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What Happened To Olympia?


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Hey All

 

I've Been reading Angel Exterminatus since Christmas and there have been a few references towards an incident that happened at Olympia after the IV Legion found there Primarch and continued on with the great crusade. From what I understand they had to kill there own populace for one reason or another, is this right or wrong?

 

If someone could explain in detail what happened to Olympia I would appreciate it, but if there are any book spoilers involved in the explanation could you please work your way around them somehow.

 

Thanks everyone!

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I think, there was a rebellion on Olympia, and Perturabo essentially took out his frustrations on his own planet, and wiped it out. Part of why he joined Horus was because Horus offered him forgiveness for it. I don't think there is much more detail than that.

Yup.

 

Olympia was a mess of warlords, that Perturabo unified under his adoptive father, who ran the planet once Pertuarbo left with his legion for the Great Crusade. Once he died, the resentful warlords rose up in rebellion, which was then crushed by the late crusade era Iron Warriors, in all their bitter, brutal glory.

On top of that, I think that the Imperial Fists Chased the Iron Warriors back to Olympia during the scouring and instead of abandoning the Planet, they just blew it up.

 

This could be pure BS on my part but I remember reading something to this effect somewhere at some point @_@

No firm figure have been given I'm afraid. Entire cities were exterminated and million killed. However, enough of the population survived to support an auxiliary force called the Thorakata (which I'm afraid don't have much more info on), described as a highly trained, fanatical client army used as a tool of oppression. It also appears that the ruins of Olympia formed the centre of 'Empire of Iron', which I assumeis an IW domain that persisted until it was broken during the Scouring.

 

There doesn't appear to be a firm date for when this happened, but it was in the run up to the Heresy, so an approximate date could be acquired by comparing the outbreak of the heresy to when Pertuarbo was found (late 840s.M30 according to Extermination). So we're probably looking at around 150-155 years between Pertuarbo's discovery and the razing of Olympia.

Is it true that when Perturabo took over the Legion he made 1/10 of the soldiers die at the other nine's hands to make them loyal to his cause?

 

I'm not sure if this fluff has been dismissed by the latest forge world books or was even mentioned at all, so if anyone knows the truth I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks!

Is it true that when Perturabo took over the Legion he made 1/10 of the soldiers die at the other nine's hands to make them loyal to his cause?

 

I'm not sure if this fluff has been dismissed by the latest forge world books or was even mentioned at all, so if anyone knows the truth I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks!

That fluff was in the FW book. I'd not heard of it before that so I thought it was new. Seems a bit...extreme to me but I thought it was kinda cool. I know a few people weren't happy with it from what I've seen.

 

 

That fluff was in the FW book. I'd not heard of it before that so I thought it was new. Seems a bit...extreme to me but I thought it was kinda cool. I know a few people weren't happy with it from what I've seen.

 

Do you think it would be probable and within the fluff guidelines to create a Grand Battalion (or small force) of Legionaries who were beaten to within an inch of their lives or refused to fight each other but later recovered and formed a chapter of Iron Warriors outcasts?

 

The only thing is I can't see a reason why they wouldn't be killed as space marines are pretty methodical even if they have to kill their closest brothers. So if anyone agrees with this or has a suggestion to tweak it to make it more probable then I'd be happy to hear it (maybe I should post in The Legion for you thread)

And I'm one of them. Decimation for the 'crime' of not being top Legion? Everything stupid about 40k/Primarch fluff condensed into one sentence. A rare misstep from FW. If they were going to decimate the IV, have it be for a better reason than a Primarch's fit of pique.

 

 

 

 

That fluff was in the FW book. I'd not heard of it before that so I thought it was new. Seems a bit...extreme to me but I thought it was kinda cool. I know a few people weren't happy with it from what I've seen.

 

Do you think it would be probable and within the fluff guidelines to create a Grand Battalion (or small force) of Legionaries who were beaten to within an inch of their lives or refused to fight each other but later recovered and formed a chapter of Iron Warriors outcasts?

