If The Loyalists Became Traitors (Project)

[Favoured of the Emperor]

I, weirdly, can see the Smurfs as Slaanesh. They become all proud, maybe, because Guilliman becomes warmaster, and they become like the Emperor's kiddies.

 

And, as it is alternate 40k fiction, what if the 2 missing legions were'nt missing?

 

I've just thought about something that won't work. All the primarchs wouild be from terra, as they only get swept away becase Horus smashes the cages. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

FOE

 

Edit: I can see the Dark Angels as Tzeentch, becasue of the whole secret thing. I think also that the White scars would be a sort of Night lords equivalent, or Khornate. I can imagine Fists as either Iron Warrior equivalents or Nurgel, as they are really stubborn like the Dearth Guard. Maybe Iron Hands as Slaanesh, becase Mannus experiments more in his forging, then starts to experiment with Gene seed changing, like Emps Kiddies, then uses more and more exotic and decadent thinks in his weapons, resulting in sonic weapons like the noise marines. Don't know about Sallies, Raven Guard of Pups though.

[sgtNACHO]

i just had a thought dont the Death Guard's name seem like an oximoron of Nurgle? its like this. Nurgle wants to kill everything in a wave of pestillence and disease. Yet they arethe Death Guard they Guard against Death maybe im wrong and maybe Nurgle just wants the whole universe to get the chiken pox who knows but i still think the people who guard against death wouldnt side with the guy who wants to kill everything!

[Ensis Ferrae]

i personally think that nurgle is trying to infect everyone in the galaxy with his kind of disease, and kill off a few loyalists who wont turn, but make others suffer until they call out to him, and serve him. Then the ones who die, get risen in a half dead state and they're serving him anyhow.

 

i think that the death guard's current purpose is to perpetuate the influences that would create such a state.

 

perhaps in an alternate HH story arc, the death guard are similar to the Grey knights, where they're tasked with hunting one kind of being, though it being the 31st millenium, they hunt nurgle and whichever legion turn to him in the alternate universe.

[Badaboom]

Isn´t one of the rumors about Garro´s destiny? That he created a force of loyal Death Guard marines to fight their corrupted brothers?

 

Also, the Death Guard and Mortarion are bad guys I feel simpathy for, they were just overconfident on their own resiliance and in the end it turned to be their doom, as probably a weaker Legion would have simply died once infected by Nurgle´s desease. The motivation of this Legion is the anger and frustration, they were the strongest but in the final moment they were weak, weak in the worst possible way: weak in their faith, weak in their will, and so they cannot let any others remain pure. If they were the strongest and they failed, no lesser being shall dare to resist, because otherwise it will proof that they were wrong, that they fell for nothing, and to accept a mistake that has doomed you and your men forever is such a pain in the ass. To have no soul doesn´t help much either. My 2 cents.

[Lord Kharloth]

Corax and The Raven Guard would become a more demented and evil versions of the night lords. They would strike from the shadows and slaughter the innocents of the imperium, then mold back into the darkness and slip away before they could be attacked.

[Pacific81]

i just had a thought dont the Death Guard's name seem like an oximoron of Nurgle? its like this. Nurgle wants to kill everything in a wave of pestillence and disease. Yet they arethe Death Guard they Guard against Death maybe im wrong and maybe Nurgle just wants the whole universe to get the chiken pox who knows but i still think the people who guard against death wouldnt side with the guy who wants to kill everything!

 

I believe that was the whole point sgtNACHO, the damnation of the Death Guard was confirmed by what happened to the fleet in warpspace, the marines most resilient to disease, who's whole ethos revolved around their tenacity and toughness, was laid low and made meaningless in the warp. In a way it stripped them down and robbed them of everything, and as you say perhaps served as a message that perhaps no one was immune to the deprevations of nurgle.

[Grand Master Tyrak]

I can see the Salamanders turning to Khorne, the whole pyromaniac thing just going a little too far - Kill, Maim, Burn?. The flip side of the current 'humane' status as loyalists would be uncaring, indiscrimate butchers - perfect for Khorne.

[brotherAkkyshan]

I think this is a really interesting topic!

 

A couple of points though... What's to say that Horus isn't a loyalist Warmaster at the time of the heresy? It would more than likely be started by Guilliman attempting to expand his growing "empire" of Ultramar. I could see there being both a loyalist and traitor Warmaster, one for each side! Chaos would play a lesser part in the beginning. This would be a more political trechary.

 

As for my ideas on the World Eaters (my favourite legion), I think they would have turned out much like the Blood Angels. The difference being their "Black Rage" would be self-inflicted, a direct consequence of using neural implants for the last ten thousand years plus! Like the Blood Angels, they would now be desperately looking for a "cure". Their Techmarines travelling the universe (maybe in league witht the Mechanicum of Mars?) looking for lost technologies, possibly even the original implant designs.

