The Siege of Terra

[Blood Angel Scout]

I know that the books regarding this event are years away but from what we know so far regarding the siege, where was everyone during the battle?

 

Horus was on the Vengeful Spirit, Sanguinius at the Eternity Gate while Khan was at the spaceport but what about the other primarchs who were there? What part did they play?

 

I always found it strange that there was'nt some kind of head-to-head between the loyalist and the traitor primarchs, as the only one I can think of, prior to the Emperor going to face Horus, is a menton of a psychic stare-off between Sanguinius and Angron and even that did'nt lead to them trading blows.

 

Also, would be good to know about the other recognisable characters actions i.e. Abbadon, Khârn, Sigimund to name but a few

 

Thanks Folks

[Astus]

Out of the other Primarchs the only ones we know for certain were there are Dorn, Fulgrim, Mortarion and Angron. Magnus and the Thousand Sons were mentioned in the old background, but this could change.

And I think that Thousand Sons would probably have avoided it, because think about it: your Legion and homeworld were ravaged at the start of the Heresy, and you're going to find it hard to rebuild your numbers, so you try to avoid getting involved in battles that would cause further heavy losses.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

The Promethean

[The 13th Goat]

Out of the other Primarchs the only ones we know for certain were there are Dorn, Fulgrim, Mortarion and Angron. Magnus and the Thousand Sons were mentioned in the old background, but this could change.

And I think that Thousand Sons would probably have avoided it, because think about it: your Legion and homeworld were ravaged at the start of the Heresy, and you're going to find it hard to rebuild your numbers, so you try to avoid getting involved in battles that would cause further heavy losses.

 

Your forgetting Perturabo, Kurze and Lorgar. Perturabo personally oversaw the breeching of the Imperial Palaces wall's, the Nights Lords were stated as being there in AD-B's Night Lord Trilogy, and I doubt the Word Bearers would be elsewhere (dispite Calth drawing them away, I'm sure they would have made it back for their suppossed triumph!).

 

As for the Thousand Sons, it's been suggested in the HH Collected Visions and elsewhere that the Ruberic had happened by the time the seige happened. Meaning no rebuilding. Also, Collected Visions does seem to point to them making an appearance.

[Ethrion]

Well as far as I know the timeline for the Thousand Sons is as follows:

 

As we know all too well the Space Wolves devastate Prospero and the Thousand Sons are driven into a war against their Emperor to survive and protect their accumulated wisdom. All along they had been the unwitting recipients of the patronage of Tzeentch. Who allowed them to escape into the Eye of Terror and reach the Planet of the Sorcerers.

 

Here Magnus was elevated to the rank of a daemon prince of Tzeentch and installed in the Tower of the Cyclops. Beneath his gaze the Thousand Sons continued their study of magic but as time passed many of their number continued to decline into mutation and madness under the warping influence of the Lord of Change. The sorcerers became increasingly disturbed by the degeneration of their brethren until a cabal led by Ahriman risked the wrath of Magnus by undertaking the drastic spell. Ahriman would need key ingredients and knowledge which could only be found on an Eldar maiden world. And so, while Magnus pledged his support to the Warmaster and went to Terra, Ahriman took a force of his warriors across the galaxy to prepare for the rubric.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

of the traitors, i know i have read (in various sources) that all of them, except for Alpharius/Omegron and Konrad Cruze were mentioned at being on terra during the siege.

Horus is in his battle barge planning the siege

Fulgrim and his legion leave the siege and slaughter the populace

Perturabo leads the breaking of the palace.

Mortarion and his Death Guard are deployed via drop pods on the defenders

Magnus and a cabal of sorcerous are responsible for breaking the wards of the palace.

Angron is noted as shaking his weapons in fury as the traitors depart, then shrugs his shoulders knowing the war is far from over

Lorgrar did something...i cant remember what off the top of my head to be honest.

 

of the loyalists,

the Imperial Fists manned the walls

the Blood Angels held the gates

the White Scars sallied out and siezed a space port, which cut the flow of invaders in half. he was stuck here though and couldnt take part in the emperor's teleport attack.

the Wolves and Dark Angels joined together in their race to Terra. however, Russ insisted on stopping at various key worlds along the way and retaking them.

the Ultramarines made to terra with all speed (this is slightly retconned in RoE...how much exactly is to be revealed)

the Iron Hands were ordered home by Dorn after Manus's death and ordered to prep for the worse to happen

the Salamanders and Raven Guard were broken, and ordered home to rebuild and rearm for the coming conflict.