 

The only thing is I can't see a reason why they wouldn't be killed as space marines are pretty methodical even if they have to kill their closest brothers. So if anyone agrees with this or has a suggestion to tweak it to make it more probable then I'd be happy to hear it (maybe I should post in The Legion for you thread)

 

Very unlikely I'd say. In that circumstance Pertuarbo would most likely have everyone who refused to comply with his edict of decimation killed. in the GC era any renegades would struggle to hide, and surviving the 150+ years to the Heresy where could 'safely' re-emerge is unlikely at best. You could do a force of old IV Legionaries who resent the decimation and never forgave Pertuarbo, but one that refused to commit the executions? Not really plausible imo.

Thanks for the response, I find it quite annoying myself as Perturabo isn't represented, at least in Angel Exterminatus, as someone who would throw away a tenth of his legion. I suppose I'll have to think of another unique spin on the IV legion.

I'm not so sure on that seeing as one of the opening parts is basically Perturabo killing one of his Warsmiths for bringing him bad news...

Thanks for the response, I find it quite annoying myself as Perturabo isn't represented, at least in Angel Exterminatus, as someone who would throw away a tenth of his legion. I suppose I'll have to think of another unique spin on the IV legion.

In Crimson Fist he's a lot more ruthless.

And I'm one of them. Decimation for the 'crime' of not being top Legion? Everything stupid about 40k/Primarch fluff condensed into one sentence. A rare misstep from FW. If they were going to decimate the IV, have it be for a better reason than a Primarch's fit of pique.

Fair enough, I can see why people don't like it and if I dwell on it too much I think I'd find it ridiculous too so I'm just thinking of it as a showcase of the brutality of the IW and leaving it at that haha.

As the edict of decimation would state, "War is unequivocal, uncaring, unforgiving and blind. Blind also will be the selection of those who will pay the blood price for the greater failure of your record." One in ten of the Legion, determined by lottery, was put to death without honour, a deed carried out by each Legionary's own comrades with their bare hands. At this bloody edict some within the Imperial Court protested, believing that the Emperor had given absolute power of a Space Marine Legion to a madman, while others, more guarded in their criticism, opined only that command had been given too soon to the Primarch -- unused as he was to the ways of the Imperium. Loudest of these critics was Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of theUltramarines, who bridled at the ignominy of the deaths to which valiant Astartes -- warriors alongside which his own Legion had often fought -- had been thus consigned. It was a spur of discord between the two Primarchs that, though later eclipsed by other rancours and feuds among the Emperor's sons, would be one that neither would ever forget. All such criticism the Emperor silenced.

I think, there was a rebellion on Olympia, and Perturabo essentially took out his frustrations on his own planet, and wiped it out. Part of why he joined Horus was because Horus offered him forgiveness for it. I don't think there is much more detail than that.

just one more little, totally inconscpicuous detail: the rebellion on Olympia was inspired by agents of the Word Bearers (Erebus in particular) and one of the reasons Perturabo reacted so harshly was that Horus eroded the IVth Legion by dispersing them amongst insignificant garrison duties while his competitor Dorn got all the glory, so it was insuffarable that the lord of Iron couldn't hold his own home planet.

 

Decimation for the 'crime' of not being top Legion? Everything stupid about 40k/Primarch fluff condensed into one sentence. A rare misstep from FW. If they were going to decimate the IV, have it be for a better reason than a Primarch's fit of pique.

You're thinking like an Ultramarine, as if any singular astartes would count for anything. Decimation sums up the reality of siege warfare: cold, calculating, brutal and uncaring for personal honors or fancy notions of self-importance. The reason you failed to notice is that, to be the instrument Perturabo needed to wield for war, the Legion had to go through that trial lest they would lose their focus and erode themselves striving for petty tokens of approval from others. Iron is forged with a Hammer. 

A lot of it is down to Perturabo's upbringing, which is at least expanded on in the FW material. There's a great passage in there about how he never truly trusted anyone due to the machinations and intrigues of the Olympian courts. And also how he punished the IV Legion "not because they weren't good enough, but because they were not already pre-eminent" speaks volumes on his drive and his implacable nature right there.

 

I'm not sure Horus actively contributed to it all that much though, given how relatively late on he fell to treachery compared to say the Word Bearers. In all likelihood having the Iron Warriors garrison worlds probably came naturally to him since even before his personality started changing he remarked about how bitter Perturabo could be. And the flip side there as well is that Horus and Dorn were very close friends so he wouldn't readily send the VII to do something so mundane as garrison if there was an alternative.