[Favoured of the Emperor]

As I think about it, I think Iron Hands wouldn't turn to slaanesh, they are al about the flesh is weak, and slaanesh is pleasures of flesh. I can now sort of Dark Angels as maybe a Word-Bearer equivalent, and instead of Interrogator Chaplains, theres interrorgator apostles.

 

FOE

[brother Hastatus]

Isn´t one of the rumors about Garro´s destiny? That he created a force of loyal Death Guard marines to fight their corrupted brothers?

 

Not quite. Garro suposedly went on to found the inquistion with Qruze.

[Demon-Man]

Throne!

This is surely a very interesting topic.

I like the idea of a bizarro-HH (or GH? If Guilliman was the big antagonist).

 

I through a little about it. So I come if with this summary of how I would imagine such an alternative Heresy.

It's a mixture of many ideas already mentioned and some of my own thoughts.

 

Events before the Heresy:

Horus becomes Warmaster (why not? He is the Emperor's most favoured son after all).

The Emperor dislikes Lorgar's worship but accepts it and eventually praises him for his loyality and zeal (so the Emperor

still does not want to be seen as a god but does not crush Lorgar's feelings).

At the Council of Nikea the Emperor allows Magnus to use sorcery. Maybe the Emperor even gives him some advice

or training, so that they won't do anything overly risky or dangerous while playing with the warp.

The Emperor saved Angron's army.

 

The Heresy itself is the result of Guilliman being corrupted by his own envy and hunger for power.

He feels that he was meant to be Warmasters and believes that Horus was only chosen because he was the Emperor's closest son and not for his qualities as a leader. The Gods of Chaos use their chance and convince Guilliman to oppose the Emperor (maybe he falls prey to a daemon or other warp-spawned weapon like Horus on Davin, coming back as a servant of Chaos). Eventually Guilliman can win half of the other primarchs for his cause. His battle plans are similar to the ones of Horus in the real HH and eventually with something like the Isstvan Massacre (just on a different planet).

 

Following list shows how I imagine each legion's fate during and after the Heresy:

 

I Dark Angels: Staying close to Gav Thorpe's novel, the Lion was extremely paranoid and pragmatic. So he simply waited and watched the conflict. At the end he sided with Guilliman. The Dark Angels turned into a force of Chaos undivided. Luther and the Dark Angels on Caliban realized what was going on and stayed loyal to the Emperor. After the battle for Terra there was the same conflict on Caliban, we all know, just with swapped sides.

Luther was eventually slain, the Lion turned into a Daemon Primarch and Caliban destroyed. The corrupted Dark Angels eventually turned the biggest chunk left of their homeworld (with the old chapter fortress on it) into their new home while it drifted into the dubious safety of the Eyes of Terror.

Some of the loyal Dark Angels were able to flee however, too. They founded their own chapter. A secret organisation, unseen by the Imperium. This secret order of loyal Dark Angels (which call themselves the Fallen, ashamed by the betrayal of their primarch) have only one task: Hunting down the corrupted legion and their former primarch.

 

III Emperor's Children: They stay loyal to the Emperor. Fulgrim's forces were so heavily destroyed during the ?-Massacre that they could not help to defend Terra. Furthermore Fulgrim himself was slain by his beloved brother Ferrus Manus.

 

IV Iron Warriors: Perturabo was chosen to built the defences of the imperial palace. So he and his legion fought against the traitors during the battle for Terra. He was the one who found the near-dead Emperor. After rebuilding the empire, he disappeared. The Iron Warriors and their successors still believe that he will eventually return.

 

V White Scars: Feral and proud, the supersticious White Scars were easy to fall for Guilliman's cause. The storm-seers, secret psykers the White Scars already used in their ranks before the introduction of Librarians, gained more and more power and are responsible for corrupting the Great Khan. Eventually they began to worship Tzeentch in order to increase their sorcerous powers. The White Scars fought during the ?-Massacre and the battle for Terra.

Eventually they escaped into the Eye of Terror. Unlike the Chaos-Thousand Sons, the corrupted White Scars use a more shamanistic type of sorcery. While the Great Khan is no psyker himself, he was heavily influenced by his god and became well known for using devastating combinations of complex planing and fast, precise attacks, so that his forces are in fact always in motion.

 

VI Space Wolves: The Emperor's punch against Leman Russ during their first meeting has left a deep wound in the primarch's pride that never healed.

When the Space Wolves showed more and more signs of mutation, the number of wulfen so great that the legion could not hide them any more, the Emperor demanded Russ to reveal his secret and meet with him. Something needed to be done about these mutations. But Russ refused to follow his father's orders. He did not want to be a pet dog. Eventually the Emperor sent Magnus to bring Russ to him. What was meant to be a last chance to end things peacefully, ended in a bloody conflict. Fenris was completely destroyed by the Thousand Sons and the Space Wolves forced to flee into the Eye of Terror.