 

WLK

[Marshal Rohr]

Was it the Salamanders who were down to 80 brothers or something?

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Was it the Salamanders who were down to 80 brothers or something?

 

i dont know if the numbers were that low, but they had 3-4 successor chapters at the time of the second founding so i hope not.

(and on that note, i REALLY want to know how vulkan got out of the dropsite mass in one piece. Raven's Flight shows how Corax and his 3k managed it, but no word of Vulkan yet.)

 

WLK

[Gree]

Was it the Salamanders who were down to 80 brothers or something?

 

i dont know if the numbers were that low, but they had 3-4 successor chapters at the time of the second founding so i hope not.

(and on that note, i REALLY want to know how vulkan got out of the dropsite mass in one piece. Raven's Flight shows how Corax and his 3k managed it, but no word of Vulkan yet.)

 

WLK

 

The Salamanders had no sucessor chapters after the Heresy, the Raven Guard had three, the Black Guard, the Raptors and the Revilers.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Was it the Salamanders who were down to 80 brothers or something?

 

i dont know if the numbers were that low, but they had 3-4 successor chapters at the time of the second founding so i hope not.

(and on that note, i REALLY want to know how vulkan got out of the dropsite mass in one piece. Raven's Flight shows how Corax and his 3k managed it, but no word of Vulkan yet.)

 

WLK

 

The Salamanders had no sucessor chapters after the Heresy, the Raven Guard had three, the Black Guard, the Raptors and the Revilers.

 

Oops, mixed them up. my bad M2C.

 

maybe the Sallies did get that mauled then...OUCH.

 

WLK

[Astus]

Thanks for the correction The 13th Goat (can't believe I forgot Perturabo and the Iron Warriors :))

 

Was it the Salamanders who were down to 80 brothers or something?

 

i dont know if the numbers were that low, but they had 3-4 successor chapters at the time of the second founding so i hope not.

(and on that note, i REALLY want to know how vulkan got out of the dropsite mass in one piece. Raven's Flight shows how Corax and his 3k managed it, but no word of Vulkan yet.)

 

WLK

 

The Salamanders had no sucessor chapters after the Heresy, the Raven Guard had three, the Black Guard, the Raptors and the Revilers.

 

Oops, mixed them up. my bad M2C.

 

maybe the Sallies did get that mauled then...OUCH.

 

WLK

 

The Salamanders were always known to have a slow recruitment rate, and I think that they may not have reduced to only 80 men, so they may not have been that badly mauled.

 

The Promethean

[jaxjace]

the nightlords also took to the streets and slaughtered anything that moved.

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

Ahriman would need key ingredients and knowledge which could only be found on an Eldar maiden world. And so, while Magnus pledged his support to the Warmaster and went to Terra, Ahriman took a force of his warriors across the galaxy to prepare for the rubric.

Where is that from? (I have not read Prospero burns as I got a signed copy and am kind of worried to read it in case I damage it, and have not read battle for the fang (not enougth money :) ) that does sound interesting.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

the Iron Hands were ordered home by Dorn after Manus's death and ordered to prep for the worse to happen

 

I've never heard this before, and I have to admit that its got me confused. Medusa is nowhere near Tallarn, and the Hands were present at Tallarn for the giant tank battles there against the Iron Warriors.

[Marshal Rohr]

I think the Tallarn battle was from Epic. Sooo Manus no longer having a head may not have been a factor at the time.

[Brother Ambroz]

of the traitors, i know i have read (in various sources) that all of them, except for Alpharius/Omegron and Konrad Cruze were mentioned at being on terra during the siege.

Horus is in his battle barge planning the siege

Fulgrim and his legion leave the siege and slaughter the populace

Perturabo leads the breaking of the palace.

Mortarion and his Death Guard are deployed via drop pods on the defenders

Magnus and a cabal of sorcerous are responsible for breaking the wards of the palace.

Angron is noted as shaking his weapons in fury as the traitors depart, then shrugs his shoulders knowing the war is far from over

Lorgrar did something...i cant remember what off the top of my head to be honest.

 

of the loyalists,

the Imperial Fists manned the walls

the Blood Angels held the gates

the White Scars sallied out and siezed a space port, which cut the flow of invaders in half. he was stuck here though and couldnt take part in the emperor's teleport attack.

the Wolves and Dark Angels joined together in their race to Terra. however, Russ insisted on stopping at various key worlds along the way and retaking them.

the Ultramarines made to terra with all speed (this is slightly retconned in RoE...how much exactly is to be revealed)

the Iron Hands were ordered home by Dorn after Manus's death and ordered to prep for the worse to happen

the Salamanders and Raven Guard were broken, and ordered home to rebuild and rearm for the coming conflict.

