Insurrectionists' Strategium

[Athrawes]

Brotherhood of the Lost:  Insurrectionists Strategium

 

 

 

Hello all, while we begin to hammer out the details of the Triumph and Icarion's initial fall from grace, I thought it would be helpful to create a thread where the traitors (both chaos and renegade) can discuss how we might want to go about dethroning the Emperor, and permanently silencing his loyal sons. 

 

Among things I'd like this thread to detail:

 

• Who falls to which god, and how.
• How they are turned to Icarion's banner following the Triumph.
• The Betrayal.
• Timeline of our 'Age of Darkness' Campaign on the road to Terra.

 

Once these are out of the way or at least charted out, then I'd like to talk about how the revolutionaries break off from the Core traitor faction. Detailing:

 

•  When they leave, and why.
• What they hope to achieve. What outcome do they want (i.e. Not the Emperor or Icarion in charge?)
• What they will be doing during the end game and the siege.

 

I'm happy to hear ideas from everyone in the Brotherhood of the Lost Project, I'm especially keen to turn this into a place of gathering for the Traitors. I would hope that Simison can start a similar thread for the Loyalists.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Lord Thørn

[simison]

I'll admit I hadn't thought of splitting the two forces into their threads, props to you. However, I hadn't created a the Civil War thread to allow us to focus on the Great Crusade. Ah well. I'll get the Loyalist thread started before the end of the day.

[Grifftofer]

K'awil can't fall physically under the sway of any of the gods, but he would probably have the most in common with either Khorne or Slaanesh if he were to pick one god over the others.

 

I can also see K'awil siding with Chaos until it becomes clear that it can't truly take his humanity from him due to his Pariah nature. At which point he may attempt to defect to the revolutionaries in the hopes that they can do what he wants through gene-manipulation. Either that or he'll go off lone wolf style and take on all comers in search of his answers. Possibly by driving his legion into the revolutionaries and taking captives until they tell him their secrets. :)

[Raktra]

Khorne's the obvious one for the Berserkers. Though given their whole "Death cures all pain" thing, maybe Nurgle could be argued. But it's a stretch.

[Athrawes]

Man this is going to be problematic, if everyone goes loyalist or renegade, there may not be enough traitor Legions to be a credible threat and to besiege Terra.

[Slips]

Thats great for us Loyalists then! Makes mopping you guys up an easy task! :p

[simison]

Supposedly, the first blow could be strong enough to remove the Loyalists as a credible force, until the Traitors start fracturing. ....which when you put it that vaguely, that's almost what happened in the canon-verse. But, anyway, it shifts the tension around so that it's really low at the start of the Insurrection but ramps up as Traitor alliance falls to pieces and Icarion becomes desperate to make it to Terra... again, when I type it out, it doesn't sound nearly as bad as it first sounds in my head.

 

EDIT: One caveat. It has the potential to make the Scouring twice as terrifying, since this scenario leaves several, whole legions claiming parts of the galaxy for their own.

Edited August 11, 2015 by simison

[simison]

How would Icarion reveal himself? Horus had to have his huge battle b/c he's big and loud like that. But Icarion is a more subtle man than that. His biggest restriction is that he can't order the legions around, but what if he used his divination skill and the Chaos gods to move the legions around so that the Traitors are in prime position for a series of smaller ambushes?

[Sigismund229]

Also, am I correct in assuming that(at the begining at least) due to all the gene tech heavy legions on the traitor side they'll posses a major numerical advantage?

And will the traitors cull the loyalists from their own ranks like the traitors did in the canon timeline?

[Athrawes]

Also, am I correct in assuming that(at the begining at least) due to all the gene tech heavy legions on the traitor side they'll posses a major numerical advantage?

And will the traitors cull the loyalists from their own ranks like the traitors did in the canon timeline?

 I believe they would have an appreciable advantage towards at least replenshing losses, although depending on how soon after the triumph the betrayal happens would elaborate on how much time the traitors have to bulk up their ranks. I would imagine not terribly long (except for Alexos and his legion). 