When Guilliman revealed his plans, Russ sided with him. After the Heresy the Space Wolves turned into a feral horde. Entire companies turned into wulfen due to the influence of the warp. While they are traitors and make use of the Dark Gods' powers, they do not worship them. They are to proud to be anyone's servants. Thus Russ did not became a Daemon Prince but the influence of the warp and his own genetic curse turned him into a monstrous, immortal wulfen.

 

VII Imperial Fists: Rogal Dorn's pride was terribly wounded when the Emperor chose Pertuarbo to defend the Imperial Palace. Like Guilliman, his own pride and envy made him vulnerable to the Dark God's whispers. He was the first to side with Guilliman and gave his space-station, the Phalanx, to him as a gift.

The Phalanx was also the place of the final battle between Guilliman and the Emperor. When the loyal forces won, he escaped into the warp on one of his battle cruisers. His own sense for perfection and search for pain in order to purify himself, eventually lead him to worship Slaanesh. While the Imperial Fists are still incredibly stern and emotionless, they use every chance to inflict pain on themselves for this is the sensation they most desire. They are still masters of siege and thus make use of heavy noise weapons.

 

VIII Night Lords: They belonged to the loyal forces, nearly wiped out by the traitors during the ?-Massacre. After the heresy Night Haunter helped to rebuild the Empire. He was responsible for the creation of the Inquistion and their use of Terror in order to controle the population.

 

IX Blood Angels: There is already "blood" in their name. So who else could fall for the Blood God if not them? The mutations of Sanguinius went far deeper than everyone believed. The curse was in his blood. Secretly he and his chapter began to drink the blood of their victims. At first only that of their enemies but slowly they also started to drink the blood of those that they were meant to protect. When the Emperor heared about this he demanded to speak with Sanguinius but then the Heresy began. Naturally the corrupted Primarch sided with Guilliman and the gods he worshipped. In the end he chose the bloodgod because Khorne promised him as much blood as he desired as long as he gave him the skulls for his Throne. So the Blood Angels turned into blood-hungry vampires. Strong, merciless but not mindless as the Khorne Berzerkers of the real 40K. They are still proud and pretty boys whith Sanguinius as beautiful angel of death. They also worhips the warrior-aspect of Khorne by training and improving their martial skills instead of just slashing around like maniacs.

 

X Iron Hands: Guilliman was able to win Ferrus Manus for his cause. During the ?-Massacre the primarch eventually damned himself forever when he killed his most beloved brother Fulgrim. After the Heresy the Iron Hands fled into the Eye of Terra where they found a Daemon World similar to Medusa. Obsessed with their love for metal and hatred for the weakness of the flesh, they sided with the Dark Mechanicus. It's normal for them to replace most of their bodies with warp-driven bionics. Their iron-fathers eventually turned into the legion's warlords and sorcerors: The Warpsmiths. They do not only create the warp-driven weapons and daemonmachines of their legion but also the Oblirator-virus.

 

XII World Eaters: Angron was one of the most loyal primarchs. Sadly his forces were too far away from Terra to do much during the Heresy.

Driven almost mad by the fact that he could not help his father, he commited almost suicidal attacks onto the remaining traitors that had not fled into the Eye of Terror yet. It was carnage. But eventually he was mortally wounded by the cursed hammer of Vulkan.

 

XIII Ultramarines: The Bad Guys of the Heresy. Driven mad by envy and hatred because he was not chosen as Warmaster, Guillimane turned away from the Emperor and towards the Dark Gods who promised him power. He and his legion were at the front of the war and during the battle on Terra. They wanted to show that they were the best of all Legions, not the Sons of Horus. At the climax of the conflict Guilliman lowered the shields of the Phalanx, which was a gift from his brother Dorn. At first he met his brother Horus, the cause for his anger and hatred. No matter how good a warrior Horus had been, he had no chance against the cursed Guilliman who was at the brink of becoming a daemon prince. Even though Horus died, he was able to tear a rent into the traitor's armour.

The battle against the Emperor was a fight between demi-gods. While Guilliman was able to mortally wound the Emperor, he was eventually equally wounded himself when the Emperor drove his sword into the crack, caused by Horus. Before he died, his most loyal sorcerors managed to cast a stasis field around their fallen primarch. Using the faster cruisers of their fleet, they escaped with the rest of their legion. Instead of hiding in the Eye of Terror, the Ultramarines turned their home-realm, Ultramar, into a fortified, inpenetrable empire. The near-dead Guilliman was brought to Macragge. Not even the most powerful sorcerors of the Legion could heal his wounds for they were cursed by the Emperor's holy powers. So Guilliman was seated on his throne and is still kept in a stasis field. His temple is the Ultramarine's most holy place and they still believe that one day the Dark Gods will bring him back to life.

