Alternate Heresy Community Project

[Ace Debonair]

The next two Primarchs found on our list are Perturabo and Fulgrim, too.

Fulgrim's immediately sure he's a failure on meeting his brothers, and Perturabo is, as best I can tell, an architect first, and a warrior-diplomat second. Definitely looking like the Emperor might see Corax as his most obvious successor.

Digging the 'plauges on Prospero' thing. It adds a nice splash of dark to the Tigers' homeworld.

I'm really liking the idea of keeping the place around too, as like Ridcully says it's usually on the Exterminatus list.

EDIT:

Missed a word out!

[Wade Garrett]

Nah, Perturabo is the Shield Bearer, after all.

 

I can almost see Corax resenting both of them a bit, as they are willing to be sons of the Emperor in a way Ferrus and Lorgar aren't, kind of a "My daddy! Don't wanna share!" reaction.

[Wade Garrett]

I seem to recall Cormac saying he wanted to focus on the Ullanor moot once we got the Mechanicum nailed down, which we seem to have done. The first question is, who's going to be present?

 

Just the Primarchs who are listed as being at the battle in the opening post , Jonson, Sanguinus, Corax, Perturabo, Konrad, Fulgrim, and Anubis? This would make sense if the meeting is directly after the battle, with all present somewhere in the stages of grief.

 

Or do you fellows think we should have more Primarchs turn up once the news of what happened to dad starts to circulate?

[Conn Eremon]

Those present at the Campaign should be the first at the Conference. Like the canon Triumph, others should come in, and most, if not all, should have at least a Marine presence.

 

Canon Triumph had fourteen Legions and nine sons. Good number to keep, though it won't have to be a faithful number.

[Ace Debonair]

Roboute and Bron should show up eventually, if only so Corax has more supporters on hand.

The twins should probably show up too, since they need a bit more to their history than 'don't get along for 10,000 years'.

[Wade Garrett]

On the one hand I can see Mr. Micromanager no showing Ullanor because unlike SOME Primarchs he doesn't just pop off and leave his Legion to bumble into who knows what without his guidance.

 

On the other, it could be argued that he would show up come Hell or high water, because letting his brothers make vital decisions without his input? NEVER!

[Ace Debonair]

Perhaps he sends some marines to make sure everyone holds off on making decisions before he gets there?

 

"Our Primarch asked could everyone sit still and do nothing until he gets here so nobody does anything silly in  his absence, please." 

 

"Nope. Tell him we're all about to vote Ferrous as the next Emperor and then go home for tea and crumpets. That ought to get some urgency out of him."

[Adra'Melek]

For the Infernal Legion, I was thinking they were supposed to be at Ulllanor but was delayed with a different campaign. I'm thinking something similar to the one in the Dark Angels book when they took over from the Scars. Compliance 'agreed' but the paper work taking an age. When the news of the Emperor's fall he let's the leash off an massacres the whole planet/system. Bringing their fall.

[Ace Debonair]

That would be a pretty cool first step on the road to damnation.

Not least 'cause everyone would just wave it off - there's not many Primarchs who wouldn't empathise with Melek for raging at being kept away from his father's last moments by damnable paperwork.

[Wade Garrett]

"NO! NO! We cannot let our brother of the Fourteenth sail the stars in a frenzy just because he is too damaged to learn the ways of bureaucracy! All those blank forms...those regulations not complied with...THIS MADNESS MUST CEASE!"

Roboute Barabbas, speaking about his brother Adreh'Melek

[Adra'Melek]

Ok, different slant. Adra'Melek is sat in a little chair with a 165 page form. He gets to page 159 before an auditor points out a mistake on page 2 and it'll need doing again. Adra'Melek goes into a frenzy, killing everyone. He never fills out a form again.

 

Either that or he tries to contact the Imperium's automated Compliance phone line. The last anyone heard was him screaming down the phone that he just wanted to speak to someone other than a servitor.

[Wade Garrett]

All humor aside, that's the Burned Man down for not present.

