Any info on the post-heresy siege of Olympia?

[FireHawk]

Hi, was wondering if there's any info (beyond the Iron warriors IA) on the siege of olympia that occurred after the horus heresy during the SMs fightback against the chaos legions.

 

Any info would be great.

 

Cheers

[BrainFireBob]

Not that I'm aware of, no.

[Brother Nihm]

It doesn't ring a bell sorry and the Lexicanum only rehash what's in the IA.

[TheDarkApostle]

If I recall correctly then didn't the IW bomb Olympia to smitherines before leaving for the Eye? So when the Imperial forces arrived they were only met with a barren dead world.

 

And then I think the Imperial forces bombed the planet to even more smitherines so nothing remained what so ever of the planet on principle.

 

TDA

[Rain]

No, what happened was that the Imperial Fists and Ultramarines besieged the planet but could not take the Iron Warrior strongholds for two years after which point the Iron Warriors ran out of ammunition and detonated their underground missile stockpiles completely destroying the planet for all intents and purposes.

[blamb]

That had better be in heresey book when they get that far.

[Loketh]

Of course you can't find information! The records of Olympia were deleted by the Inquisition after the Heresy :D !

[FireHawk]

Interesting info, thanks

 

Any idea on whether it was a big IW force on the planet or just a small garrison?

[Rain]

It's not stated explicitly, but the IA mentions how many planets were held by as few as 10 Iron Warriors and since Olympia had rebelled against the Imperium just prior to the Iron Warriors turning traitor it would logically follow that the legion didn't have many boots on the ground to keep the peace and whatnot (they did not turn with the Iron Warriors, and the marines basically culled their own homeplanet in the name of the Imperium.)

 

Furthermore, following the heresy the Iron Warriors were enraged by their prior garrison assignments and so even fewer would probably capitulate to such a thing. My point here is that it seems like the siege was difficult not because there were many traitor marines but because the terrain on Olympia would vastly favor a defender since it was so rugged and mountainous, and I imagine the Iron Warriors knew the layout of their own homeworld better than the Imperials. Another less direct reference to IW defenses can be found in the Chaos codex which describes a planet known as the "Well of Hunger" that has become so fortified that it has repelled 17 attacks both by loyalists and rival traitors over the course of the last millennium.

[Vassakov]

As far as I know, the Olympia garrison was a sizable force in itself. Prior to the Heresy it was the IW homeworld, and immediately before a large chunk had redeployed to cull the native population following an attempted rebellion. Furthermore, the garrison held out for over 2 years against two Legions, and even taking into account the formidable defences that implies a lot of IW.

 

As the Garrison fell, the IW chose to take their own lives along with all others on the planet. Hopefully, the HH series will elaborate on this.

[FireHawk]

Interesting ideas...

 

@Rain... I can see your point about defenders needing smaller numbers due to their fortifications (also seen when 3 loyalist legions faced a far greater number of traitor legions in the siege of terra), but I can also understand Vassakov's point that the IW's may have had larger numbers there due to the rebellion and because it was probably their best example of IW fortication and so would want to defend it in true IW fashion. Olympia would probably have been an even tougher siege had the IW themselves not wrecked some of the defences when they defeated the rebellion.

 

Thanks for the info....especially the chaos codex stuff