 

Also, the Legions would have to Purge themselves of loyalists. 

 

 I agree with SImison that it probably wouldnt take the form of something like Istavaan III, I imagine most (but not all traitor Legions) would purge their ranks in a fashion similar to the Word Bearers of Emperors Children. Send them on death missions without the proper support. Again depending on how long after the triumph this occurs, I imagine any of those gene manipulated legionaries would be indoctrinated towards darker masters.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Athrawes

[Athrawes]

Also, are any of the Paraiah Primarchs Willing to die at some point during the march towards terra, That could cause his legion to go mad, seek out darker patrons and embrace one of the Pantheon. I know nobody Wants their primarch to die, but i feel like it would really help the story along an would be an interesting way to adress how the Traitor legions turn to Chaos. 

 

Their sons, could for example, with the Help of the dark Prophet Alexos, entreat one of the dark gods like Nurgle for aid and resurect their dead primarch as a daemon lord, sealing the Legion and the primarchs fate.

[simison]

Even if it took Alexos a decade to corrupt Icarion, Icarion would have another decade to prepare for his betrayal. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but that's what happens when you have a Warmaster who spends more time on Terra than on the other front lines. The Traitors should have enough time to weed out the their loyalists, and replace most of those casualties, so long as no one jumps the gun. 

 

[Grifftofer]

Ok I just read through all the topics after a short night of sleep and decided I'd start replying here.

 

I'm okay with Daer'dd dying if it makes for a good story, though I feel sorry for the Primarchs attacking him.

[Praefectus Invictus]

The Jackals don't fall to any God. They are not part of the chaos or revolutionary forces except for our "Dropsite Massacre", but they run away after that and offer their services to both sides.

 

Several infulential legionaries, plus the primarch, hear whispers that Icarion is planning to revolt against the Emperor. After Jackels run in with the Eldar (Who show him what the Emperor supposedly has in store for them when he is done with the crusade), he joins Icarion immediately, but leaves soon after when he sees the horrors visited upon the revolutionaries legions', and the grotesqueness of the chaos gods. Nevertheless, he maintains good ties with those traitor primarchs who he has befriended, especially Raktra, and makes deals to ensure his realm is never visited by the horror of chaos by the traitors.

• All I've really thought about for now. I'll definitely update on why the Jackals, and Jackel in particular, hate genetic mutations.

[Big Bad Squig]

Man this is going to be problematic, if everyone goes loyalist or renegade, there may not be enough traitor Legions to be a credible threat and to besiege Terra.

 

Seeing as Koschei has already been listed by simison as a traitor, maybe he could turn to nurgle or tzeentch.  Alternatively, he could be possessed like Fulgrim, although that does lose some of it's originality.  I personally struggle with him turning to chaos, but I have the canonverse to do what I want with him (on a side note, in the canonverse, Azus turns to Malal/Malice.  Maybe we could have a malal legion?).

As I'm writing this, I'm seeing more and more appeal in Koschei turning to Nurgle.  He and his legion are already littered with feel no pain, and as he is not a Pariah per se, he could be corrupted.  Also, his nature as a 'psychic suppresant' would come in hand for Grandpappy when he and Tzeentch are settling some of their differences.  I might write up some fluff later, if people want?

[simison]

 

Man this is going to be problematic, if everyone goes loyalist or renegade, there may not be enough traitor Legions to be a credible threat and to besiege Terra.

 

Seeing as Koschei has already been listed by simison as a traitor, maybe he could turn to nurgle or tzeentch.  Alternatively, he could be possessed like Fulgrim, although that does lose some of it's originality.  I personally struggle with him turning to chaos, but I have the canonverse to do what I want with him (on a side note, in the canonverse, Azus turns to Malal/Malice.  Maybe we could have a malal legion?).