 

Ultramar is like a tumour within the Empire. No crusade ever managed to penetrate this realm of chaos. The warp-spawned magic of the Ultramarines' sorcerors allowed them to create a small warp-cleft in the heart of their realm, bathing it in the dark powers of the warp. The Ultramarines are still very strict and well organised. They are driven by their ego and the belief that they are the best.

 

XIV Death Guard: They stayed loyal to the Emperor and defended the imperial palace against the hordes of chaos.

 

XV Thousand Sons: With the Emperor's support, Magnus was able to controle the curse of his legion. The many psykers of the legion learned to use their powers savely and without risks of falling prey to the deamons lurking in the warp. Magnus was sent by the Emperor to investigate the strange behaviour of the Space Wolves wich ended in the destruction of Fenris. The Thousands still feel a deep hatred for the Space Wolves and what they have become.

 

XVI Luna Wolves / Sons of Horus: The Warmaster's personal legion. During the battle for Terra, the Sons of Horus belonged to the legions defending the palace. When Guilliman lowered his shield to provoke the Emperor into a trap, Horus joined his father onto the phalanx. He was the first to meet his corrupted brother. He still tried to talk with him, to bring him back to sanity but it was to late. Guilliman attacked Horus. Although the Warmaster was a fearsome warrior he had no chance and was slain by his brother. After the Heresy, Abbadon became the master of the legion. Despite the loss of their primarch, they managed to rebuild the Empire with the other loyal legions. Abbadon also assisted Lorgrar in writing the Book of Lorgrar, also known as Codex Astartes.

 

XVII Word Bearers: Lorgar was the Emperor's most loyal and most zealous son. Unfortunately the legion had been lured far away from Terra by the Ultramarines, just when the Heresy began. So they could not support their brothers. When the Heresy was over the Word Bearers were left as the largest of all legions. So they were also the first to rebuild the Empire. Lorgar was the one to join his surviving, loyal borthers together and organise the future of the Empire. With their help he wrote a new version of his book. Aside from religious matters of worshipping the Emperor (that was a major source of conflict with the other primarchs), it also included tactital themes for battle and organisation. One of the most important themes of the book was the splitting of the legions into smaller chapters. So the Book of Lorgar became the fundament for nearly all future chapters and the Imperium itself.

 

XVIII Salamanders: Vulkan belonged to the primarchs siding with Guilliman. He was also present during the ?-Massacre. Just before the final assault on Terra, he and his legion traveled to their homeworld in order pick up the new recruits. But when they arrived, terror greeted them. Nocturne had been devastated by a warp-spawned pleague. A deadly pest that had killed two thirds of the planet's population. Vulkan could not stand seeing his poeple suffering like this. So he prayed to the Dark Gods that Guilliman had begun to worship. Indeed one of them answered. In order to let his people live, Vulkan sold his soul and legion to Nurgle. When they arrived at Terra the proud space marines had been turned into rotten monsters. Nurgle's gifts had turned them into disgusting parodies of space marines full of pleagues and infections. After the battle for Terra, Nurgle kept true to his word and teleported the entire homeworld of the legion into the safety of the Eye of Terror. Here the Salamanders reign as pest-smiths over a rotten planet full of loyal pleague-zombies.

They may have lost their souls to the warp but as Nurgle had promised, the people of Nocturne would not suffer anymore for they are now unable to feel any form of pain.

 

XIX Raven Guard: Corax was the last primarch to turn away from the Emperor. During the ?-Massacre the Raven Guard had to suffer almost as many losses as the loyal forces. During the surprise attack the other traitor legions' forces were delayed due to an surprising storm that disturbed their drop-ships.

So the loyal forces simply focused their strenght onto the Raven Guard until the other traitors revealed themselves. In order to replenish their strenght

Corax made use of ancient cloning technologies. Most of the clones turned out to be inhuman monsters but they were still good enough for fighting.

After the Heresy, the Reaven Guard escaped into the Maelstrom. The legion has become little more than pirates that usually attack merchant vessels. Seldomly legion forces infiltrate and attack an imperial world but when they do so, it is with devastating results. The legion still uses Corax' cloning-technology to replace their losses. Thus most of the legion's marines show mutations and they possess a huge horde of mindless monsters. The fate of Corax is unknown for he simply disappeared after the Heresy.

 

XX Alpha Legion: The youngest and most secretive of all legions. It seems they were unable to help their brothers at Terra but later helped to secure the rebuilt Empire. There are rumours that the Alpha Legion actually acts as somesort of secret police, independant from the Inquistion.

 

So...what do you think?

[Imperialis_Dominatus]

That said, most of the chaos legions could and would have remained loyal if they were not tricked or screwed over.