 

If I remember correctly, it's shortly after if not concurrent with Ullanor that Angron's corner of the galaxy goes to hell, with the human civilizations he's been bypassing on his crusade allying together to launch their own attacks on the Imperium.

 

And it's this crisis that allows Corax to stake his claim to the Warmaster title. So the Lord of Maccrage will have his own problems to deal with that keep him from attending.

 

Imperial Hounds and Red Corsairs would have an Astartes presence even if their Primarchs don't make it, I imagine those two have fleets going all over the galaxy so having some stop off at Ullanor is almost a given.

 

Ferrus was never that close to the Emperor and as long as the Imperium keeps sending him fresh recruits and bolter rounds he could care less who is in charge.

 

It depends on Corax. Either he tells his dog to turn up so he has extra support, or he'd prefer his weapon not embarass him while he's politicking and lobbying his brothers to be Heir To The Empire. So...noctus's choice.

[Conn Eremon]

But-but-but . . . My laughing Leman entrance . . . Think of all the guffaws that will be missing!
 
So we're keeping roughly with the 9 Primarchs and 14 Legions present, and we have:
 
Primarchs: 8
Jonson
Sanguinus
Corax
Perturabo
Konrad
Fulgrim
Anubis

Bron
 
Legions: 11
First Legion
Angels
Chainsworn
Iron Hoplites
Executioners
Emperor's Children
Solar Tigers

White Scars
Imperial Hounds
Red Corsairs

Sons of Barabbas

 

Confirmed no-shows:

 

Primarchs: 3

Barabbas

Adra'Melek

Angron

 

Legions: 2

Infernal Guard

Celestial Lions

 

On the Fence:

 

Primarchs: 5

Lorgar

Leman

Alpharius

Omegon

Ferrus Mordax

 

Legions: 3

Cerberus Legion

Effrit Legion

Minotaurs

 

Everyone else:

 

Primarchs: 3

Rogal Dorn

Magnus

Lupercal

 

Legions: 3

Blackened Fists

Orders of the Sword

Astral Wolves

[Wade Garrett]

Hmmm...I was thinking that perhaps the conference should end with someone running in with the somewhat important news that worlds are burning and an alliance of independent minded humans and foul xenos is crusading right back at them in Ultramar, breaking everything up. Would this role call for guffawing Leman, do you think?

 

Also, an idea for post Heresy:

 

Lord Commander of the Imperium Jonson is setting up a somewhat like the canon Wolfblades with his First Legion and their successors (Yes, successors. Let's go with that for now) having realized that he who controls the Navigators, controls the Imperium. The spice must flow however, it is stumbled upon by High Lord of the Adeptus Astartes Angron..who proclaims it a brilliant idea, and says that ALL the Astartes should strengthen their ties with the Navigator Houses.

 

So many of the important lineages get their own cadres of 4-5 Astartes from various forces, rather neatly scuppering Jonson's plan. Some chapters would send their elites, some would send their screw ups, it varies from group to group. Also, I was thinking that the Navigator Houses could sponsor a big ceremonial tournament (something like the Feast of Blades) where represenatives from their Marines compete against one another in a series of ceremonial duels for bragging rights.

[Conn Eremon]

I promise, Wade, that what follows is not an indictment on your idea, but it is a handy example to point something out.

 

Namely, that we who are all involved seem to be primarily of power armored interests. Even myself, who loves all aspects and races of 30-40k.

 

But we shouldn't fall into the trap of making everything power armor related. Now, the Heresy is a Legion war, but it involves all of Humanity. And beyond the Heresy and Scouring, the galaxy is way too big to concentrate on just those with gene-seed. Obviously, we should be careful of forum rules forbidding too much coverage on xenos, but the point still stands that we need to make sure we think about the other factions.

 

For instance, Navigator Houses. If we are going to create a formalized militant bodyguard force, does it need to be Astartes? Why can't it be anyone else? If we spread the love around, why not make it an Imperial Navy group? To prevent the Houses from accumulating power beyond their station, they are restricted from raising their own army and are instead provided teams of Naval Armsmen, which rotate on a frequent basis to, once again, prevent any one House from expanding beyond their station with a regular, familiar force.