As I'm writing this, I'm seeing more and more appeal in Koschei turning to Nurgle.  He and his legion are already littered with feel no pain, and as he is not a Pariah per se, he could be corrupted.  Also, his nature as a 'psychic suppresant' would come in hand for Grandpappy when he and Tzeentch are settling some of their differences.  I might write up some fluff later, if people want?

 

 

I believe Koschei was listed Traitor because of his Idealism, the fact that he was willing to rebel against the Emperor for his principles. Honestly, Koschei sounds like one of the more noble Primarchs, like Icarion, which is why having him be corrupted by Nurgle sounds like an excellent plot point. Squig, you've pointed out Koschei's utility to Nurgle, but Nurgle is also the 'nicest' of the Chaos gods. He genuinely believes he's helping, and, if phrased correctly, Koschei could be curious enough to listen to him. 

 

I also like this because the Pariah Primarchs are in an unique situation. Neither Icarion or Alexandros can use their Divination to counter them, making them incredible war resources for either side. Yet, Chaos can't use them and abhors their existence. Koschei gets a pass because of his unusual nature, but despite K'awil's willingness, Chaos wants him and the Jade General dead before the end of the Icarion Insurrection. Having Koschei corrupted removes one problem for them.

 

Having K'awil be crippled will bump him down the Chaos priority kill list, while preserving his ability to lead and his Pariah ability. Or, Athrawes, if you think wounding K'awil too early would be a problem, the Revolutionaries could be responsible for killing him when they jump off the Heresy ship. 

 

That would give the Revolutionaries the one advantage no one else: the last Pariah Primarch. That advantage could give them the necessary strength to be their own faction, even with such few numbers. At the same time, we aren't threatening to remove a possible Daemon Prince for one of the Chaos gods.

Edited March 25, 2016 by simison

[Big Bad Squig]

The beginning of Koschei's fall:

 

Koschei glanced again at his face in the mirrored glass, raising the razor and scraping at his cheek.

                “Look at yourself,” he heard someone say.  A masked legionnaire stood by his side.  Koschei turned, shocked to find no one was there.  He looked in the mirror again, and sure enough, there the faceless warrior stood.

                “You are blind,” he said.  “Following the whims of a tyrant.  Does that remind you of anything?”  The mirror changed to show an image of the emperor.  Slowly, his features distorted, resembling the old king of Zbruch.  Then, his face in turn warped into the image of D’yavol, or as the more superstitious Terran veterans knew him, the devil.

                “This is the truth,” the legionnaire said, reappearing again outside of the mirror, and lifting off his helm.  “This is what he made us.”  The face that greeted the Primarch was one riddled with scars and cuts (most still oozing blood), and in the centre of the left eye was a clean, sharp hole that had been carved by a bullet, or las round.

                “My son,” Koschei said, his voice filled with despair.  He rushed to attend to the marine, but he shook his head, pointing again at the mirror.  He saw nothing but an image of himself.  Slowly, the image drew the razor across its own throat, and both the image and Koschei began to fall, falling nowhere and yet endlessly, as if tumbling from the peak of a mountain.

                When he landed, he did so with a loud thud.  He could not move.  But from where he was, he saw the fields of Zbruch, painted with the armoured bodies of his sons and nephews.  Amongst the dead he recognised the colours of the Dune Serpents, and a blue armoured warrior he knew not.

                “Is this what you want?” one of the corpses asked.

                “No!  Make it stop!”

                “IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?”

                “Please.  Please make it stop,” Koschei wept, closing his eyes.

                “Alright.”

                Koschei opened his eyes again.  Now he sat in an enormous room, at the centre of which was a massive device, plated in gold.  It looked as if a throne had been built for the gods.

                “Interestingly, you’re not too far from the truth,” the legionnaire said, materialising next to the device.  “But all of this does not have to come to pass.  There is another way.  Where there are no tyrants.”

                “No tyrants,” Koschei repeated in awe.

                “None at all.  All men will be equals.  Just one big family.”

                “One big family…”

                “Now, come to your true father.”