 

Exactly. There are several points in pre-HH history that are crucial to the future of the Legions, and many for the Traitors are rooted in single interactions with the Emperor. If you alter these, you alter the course of history. Similarly, if one were to introduce a little more father-son hate between the Loyalists and the Emperor, I suspect they could have fallen. The Primarchs showed a remarkable lack of resiliency in the face of that sort of thing- note that the ones who had good relationships with the Emperor mostly stayed loyal, except Horus (waaaaaah daddy's gone) and Fulgrim (subverted by Horus).

 

I'm going to be compiling a lot of ideas over the next few days to create sort of a dark mirror 40k, and try to trace things up to their implications post-Heresy and beyond. Should be up in a week or two.

[Logain the Ranger]

Very well written Demon. I think that not only the punch that the Emperor gave to Russ, but also the fact that he helped the 1k sons that pushed Russ over.

[Skirax]

I could see the Ultramarines turning to Chaos. If Roboute had taken a little more offense at losing the position of Warmaster, if he had wanted to display his tactical genius just a little bit more, the whispers of Chaos could have claimed him. His father shunned his military prowess by making Horus the Warmaster; what better way to show that was a mistake than to storm the Emperor's Palace yourself? Also, consider that Macragge is an empire within an empire and it's possible that Guilliman tasted the power of ruling entire worlds and decided he wanted more. The shining beacon of hope and prosperity that was Macragge turns into a desolate wasteland, decimated by Guilliman's greed and ambition. Suddenly there's a system of daemon worlds on the Imperium's back step. How different would the Imperium be if the Codex Astartes had never been written, or composed by another hand?

 

If Roboute had turned traitor, Alpharius probably would have stayed loyal to the Emperor if for no other reason that to foil Guilliman. He could have misled and redirected the Ultramarines' forces, giving the Emperor time to prepare and recall his armies to Terra. After the Heresy, the Alpha Legion would have been instrumental in reclaiming lost worlds with minimal damage. They also would have been in a position to either stop, support or control the various Emperor cults springing up across the galaxy by infiltrating them and feeding back information.

 

Can totally beliave idea, Ultras becoming slaanesh, i think cos they were the perfect chapter after the herey, would want be perfect forever.

[Captain Idaho]

Only problem is Guilliman was not the best at motivating and manipulating his brothers. While close to many, he had no relationship with some which implies he could not perhaps be the chief artitect in a heresy.

 

My money on a reverse would be Sanguinous as the protagonist, as he is the Angel and should have perhaps been Warmaster. The likes of Guilliman and Dorn would have followed him and could have worked with him.

 

But that's just me, because I can't see Guilliman manipulating his brothers like Horus.

 

Of course we have to completely change the personalities of most of the Primarchs to make them fall...

[Trve]

Papa Smurf could have easily fallen to Slaanesh, considering he had an ego the size of mainland China.

[Demon-Man]

Well...but if Guilliman is meant to be the major antagonist of the Heresy, he would have to be undivided, for

he would need the support of all four gods.

[OnlyInDeath]

There would also be soooooo many smurfs that it wouldnt be a problem to find a dozen chapters to follow each of the chaos gods' ways. I would second a chaos undivided Ultras. Though perhaps a name change would be in store here. The luna wolves changed twice, what would the Ultramarines become?

[Commissar Molotov]

...chaos undivided Ultras. Though perhaps a name change would be in store here. The luna wolves changed twice...

 

Well, that's because the Luna Wolves had the Mark of Chaos Undecided. :)

 

In the example Darrell and I originally postulated, Guilliman managed to organise the traitors, but it was Dorn that led the assault on Terra, which let Guilliman return to Ultramar and fortify it against the loyalist assault. I can certainly see arguments for Sanguinius being the ringleader of the heresy (Horus even said that Sanguinius should've become Warmaster). I think with these 'alternate realities' you can take it in most directions.

[ChaosLord Leon Enaek]

About the question of whether the Luna Wolves would have changed their names, it could easily be that they took on these names as successor Chapters, eg.-

Mainstream Chapter remains as the Luna Wolves, led by either Tarrik or Loken.

Aximed takes a few companies and forms The Sons of Horus

Abbaddon, unable to face his grief over Horus' death, leaves and forms a crusader Chapter, not unlike the Black Templars, to mourn for their Primarch; The Black Legion.

Other possible Successors;

Word Bearer Successor=The Dark Apostles, The Opening Eyes, The Burning Hands, The Crimson Masks, The Ebony Serpents, The Chapter of the Void

World eaters have three? Mainstream keep Brazentooth, Khârn takes Gorechild and another Captain takes Gorefather

 

On this note, is it against any rules on this forum for me to make some IA on these alternate successor? Because if it isn't, would anyone like to help me with my Index Alternates?

[ChaosLord Leon Enaek]

Sorry, double post.