 

However, this isn't to say that the Navigator Houses don't jostle against each other with their firepower. As is typical of a noble heritage given millennia to perfect their courtly ways, combat is a highly ritualized, conformed, predictable affair. Nonetheless, many Houses have had their fortunes rise or fall on the backs of uncaring Naval grunts eagerly anticipating their next rotation out.

 

And with that, we have an expansion that includes more than just Marines, as well as providing for a potential conflict in which the Navigators must be thusly hindered.

 

But that only just came to me and would need refining. That said, Everyoneblades would be cool.

[Wade Garrett]

I just liked the idea of all these Astartes having a big Bloodsport style tournament with Navigator House politics as a back drop, because of the prestige that goes with your guy beating the rival House's guy.

 

Also, I may have mentioned this before but I hate you. ;)

[Wade Garrett]

I'm going to take a moment and ramble incoherently about some of the non Astartes factions we've come up with:

 

THE BRIDES OF THE EMPEROR

An all female fighting force created towards the end of the Heresy from the ranks of the Sisters of Silence and the warrior societies of the XVII Legion, with their first batch of recruits coming from the Geno-Chiliad (and possibly they adopt the cloning technology of the Geno as well? It would provide a stable source of Blanks and Psykers). They make heavy use of Tactical Dreadnaught Armor and their focus is on combating daemons and sorcery.

 

THE AGENTES EN REBUS

Or AER for short. The name means "Those Who Are Active In Matters". These guys are our Inquisition analogue, but I think they should be more of a galatic intelligence agency than the Inquisition's quasi-religous license to burn worlds, if that makes sense.

 

THE LECTIO DIVINATUS, THE CATHERIC CHURCH, & THE ENUMERATIONS

I'm lumping all of these together for now, although of course the only things they broadly agree on are that the Emperor was kind of a cool guy, maybe, and Chaos is bad.

 

I think each should have their own armed force they call on, similar to the Sisters of Battle and Frateris Militia of canon, and also provide Chaplains to the Imperial Army (or Guard, depending on if you think Jonson would split them like canon.)

 

The Enumerations miltant forces being aomething like Shaolin monks, the Catherics picking up the Templar/Hospitaller/Knights of Malta slack in their armed forces, and the Lectio...mmmh.

 

For some reason (the Sons of Barabbas did shape them during the early going) I'm seeing them as fanatical even by canon Ecclesiarchy standards, with elite drugged up super assassins (Eversors by way of the Hashashin) and suicide bombers being among the forces they bring to bear. At the same time, I DON'T want the Lectio to be "Crazy Evil Space Muslims" because that could be juuuust an eensy bit offensive to

some folks.

 

THE ADEPTUS MECHANICUS/ORDER OF THE DRAGON

I'm also seeing the Ad Mech as being a bit pushier to the other Institutions than in canon, because the freethinkers threw in with Fulgrim instead of the canonical fuddy duddies.

 

With the Order of the Dragon being their even more militarized sword arm.

 

Something I was thinking about is that perhaps the Ad Mech did begin to walk in dark places during the Heresy, with part of Jonson's reforms being to put some of the shackles they threw off back on them.

 

Something else I considered was that while the conservative faction that would become the Cognitae did superweapon Mars to death, they did so to stop the main faction from unleashing the Void Dragon to turn it on Corax.

 

Mainly I had the idea of a Cognitae agent taunting an idealistic young member of the Ordo Dracul with "Who are you, who do not know your history?" and spilling a "The Cognitae are the real good guys, your superiors don't serve the Emperor" story of the last days of Mars under torture.

[Conn Eremon]

Ace, Heathens, did either of you have plans for the Palatine Blades? I'm not sure their origin, either on Chemos or within the Terran Legion. Betrayal doesn't say anything about how they originated, that I could tell.

