options. Maybe not Frederick's best choice in that scenario?

Pretty sure its already been quite hostile at this point, These are peace negotiations, aren't they? Even then, it seems best for Frederick to take his more objective and logical brothers with him.

Aaight, riddle me this then.

Where all are the XVth moving around, more or less? The Steel Souls are going to primarily move out along the Galaxy's Centaurus and Cygnus Arms, with maaaybe some involvement along Sagittarius, but I'm not sure how thin a Legion can be spread.

>Harrowing of Yozhin cont.
-Several major sieges
-Some running battles with the defenders of the sector
-Planets are left in a state as to render them indefensible without much repair work.
-Makes for Yozhin
-Yochin returns just in time
-The terrified masses are now an asset (after having served to topple many a fortress)
-Food is running out, but Yochin does his whole rock-opera thing and launches a major offensive
-Pushes back the XVth
-Something happens, unclear what at the moment, but it results in the withdrawal of the XVth towards the East.

Might be news of a third front opening up? Might be Distant Thunder and company showing up with information implying something seriously weird is going on-- Thashunke in ruins, no reason why, not Imperial forces that did it, either.
It could also be that Yochin repulses the assault on Yozhin, but doesn't have the resources to make this an offensive, so Gyahdred withdraws to prepare another push, but gets distracted by other things, like a garbled recall order.

>Important Stuff Before Grethor
Pick up Distant Thunder and company
--Oh shit, something spoopy is going down
Pick up Tijo and company
--Oh shit, 2 spoopy 4 me!
Lambach requests a meeting
--Ah fuck. Alright boys, let's do this and hopefully buy some time for Terra to fortify before the storm hits

>Battle of Grethor
--Lambach and Gyahdred set up a meeting on the small moon Grethor.
--Warned by Tijo and co, a trap is set and the legion is on the look out for witchery.
--The XVth deploys as they would against a world of rogue sorcerors, portable gellar fields are readied, Sisters of Silence cohorts are ready, etc etc.
--SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKERS ISTVAAN 5 TIME
--Exterminatus class weaponry is used
--The XVth takes losses, but believes the Chosen all but exterminated.
--Little do they know that the Dead of Grethor will return.

>Gee Emil, wouldn't it be nice if you actually posted the relevant image?
>Why yes, yes it would.

When? I'm thinking that between Malcador's assassination and the Ruinstorm, they're mostly operating as a single battlegroup, with maniples of reductor battalions doing their own thing.
They're more or less attempting a Schlieffen Plan to end the war as quickly as possible.

I was talking about during the Crusade, in reference to "We can do up a pre-heresy/pre-Ulanor joint campaign if you'd like".

Ah, I'd not considered that yet. I know they're up in the North/North East for the Three Rangdan Xenocides.

Grethor sounds like a blast.
Basicaly Lambach is confidant that when he tells Gyhadred what he and Marduk are planning then Gyhadred will surely join him. Something like "No longer having to hide the Elver curse" it may even give Gyhadred pause to think for a time. Lambach has a plan to spring a trap if that doesn't work.
Lambach has no idea what has happened with Tijo though and doesn't expect to be countered.
For all his confidence and carefully laid plans things rarely seem to go well for the Master of Undeath.