[Master Elias]

Greetings Brothers,

I couldn't help but be interested in this topic.

 

First off I see Russ going Khorn because they are savages. They are still massively anti-magic so I put them there. When The Lion turns, not to be upstaged by his long running fued with his favorite brother, he turn to Tzneetch, good ol' rivalries, which also makes sence with all of the secrecy. Luther would not have stayed with the Emperor because he lovet the Lion too much too do that and The only reason he turned in the first place was because of his jelousy which let in the Chaos. If The Lion became evil, Luther would go with him.

 

I like to think of the Lion as being a charismatic man but I've been wrong before. In my oppinion he would have been a good choice for warmaster because he was carismatic(ish) and sickly tactical. Although there are better choices (Horus wasn't my first choice) he would suffice and start on his path to being better than everyone. He would gain the support of his closest brother Russ and I really don't know how he would get anyone else on his side...

 

hmmm.... maby I didn't think this one out as well as I thought I had...

 

And we wouldn't let the Ultramarines become evil because they annoy me and killing them would be too much fun!

[Commissar Molotov]

I collated the ideas Darrell and I had (that were originally on the first post) and this is what I have:

 

Apologies for the long post here, but Darrell and I discussed this a while back. I think there are countless "alternate heresy" possibilities, but this is a good one:

 

Sanguinius, the 'Angel of Blood' -> Daemon Prince.

However much he kills, he stays pristine, with a beauty that is both unholy and terrifying.

 

Imperial Fists -> Slaneeshi Bombardiers

Many heavy weapons, an emphasis on siegebreaking.

The use of the painglove and other rituals to heighten their senses. They desire perfection, and fall to Slaneesh.

Deafened by their perverted Hellcannons, they seek sensation, they enjoy inflicting pain. As they break the enemy's fortifications, so they break their spirits, storming the breaches in the defences to break their bodies.

Guilliman managed to manipulate Dorn, and Dorn's the one that led the assault on Terra. The climactic battle happened aboard the Phalanx, instead of Horus's battle-barge. When it all fell through, Guilliman was able to return to Ultramar and hold it secure.

 

 

Space Wolves -> Khorne Berserkers

Flesh-Hounds rather than Fenrisian Wolves.

Leman Russ atop a Juggernaut of Khorne, wielding the Axe of Morkai - taken from a slain Khorne Champion.

Perhaps Bjorn the Fell-Handed is their version of Khârn the Betrayer...? The most youthful of Leman Russ's Wolfguard, he becomes enraged, obsessed with proving his worth to his masters.

Since the Heresy, the Space Wolves have fought ferociously to tear down the reign of the False Emperor. At the forefront of some of the bloodiest battles of the last ten thousand years, their name has become a byword for muderous destruction on a chilling scale. The Space Wolves are organised into wolf-packs, and these bands of warriors compete keenly for glory on the battlefield and the attention of their patrons - the Blood-God Khorne and his favoured servant, Leman Russ. The Space Wolves were created to fight, and death holds no fear for them; they know their blood is as welcome to Khorne as that of their foes.

 

Iron Hands -> Tzeentchian

"The Flesh is Weak" - They become one with their machines. The entire legion is infected with the techno-virus. Tzeentch grants them freedom from fleshy mortality, but curses them utterly.

 

Raven Guard -> Tzeentchian

Raven Guard suffer heavy losses at Terra - after the Heresy, Corax attempts to rebuild the Legion by whatever means necessary. Tzeentch grants him his wish, and the 'Weregeld' are created, monstrous and bloated Marines with vestigial wings, feathers and beaks. These horrific creatures clash regularly in the Eye of Terror with Leman Russ and his Wulfen Berserkers.

 

Salamanders -> Plague Marines

A deadly plague rushes across Nocturne and the Salamanders are ready to do anything for a cure. They fall to Nurgle to protect their homeworld. After their fall, Nocturne was destroyed by the Imperium, and now they live only to avenge the lives of their fallen families. They maintain seven Companies.

 

Word Bearers -> Defenders of the Faith

Condemned and ridiculed for their beliefs during the Great Crusade, with the 'death' of the Emperor they stand ready to point to his divinity. They were in a position to nurse the fledgling Ecclesiarchy and first signs of open Emperor worship. Once their Legion was split, they have similar to (our) Dark Angels and use the opportunity to spread out in order to accomplish a common goal. Ostensibly they would be separate Chapters, but the Word Bearers would keep contact with their successors and have some weight with them. Perhaps then Lorgar could have gone on to create his Book of Lorgar for the loyalists. It would be a work speaking of ways to fight the temptations of Chaos in all its forms and how to banish them back to the Warp. Long pages detailing different types of incense to allow for proper meditation and spiritual exercise, the role of faith in battle and even things like how a priest's uniform should look. Written by golden-skinned hand, the Book of Lorgar would help the Imperium gain its first footholds in the fight against Chaos. Where the Ultramarines held the post-Heresy Imperium together by spreading their forces out, Lorgar would have done so by strengthening the faith of entire worlds with his pamphlets. Speeches broadcast across systems would urge people to trust in the Emperor and be vigilant against his enemies. the Word Bearers staying loyal are a different beast to the Word Bearers we have now. They wouldn't be creating cults, they'd be raising huge, attached armies of zealots - the Frateris Militia. They would be akin to the Black Templars, I think - indeed, the Word Bearers would still be in black armour, trying to bring light to the dark, paranoid Imperium.