                Koschei slumped to the floor.  The legionnaire allowed himself to laugh, as a mangled horn pushed its way through the bullet hole, his armour cracked, pieces of flesh and the marines insides pushed themselves from the cracks, and the marine’s one good eye began weeping with pus.  Then, he disappeared once more.

 

 

Koschei’s eyes snapped open.  One big family, he thought to himself.

[simison]

As it stand right now, I see the Icarion Insurrection taking four phases.

 

Phase 1: Betrayal

 

Icarion opens the war with the first move. Within a few short days, several Loyalist legions are crippled, while Daer'dd pays the ultimate price for his loyalty. The only counter-wound done to Icarion's war effort is the crippling of K'awil, but that doesn't stop him from serving. 

 

At this stage, the numbers are incredibly one-sided. The Emperor can only count on 6 Primarchs to defend his Imperium and 7 legions, several of them taking severe casualties from the get go. Icarion's banner holds 9 Primarchs and 9 legions, most of them near full strength and ready to attack. 

 

Gwal, weary of war, takes his Wardens of Light back to their home system and simply stays there. 

 

Unlike Horus who had to system hop and carefully maintain his initiative, Icarion has enough legion strength to simply began forming his own empire from new conquests. One advantage Icarion has over Horus is that he knows that the Emperor can't leave Terra because of Alexos' first strike against the Terran wards. (Because of this, Alexos won't personally be involved in the Betrayal.) Now, whether or not Icarion focuses on establishing his own rival Imperium or focuses on the attack, it leads to....

 

Phase 2: Corruption

 

Freed from the Emperor's chains, Alexos dives headfirst into full Chaos worship. Khorne turns his eyes on Raktra and his Berserkers, while Nurgle begins courting Koschei and his Godslayers. The other Chaos gods begin to make their overtures as well. All this Chaos produces chaos in Icarion's ranks. Kozja and the Jade Empire, disgusted by what is happening, grumble and eventually begin secret talks about what they should do. Because despite their reservations, who could stop Icarion? Willym is also put off by the new developments, but keeps to his own counsel. 

 

On the Loyalist side, the only objective is survival. Niklaas, Yuchau, Azus, Hecatarion, and Pionus are charged with slowing the Traitor advance, while the Warmaster secures the Imperium from the inside. Niklaas and the Fire Keepers throw up a series of hastily-built fortifications to slow Icarion's planetary conquests. Yuchau the Void Angel launches hit-and-run attacks against the Traitor fleets. Azus the Longshot mirrors his brother on the ground, while the Healer does what he can to keep the Loyalist armies from being devastated, keeping them fit and re-deploying wounded armies away from annihilation. 

 

During this time, Hectarion resists Khorne who seeks the Mycenor's soul because of the Bloodthirster shard within him. 

 

Gwal's neutrality backfires spectacularly when the Terran half of his legion explodes over his inaction. The system is now in full civil war as Gwal looks on in horror. 

 

The Loyalist endure a defeat after defeat, until they score a major victory against the Traitor forces. While it boosts Imperium morale, the true impact of it isn't felt until...

 

Phase 3: Fracture

 

With the recent Loyalist victory, Kozja and the Jade General see their chance to flee. Joined by Morro, they break through the Traitor's left flank, killing K'awil who was assigned there. This leaves the last true Pariah Primarch with the Revolutionaries as they form their own alliance. When word reaches to the rest of the Traitors, Willym decides now it is time for him to leave as well. But, instead of joining the Revolutionaries, the Jackels set sail for the galactic edge, intent on creating their own mini-empire free of everyone. 

 

To Icarion's dismay, not only has his forces been dramatically reduced and fighting on several fronts, but now the Loyalist forces are fighting harder. Securing his rear lines, Alexandros moves to the front lines with large detachments of Wardens and human auxiliaries. Yet, this does not remove the Traitors. Their fighting strength is augmented with widespread use of chaos daemons. 

 

Kozja plays a delicate balancing game as he takes opportunity strikes against both Loyalist and Traitor. He hopes to force Alexandros to give concessions regarding gene-manipulation and is willing to use underhanded tactics to ensure the Revolutionaries' strong position. 