If none of you have plans, and the origin is vague enough that you'd be fine with not having it, I was thinking about a Blades of the Palatine type of group. A veteran core of swordsmen who are separate from the Veteran Companies within each Cohort, and are specifically meant as bodyguard units. Not just of the Palatine himself, though that is their primary goal, but of any high-ranking commanding officer. Cohort Commanders, Company Captains. Sort of like the canon Sanguinary Guard, considering our own Sanguinary Guard are being twisted by religious/vampiric sentiments into something new.

Actually, perhaps I should say it's more like the Emperor's/Chapter's Champion mixed with the canon Palatine Blades.

The First Legion successors (And I think that is the best catch-all phrase, successors. Every Legion has their own term, such as Cohorts, Millennials, Prides, but 'successor' is sufficiently generic for any of them) all have their own Blades of the Palatine grouping, perhaps afterwards each one is named for their Cohort, such as the Blades of Midaem. Every century, the First Legion successors gather for a tournament referred to as the Feast of Blades, where each Cohort provides their greatest swordsmen. The greatest swordsman, the winner of the tourney, is gifted with the Palatine's own blade, which I've been referring to as 'Redblade' in my head, as the sword is forged from the red iron of Mars. Until the next Feast of Blades, where he will have to defend his championship.

What's that, you think it's strange that for ten thousand years, only the Palatium Cohort, the only one to retain the First Legion colors and which once was the First Cohort of the First Legion, ever wins? You think that perhaps the truth is that whosoever wins the Feast of Blades is inducted within this Cohort, as a means of keeping the Primus strong and in control of the other Cohorts? That this is all just another example of the First Legion still existing in all but name? I'm sorry, Inquisitor, could you repeat that last bit? I couldn't quite catch it over the sound of your ship exploding.

Anyway, if one of you wants to keep the Palatine Blades, I'm fine with changing the wording and naming a bit to accommodate your wishes.

If nothing else, whoever does keep the Palatine Blades could make for a nice bit of rivalry, friendly or otherwise, between the two Legions.

[Wade Garrett]

Mumble mumble BLOODSPORT! mumble mumble IDEA THIEF mumble.

;)

 

And so as not to make a zero content post, some ideas about Hounds successors.

 

Known as: Space Sharks

 

Homeworld: Fleet based

 

True Name: Squadron Blood Reaver

 

Symbol: A red bellied shark, rampant

 

Colors: Halfed Grey and Red

 

Specialty: Relentless pursuit and harrying of enemy vessels, use of ursus claws in boarding operations, employment of Destroyer squads in boarding operations.

 

Catechism:

I drink a river of blood and yet thirst.

I devour the flesh of armies and yet hunger.

 

Battlecry:

I hunger! I thirst!

 

The Blood Reavers take their name from a particular breed of Fenrisian shark that is said to have lived as mated pairs their entire life. Fishermen warned that if you caught or killed one, its mate would forever afterfollow your vessel, waiting for a moment to strike.

 

The Reavers strive to emulate their Primarch's rage and desire for vengeance against those who destroyed Fenris.

 

Their squadron is made up of smaller pursuit vessels, with their preferred tactic being to latch on to enemy vessels, orbital installations, or space hulks with ursus claws to enable boarding teams to purge their target of all life.

 

Their monomaniacal focus on the deaths of their enemies to the exclusion of all else, even their own lives, has made them pariahs even to their fellow sons of Lorgar.

[Conn Eremon]

Pfft, two ideas based off of an already present thing can hardly be stealing from each other.

Plus, I yelled dibs before you yelled dibs.

Dibs!

 

Edit: Of course, the two ideas can work in tandem. Perhaps, as a sign of honor, the First Legion's successors send some of their Blades to the Navigator Houses. Perhaps to keep themselves sharp, they utilize some of their free time by organizing mini-Feasts with each other, honing their skills. Short but indeterminate time later, other Legions begin to do the same thing. Perhaps egged on by Angron, going all "Hey Jonson, we shouldn't let the Navigators be too dependent on only one of us, right?"