 

Sons of Horus ->

Abaddon was selected as "The Emperor's Champion" during the Horus Heresy and fought to defend Terra. In the wake of Horus's death during the Heresy, Abaddon is maddened by grief and changes the Legion's armour to black, calling them "The Black Guard".

 

Thousand Sons ->

 

White Scars ->

Before becoming Great Khan, Jaghatai hunted down the tribe that was responsible for killing his father and murdered them all. He butchered men, women and children until no enemy was left alive in the village. Then, the Primarch bathed in their blood. If that's not Khornate, I don't know what is. The Red Highway Massacre. There are no details about what exactly that battle was about, as it's only mentioned by name in the White Scars IA. However, I can easily see that referring to a massive slaughter of innocents and loyalist forces as the Khan's final step into the abyss. White armor slick with blood, scarred faces screaming battle cries as they run down the fleeing survivors, blood running slick down a road populated by corpses and burning metal hulks. It's a scene of pure, tribal, feral, barbarian slaughter striking out against the foundations of civilized society that has been played out since man first settled into cities.

 

Ultramarines ->

His father shunned his military prowess by making Horus the Warmaster; what better way to show that was a mistake than to storm the Emperor's Palace yourself? Also, consider that Macragge is an empire within an empire and it's possible that Guilliman tasted the power of ruling entire worlds and decided he wanted more. The shining beacon of hope and prosperity that was Macragge turns into a desolate wasteland, decimated by Guilliman's greed and ambition. Suddenly there's a system of daemon worlds on the Imperium's back step. How different would the Imperium be if the Codex Astartes had never been written, or composed by another hand? Much like (our) Black Legion is now split into smaller warbands, you could imagine the various Lieutenants and Warlords of the Ultramarines being divided into 'Chapters', each of which has its own realm, shaped to their own tastes. They have a mighty Empire in real-space, which the Imperium can only contain... traitor Marines (ala Red Corsairs) flee the loyalist Legions to join the service of the Ultramarines - their only price that they kneel and accept Roboute as their Warmaster. Roboute would have written the Codex even if he had gone traitor. However, the nature of the tome would have been quite different. There'd be military doctrine but you would probably see twisted variations like a treatise on the various types of daemons, how they can be summoned and tactics regarding their use. The Codex Chaotica or something similar, a blasphemous tone of military intelligence and endless taint inscribed by the most unholy means.

 

Alpha Legion ->

Worked to foil Guilliman during the Heresy. Misled and redirected the Ultramarines' forces, giving the Emperor time to recall his armies to Terra. After the Heresy, the Alpha Legion would have been instrumental in reclaiming lost worlds with minimal damage. They also would have been in a position to either stop, support or control the various Emperor cults springing up across the galaxy by infiltrating them and feeding back information.

 

 

Dark Angels ->

Luther of the Dark Angels takes the role played by Garro and the Eisenstein in our universe.

 

Night Lords ->

Gangs of criminals proving their inner nobility as true defenders of the Imperium. The Night Haunter, the terror of traitors, causing terrible difficulties for the traitors as they attack and then fade into the darkness.

 

Iron Warriors ->

Perturabo brooded as the defences of the Imperial Palace were put under their greatest test - Rogal Dorn's hellcannon.

 

Death Guard ->

The most solid and reliable Legion.

 

Emperor's Children ->

Reached perfection during the Great Crusade? Refuses to adopt new weapons? (Assault Cannon, Razorback...)

 

World Eaters ->

 

The Imperium in the year 999.M41:

If the Word Bearers, Alpha Legion and Night Lords had all remained loyal then that's a hefty force that works largely through indirect means. The Word Bearers and Alpha Legion have cultists that do much of their fighting, while the Night Lords strike and fade into the shadows to let fear work against their enemies. Iron Warriors focus on fortifications, both building them and tearing them down. Thousand Sons function through knowledge and sorcery, using a finer touch to deal with their problems.