 

For a time, there is a tense balance as the three forces are stalemated by each other. Skirmishes continue throughout, but the stalemate ends when...

 

Phase 4: Endgame

 

In the end, it is the Wardens of Light who tip the balance. Convinced to side with the Loyalists, Gwal joins the Insurrection for the first time. Recognizing his advantage may soon disappear, the Revolutionaries stop attacking as they set up diplomatic talks with the Loyalists.

 

Knowing it is now or never, Icarion gathers his strength and calls on the Chaos gods to help him. The Traitors launch a last-ditch invasion, no longer seeking territorial gains, but going straight for Terra. 

 

Alexandros secures the loyalty of Kozja and the Revolutionaries only weeks before Icarion's forces reach the outer edge of the Sol System. 

 

Although now Loyalists, none of the Revolutionary legions can mobilize before the Traitors attack Terra. It is on the Throneworld where Alexandros and the Loyalists make their final stand, trying to hold out long enough for the Revolutionaries to arrive and corner the Traitor armies. 

 

This does happen, but a last minute gambit by Icarion ends with Alexandros dead, Icarion dead, and the Emperor confined to the Golden Throne. The Traitor legions are devastated as they flee the trap between the Loyalist and the Revolutionaries.

 

The Insurrection is over.

[Grifftofer]

Excellent. A chance to write up a second set of rules for my Primarch :) Even if it does mean being less powerful and dying through the campaign :(

 

I suppose I can also come up with interesting chaos-tech for my legion too as they would certainly make use of it as it won't have any corrupting influence on them... physically at least ;)

[simison]

Excellent. A chance to write up a second set of rules for my Primarch http://image.bolterandchainsword.com//public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png Even if it does mean being less powerful and dying through the campaign http://image.bolterandchainsword.com//public/style_emoticons/default/sad.png

 

I suppose I can also come up with interesting chaos-tech for my legion too as they would certainly make use of it as it won't have any corrupting influence on them... physically at least http://image.bolterandchainsword.com//public/style_emoticons/default/msn-wink.gif

 

Hey, only your Pariahs immune. The rest of them are fair game.

[Grifftofer]

True, but probably more resilient than most due to the nature of their heritage. If that is the case though, then I may have them fall to one of the two remaining gods. Would be nice if they could be an effective force of some description come the latter stages of the Insurrection.

 

Another thing I have noticed so far is that based on the Legion numbers we will be heavily outmatched by the loyalists alone.

 

Currently the side weigh in at these strengths:

Loyalists: 887,000 marines (Void Eagles unaccounted for)

Renegades: 360,000 marines (Lightning Bearers and Berserkers unaccounted for)

Gene-revolutionaries: 30,000 marines (Warbringers and The Drowned unaccounted for)

Neutral/Undecided/Other: 277,000 marines (Ghost Walkers unaccounted for)

 

This is all assuming my notes are correct on who is in which faction, which I won't guarantee because it is late and I'm tired. But it looks as though even with all of the Gene-revolutionary faction we will not outnumber the enemy by as much as might be indicated by counting the number of Legions on each side.

[MikhalLeNoir]

I see your point. Would be better, if the loyalists were well... a bit outmatched....or Icarion is so brilliant in planning, that he could decimate enough loyalists to even the things out.

[Raktra]

I'm leaving it up to you guys if I die or not. If so, then I'll figure out some suitably nutty death for him, if not, I've got a rough idea on his Daemon Primarch model that I can start making next week so we have some more visuals for our little soirée here.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Gwalchavad would love to end Raktras mortal life and witness the birth of a new deamon prince. And kill him again....and again....and again...and again...and....you now whats coming...AGAIN!!!

[Sigismund229]

I get the feeling a show down between Hectarion and Raktra and the Lions and Berzerkers would be pretty cool, as both are close combat oriented legions. No matter what happened, the carnage would be a sight to behold.