 

 

I think, there was a rebellion on Olympia, and Perturabo essentially took out his frustrations on his own planet, and wiped it out. Part of why he joined Horus was because Horus offered him forgiveness for it. I don't think there is much more detail than that.

just one more little, totally inconscpicuous detail: the rebellion on Olympia was inspired by agents of the Word Bearers (Erebus in particular) and one of the reasons Perturabo reacted so harshly was that Horus eroded the IVth Legion by dispersing them amongst insignificant garrison duties while his competitor Dorn got all the glory, so it was insuffarable that the lord of Iron couldn't hold his own home planet.

 

Decimation for the 'crime' of not being top Legion? Everything stupid about 40k/Primarch fluff condensed into one sentence. A rare misstep from FW. If they were going to decimate the IV, have it be for a better reason than a Primarch's fit of pique.

You're thinking like an Ultramarine, as if any singular astartes would count for anything. Decimation sums up the reality of siege warfare: cold, calculating, brutal and uncaring for personal honors or fancy notions of self-importance. The reason you failed to notice is that, to be the instrument Perturabo needed to wield for war, the Legion had to go through that trial lest they would lose their focus and erode themselves striving for petty tokens of approval from others. Iron is forged with a Hammer. 

 

 

Spot on. Perturabo was a mathematician. All war was broken down into a series of equations for him which he exploited ruthlessly. Numbers of infantry, artillery, armoured companies, munitions, tensile strength of the materials used in the fortresses arrayed against him, they mattered because they were things he could see calculate and pare down in the calculator of war.  Unquantifiable things like Honour he discarded without a second thought because honour didn't balance the equation. 

 

That being said though he was leader and general enough  to know just how far to push when it came to tempering the steel of his Legion. He didn't push it so far as to seriously damage the battle worthiness of the IV, only so far as to hammer home his philosophies and expectations of what the IV Legion should and would be under his rule.

one of the reasons Perturabo reacted so harshly was that Horus eroded the IVth Legion by dispersing them amongst insignificant garrison duties while his competitor Dorn got all the glory, so it was insuffarable that the lord of Iron couldn't hold his own home planet.

Technically, wasn't it the Emperor, not Horus? At least, that's who gets the blame for it, while Horus is seen as the brother who actually cares. Granted, Horus, or those who support him if not by his direct will, did set Olympia up to bring Perturabo more solidly into his camp.

 

Which was another question I think I saw asked. The 'when' of Olympia was between Davin and Isstvan.

 

Technically, wasn't it the Emperor, not Horus?

 

HH4 makes it quite clear that, while the tendencies existed before Horus became Warmaster, they were very much exploited afterwards to lead Perturabo into the guilt trap of Olympia. Just like Magnus and the Wolves' "order" to destroy the Thousand Sons, it served its purpose well to attribute the orgin to the Emperor.

Funny part while Perturabo viewed war as arithmetical calculation, he still views oath as iron and binding such as he did not overthrow ruler of Olympua when he can do so and allow Scattered legion to escape when he can kill them.

At the end, he still think Emperor can be brought to submission and surrender.

 

 

Technically, wasn't it the Emperor, not Horus?

HH4 makes it quite clear that, while the tendencies existed before Horus became Warmaster, they were very much exploited afterwards to lead Perturabo into the guilt trap of Olympia. Just like Magnus and the Wolves' "order" to destroy the Thousand Sons, it served its purpose well to attribute the orgin to the Emperor.

Aye, but the point I was trying to make is that this was when Horus was Warmaster, and deliberately setting stuff up for his planned betrayal. But before Horus was Warmaster, Legion dispositions and actions came from the Emperor. And it was when the Emperor was in charge, and Horus still the favored son who loved his father, that the problems you listed arose. The Imperial Fists getting all the glory while the Iron Warriors get all the garrisons. Horus used that, but it was the Emperor who created the circumstances that gave Horus something to use, while the post I originally quoted sounded like you were saying it was all Horus from the beginning.

The Imperial Fists were recalled to Terra when the Iron Warriors started to be manipulated by Horus. Also, the Imperial Fists were not 'getting all the glory', in the late Crusade. The Sons of Horus had just taken apart Ullanor and the Word Bearers had become so famous that the rememberancer in ADBs TFH only lost his genital measuring contest of Legion assignment to a guy who got the Sons.

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