 

Maybe that would lead to a less brutish Imperium, though still dark in its subtlety. Cultists and minions spread throughout, collecting information on each other just in case the signs of heresy start to show again. The bureaucracy would still be nightmarish and sluggish, but more so due to its heightened paranoia. Right now the Imperium is more of an uncaring giant, but perhaps in this alternate reality it would be more of a terror state with careful eyes always watching its citizens with shadowed guardians stalking and waiting for orders. The Imperium is more focused inwardly than outwardly, especially if the best they can do with Macragge is contain it and prevent it from spreading further. Maybe instead of looking to rediscover worlds, it would have bunkered in on itself, taking firm hold of what worlds were left and fortifying them. What explorations do take place are slow affairs as cults are spread and seeded, new planets fortified and examined...

 

Something akin to Minority Report. Thousand Son sorcerors scanning for treachery in the higher offices of government while cultists gather information about potential heretical cells. Word Bearers walk the streets, carrying the torch of the Emperor and chanting their litanies as they call the sinners out to beg forgiveness. The Night Lords hunt troublesome vigilantes and isolate planets while the Alpha Legion works on the borders to misdirect and mislead potential outside threats. The idea of the Imperium facing inwards.

 

 

 

 

 

It would be interesting if we could move forward with this and perhaps write an alternate "history of the Heresy" project.

[Favoured of the Emperor]

The "Codex Alternate" would be an amzing idea, and I for one would be glad to help.

 

I like the idea that someone had for the different chapters that the "loyalist" legions would split into.

 

Maybe for Night Lords you could have:

Skulls of the Night

Haunters of the Night

Emperor's skulls

 

And maybe for Alpha legion you could have:

Beta legion

Gamma legion

Delta Legion

and so on to Omega legion

 

Maybe the Dark Angels that stayed loyal could act as some kind of inquisition, working alone to hunt out the roots of heresy that caused their brothers to turn, much like inquisitor lords now. Maybe some formed the first grey knights, a la Garro and Qruze.

 

What would happen to the primarchs during the heresy? Which ones would die?

Lion- could be killed by russ during a duel, like the one that happens in the real galaxy but russ goes into a rage and accidently kills him

 

Fulgrim- killed by Ferrus Manus

 

Perturabo- maybe killed during the latter stages of the heresy, or like dorn

 

Khan- Demon Primarch

 

Russ- disappears to return at the "wolf time" a crusade in the name of the "bloody wolf" -khorne

 

Dorn- Demon primarch

 

Kurze-

 

Sanguinus- demon primarch- red thirst could be those who drink blood in the name of khorne but most of the legion remain undivided

 

Rerrus Manus- possessed by a daemon looking to eradicate weakness of the flesh

 

Angron-maybe he could act instead of Sanguinus, so he gets killed by guilliman

 

Guilliman-demon primarch, wrotes the codex chaotica

 

Mortarion-

 

Magnus the Red-

 

Horus- killed after the heresy or during maybe instead of angron

 

Lorgar- keeping the faith going

 

Vulan-demon primarch

 

Corax- could stay loyal but undermined by his legion, travels away from hid legion saying nevermore, to do bettle against his turned legipn

 

Alpharius/Omegon -

 

This is all I could tink of, just need a few more priamrchs

 

FOE

[Commissar Molotov]

Useful feedback.

 

I can't say I like the names you've come up with for the Night Lords' and Alpha Legion's successor Chapters. That's fine, though - these sorts of things require careful and considered brainstorming anyway.

 

With regards to Luther's band of renegades, I much favour an answer similar to that given to Garro before the Horus Heresy novels were released - simply that nobody knows what happened to him.

 

First of all, it would require us to be absolutely clear which Primarchs turned and which stayed. Some alternate heresy scenarios adopt a halfway solution, but in the examples I've postulated, the full eighteen are entirely switched, so our loyalists turn, and vice versa. You need to consider that most of the traitor Primarchs in our universe are daemon Primarchs, whilst most of the loyalists disappeared, with some having been killed. I think we'd need to maintain that balance. Partly because my ideas don't just pertain to the Alternate Heresy, but an alternate 999.M41, also.

 

It's possible that Lion el'Jonson and Leman Russ could've still fought in this universe. But don't forget that post heresy there's a lot of fighting going on between the Space Wolves and the Raven Guard (Khorne and Tzeentch). The DA/SW rivalry could cloud and distort that, potentially.

 

Fulgrim dying at the hands of Ferrus Manus could be a nice reversal of what 'really' happened, certainly.

 

I see Perturabo as defending the Emperor's Palace, so I don't think he would've died during the Heresy - perhaps afterwards, though we don't know. I think he likely would be occupying a similar role to Dorn.

 

Dorn would be killed by the Emperor aboard the Phalanx.

 

I think Ferrus would be subsumed by the techno-virus, or perhaps possessed by a daemon, like Fulgrim, perhaps.

 

I think it's likely Horus would occupy the role Sanguinius occupies in our Heresy - dying after refusing the offer to "join the dark side."

 

I don't especially like Russ/Corax leaving their Legions, though.