 

WLK

 

This looks right with the possible exception of Curze and the Night Lords. ADB's trilogy as someone stated earlier put at least some of the Night Lords if not all of them at Terra. Can't know for sure until a book about the Siege comes out though.

[Hyaenidae]

In 'Rules of Engagement', there is a short story (forgive me, I can't remember the name) where a strike force of White Scars and Iron Hands attempt to assasinate high ranking members of the Sons of Horus. Plus, only a part of the Iron Hands were present on Istvaan, (Fulgrim, pg. 418-419), the rest of the Legion were still in transit and were not able to make it there in time. Only the Morlocks (ten companies of Terminators) and Ferrus died in that hellhole. The Hands are still active during the Heresy, just seriously hurting.

[Codicier Lucion]

The Iron Hands had also taken significant damage to their fleet in an ambush when Fulgrim's legion turned up to try and turn Ferrus. They still had most of their manpower, but nearly all of their warships were immobilised or needed heavy repairs.

[Hyaenidae]

Maybe, but they still were mobile enough to head towards Istvaan, albiet too late.

[Ubermensch Commander]

Part of the problem is that we have conflicting records of just which Traitor legions/Primarchs were at the Siege of Terra, which were not, and how much of their forces were there. For example, Word Bearers are recorded as both being at the Siege, building great mountains of skulls and other dark effigies to the dark gods, while also battling against the Ultramarines as they push toward Terra (though it is always post-Calth if memory serves). In some sources the Night Lords participated in the Siege, in others they were busy causing general havoc in the broader Imperium. The only Legion/Primarch, as has been mentioned earlier, known not be at the Siege of Terra in the various sources was the Alpha Legion.

 

The loyalists are somewhat easier:

Wolves, Dark Angels, and the Ultramarines are all heading to Terra, but cannot make it in time for the Siege and the Emperor's climatic battle with Horus about the Spirit of Vengeance.

Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Raven Guard all received terrible losses during the Dropsite Massacres. They are forced onto the defensive, rebuilding their forces and doing what they can to battle the traitors.

Blood Angels, Imperial Fists, and the White Scars all aided in defense of the Palace, alongside standard human forces, bits of Mechanicus forces (Titans at any rate.), and the Custodes.

 

Unfortunately, in response to the OP, we lack specific details on many key characters, such as exactly what Abaddon was doing before his dramatic "big noooo" moment upon finding Horus body and ripping off the claw. The Horus Heresy books will likely flesh some of this out.

 

@1000Heretics

The Iron Hands heading toward Terra? That is the first I have heard of them doing such a thing.

[Hyaenidae]

@Uber: Nah, just Istvaan. I think they were stuck with hit-and-runs after Ferrus lost his head (again, shown in the most recent HH book), they never even tried to head to Terra from what I have heard either. Sorry if I gave that impression. Not sure what happened to the rest of the Iron Hands 52nd Expedition after Ferrus died, but there has been no mention of them arriving late and being annihilated, so the basic assumption is that they got word of what happened to their Primarch, and turned around. Technically, they're still a combat-effective Legion, even with the loss of ten companies, but the loss of their Primarch most likely broke their spirit. Revenge was probably far more important to them at that point.

[Ubermensch Commander]

@1000heathens

Whoops my mistake. I somehow read "Istvaan" and got "Terra." XD Go figure.

 

Honestly, I dislike the (as far I can tell) retcon that only vets of the Iron Hands were there. Previously (again if memory serves which it does not always) the Iron Hands got gutted alongside the Salamanders and Raven Guard. Though, I suppose it was done to avoid the minor plot gap that never got any attention: The Salamanders recruited too slowly to get back into the fight in time and the Raven Guard rushed recruitment with disastrous results. Iron Hands just kinda....rebuilt...nothing to see here! So they may wanted to change things up in that regard.

[Hyaenidae]

Well, both the Sallies and the Ravens were crippled badly and used differing methods to building back up; that's never changed, like you said. In the old Iron Hands IA in Index Astartes III, pg. 5, para 3, it's stated that Ferrus took only his fastest ships and veteran troops, and sped ahead of the rest of his Legion, which the book 'Fulgrim' supports. Really, the only retcon there was that in the old IA, Ferrus chose his fastest ships, and in Fulgrim, used the least crippled ships. Nothing's really changed.