 

I like the idea of the Jackal's sons getting all snobbish and start treating it less like an honor and more like a waste of time. Sure, they keep up appearances by only sending Blades, but who are they to tell that these were Marines raised to the Blades specifically to be sent to the Houses? The mini-Feasts used to keep each other sharp become a bit more brutal. Mini-Feasts become mini-Thunderdomes as transhuman Mad Maxes go to town on each other.

 

Though, if we do go that route, I like the idea of a canon-Sigismund like Special Character. A Blade who dominated the bloody sport on Terran soil, exceeds expectations and wins a Feast of Blades not just once, but twice in a row. Stately, patrician hero wearing dark, spiked armor and wielding a gleaming red sword, who can fight with the rules or without them. Kind of picturing the new Zod. "I was bred to be a warrior, Hound. Trained my entire life to master my senses. Where did you train? ON A FARM?"

[Wade Garrett]

"How'd you know?" the Hound sneered back, trapping the blade between his power claws. "Started out tusslin' with my sister over table scraps. You remind me of her a bit, she talked too much and spent hours making herself look pretty ju...."

 

Everyone saw the Palatine's eyes narrow, saw his goal shift from displaying his own skills to shutting that mouth. But no one could entirely follow what came next.

 

Four strikes, one from the sword's hilt colliding with the Inperial Hound's face to break the weapon lock, the other three from the blade, and the Squadron Master at Arms hit the arena floor with a smoking stab wound in his secondary heart.

 

His claws and the limbs that held them landed amongst the suddenly silenced crowd.

 

"Perhaps Lorgar's dogs should have sent your sister to this contest, then." The swordsman said with a shrug, his face once more a statue carved to embody dignity.

[Conn Eremon]

A fitting heir apparent to the Jackal. :D

[Wade Garrett]

Glad you liked it, Cormac.

 

What did you think of the stuff I came up with about our three religions and Inquisition-which-is-not-the-Inquisition?

 

I may have mentioned this a while back, but I was thinking post Heresy we should have an event that is essentially the Catherics and the Lectio Divinatus having a holy war with one another over Shrine Worlds that both sides claim as sacred, specifically Ullanor.

 

It ends drags on and on, drawing in Army, Navy, Rogue Trader, Mechanicum, and maybe even some Astartes.

 

Eventually it turns out Richard the Lion Hearted and Saladin...er, the two faction leaders, were possesed by Daemons of Khorne and Nurgle who sought to destroy one another rather than work together.

 

The Brides of the Emperor settle THAT and take Ullanor under their jurisdiction along with Saturn, with Lectio, Catheric, and Enumeration followers all allowed to make pilgrimages there.

 

Actually, it might make more sense if this event pits the Enumerations against the Lectio, I can see them venerating the Emperor as an exceptionally enlightened man while the Catherics might be a bit more ambivalent on the subject.

 

Plus the idea of corrupted Eastern style daemons and mutants appearing among their ranks in the final years of the conflict seems cool to me.

[Conn Eremon]

Or really push the Jerusalem IN SPESSSS by forcing a compromise where these major religions are given a fraction of their holy world as their own.

 

With frequent cases of bloodletting occurring along their borders, because MAH HOLY WORLD. Iffy on it being a Chaos plot. Doesn't really need it to work, and having a straight Imperial on Imperial action could turn it into a nice Vandire vs Thor parallel. We should keep the Imperial Commander who drowns in a river because bridges are for the lowborn.

 

I can see our Central Bureau of the Agencies Six (I am either brilliant or mad. Okay, probably just mad) having a pretty hefty division dedicated to keeping track of the three expansive religions as well as all local variants or entirely new set of beliefs.

[Wade Garrett]

Actually, if we don't want to have Emperor venerating Catherics (too much like canon Ecclesiarchy IMO) perhaps Ullanor was the site of a Catheric monastery-colony before the Emperor was Warbossed to near death there, and so it's important to them for different reasons.

 

Also, CBAS? CBA6? I don't get it.