Black Book - Insurrection (PUBLISHED)

[simison]

I've finished my editing run through the current Iron Bears material. Had a couple of questions for Redd, which are mentioned with the Exemplary battles. As soon as that's cleared up, I can declare the Iron Bears to be ready for the final PDF draft. 

 

This is excellent progress. The Grave Stalkers are still ahead, but all that's left is for a review of their appendix for errors, and then I can clear them. So far, they're on track to being the first legion finished. 

 

The Lightning Bearers and the Godslayers are behind the Iron Bears in terms of completion. 

 

While the Drowned and the Scions hold last place, as far as I am aware.

 

All three campaigns' initial drafts on lore chapters are done and will be my next focus. 

 

As always, I'm available to write out the other legions. I might be visiting their threads soon to get a better idea of what's going on with them. 

 

Lastly, I've updated the progress report.

[MikhalLeNoir]

 

Great to hear

[Chief Captain Redd]

I'd been working on the Red Boxes for the Bears' rules unit, I hadn't started the ones for the lore, but I can probably knock those out in the next few days.

 

And as for the armoured units for the story, the 4th has a particular love of Battle cannon/demolisher Malcadors, Vindicators, and Plasma Annihilator Predator squadrons. With a rather talented and numerous amount of Basilisk squads and Minotaurs giving range. But more uniquely is they have multiple Capitol Imperialis including the "Blood and Thunder" and their Recon clans use Grav Rhinos to give fire support to the main assault from less expected angles.

 

I hope that helps.

[bluntblade]

I've been drafting some lore for the Scions, and one exemplary battle's sorted.

[simison]

I'd been working on the Red Boxes for the Bears' rules unit, I hadn't started the ones for the lore, but I can probably knock those out in the next few days.

 

And as for the armoured units for the story, the 4th has a particular love of Battle cannon/demolisher Malcadors, Vindicators, and Plasma Annihilator Predator squadrons. With a rather talented and numerous amount of Basilisk squads and Minotaurs giving range. But more uniquely is they have multiple Capitol Imperialis including the "Blood and Thunder" and their Recon clans use Grav Rhinos to give fire support to the main assault from less expected angles.

 

I hope that helps.

 

I was thinking for one red box, it'd be a piece about how different the Iron Bears' armoury is compared to the other legions. For another, if I remember right, you made a quote about how the Iron Bears fight. That could fit in easily, since red boxes can be either quotes or background info. How does that sound?

 

And that does help, I'll update the battle after class.

 

I've been drafting some lore for the Scions, and one exemplary battle's sorted.

 

Excellent. "Little by little, we are thinning the swarm of procrastination."

[Sigismund229]

I'm also available for writing the book 1 legions' fluff again now that the Bears are done so if Hesh, Squig, Athrawes or Slips want some help I'm free again

[simison]

Added this bit to the Iron Citadel Siege:

 

"Waves of vindicators and predator tank squadrons ripped open holes in the Ork lines with thunderous explosions and high-powered lascannons. Ork counter fire aimed to stop this mechanised assault, but the Iron Bears' vehicles are infamous for their unusual modifications. One tankbusta unit managed to immobilised a vindicator, the Onslaught of Huron, at the forefront of one armoured column. To their unhappy surprise, the vindicator's crew activated a system that blew off the damaged tracks and activated a miniature grav system. Although the grav unit burned out after a few dozen metres, it was enough distance to move it into a nearby alleyway, allowing the rest of the column to continue the charge."

[simison]

Betrayal
Faced with this ultimate betrayal of everything they and their legion stood for, Pyrrhicles and his brethren were paralysed by indecision. For nearly 250 years, they had fought for the Emperor and the Imperial Truth, shedding blood on countless battlefields and losing hundreds of brothers who they had fought alongside for decades, all in the name of the Imperial Truth and the Emperor's dream. Yet now, the Stormborn, the first son to have been found and the greatest of the Emperor's progeny, was telling them all they had fought, bled and died for was a lie and the man they'd fought for a bloodthirsty tyrant, intent on extermination both them and their father. Surely such a thing couldn't be true? Surely, if the Emperor were truly the tyrant the Stormborn claimed, then their father, the Warmaster, would have refused to serve him? Yet the sheer conviction, sadness and regret the Stormborn spoke with shook their confidence. For he truly believed what he was saying, and he had proven himself trustworthy on a hundred occasions over the course of the Great Crusade.

However, despite the conflicting loyalties that tore at the heart of every member of the V^th legion, the faithful could not bring themselves to believe that all the brothers they had lost and all the blood they had shed during the Great Crusade had been for naught or could forsake their Primarch. However, Pyrrhicles saw that he had no hope of persuading the Stormborn that his visions had been mistaken and so, rather than fight his brothers of the I^th, he ordered a retreat by all elements of the V^th currently in orbit over Akira. Yet, while the I^th had ancient oaths to their brethren of the V^th safe passage through all territories where they held dominion, they could not allow word of their involvement in the Insurrection to reach Terra before they were ready, and so Icarion gave the order that the legionnaires of the V^th were to be detained with as little violence as possible.

However, matters were further complicated when approximately a third of the Halcyon Wardens, led by Citadel Malis, ignored Pyrrhicles' command and swore themselves to the Stormlord's cause, taking up the chase of their former brothers alongside the newly re-christened Harbingers.

With neither side authorised to engage their opponents, this early stage of the battle resembled a dance conducted amidst the endless vastness of space more than a true engagement, as the Harbingers sought to block the Halcyon Wardens escape route, and the Halcyon Wardens evaded them. Who fired the first shot is unknown. In the aftermath, both sides claimed to have only returned fire after the other broke their oath, and while many suspect the traitor Halycon Wardens, seeking to eradicate those who they viewed as traitors twice over, none know for certain.

Once this first shot was fired, the battle rapidly escalated as all-out war broke out over Akira. With both Legions' vessels ripping into one another, the Stormlord issued one last order before washing his hands of events in the void over Akira. If at all possible, the vessels of the V^th were to be captured intact and their crews were to be taken captive rather than killed, a last act of mercy made out of respect for the Warmaster and genuine regret that it should come to battle.

Now commanded by First Sentinel [Raiden Athrawes], the Harbingers fleet, far out numbering that of the V^th, set about crippling or, if necessary, destroying the V^th legion vessels. Such was the fate that befell Captain Agamenos and the Proud heart, destroyed following his refusal to cease fire and his destruction of a I^st legion battle barge. Those V^th legion vessels that weren't destroyed were crippled and then boarded by hundreds of Harbingers or, in some cases, their traitor brothers.

Seeing the situation deteriorate with every passing second, Pyrrhicles gave what would prove to be his last order. The Halcyon Wardens' fleet was to break formation and the individual ships were to escape in any way they could. While this doomed the larger capital ships, it also gave a genuine of escape for the light cruisers and frigates. Any ships that escaped was to set course for Terra and keep that course no matter what happened for the Warmaster had to know what had transpired in the Madrigal system.

With the Wardens' formation breaking apart, many Loyalist ships fell one by one, destroyed at long range by the Harbingers or by their own crew to prevent them falling into the hands of their enemy. One of the last to fall was the Dominion of Reason, Pyrrhicles' flagship. Stormed by First Sentinal [Athrawes] and an elite party of Harbingers, including almost a dozen Volta terminators, the engine crew had little chance to trigger the vessel's self destruct mechanism. While there were numerous attempts by the V^th to trigger the mechanism, all were stopped by I^st Legion boarding parties. Eventually, as the Harbingers approached the command chamber, Pyrrhicles and what few Halycon Wardens remained picked up their shields and spears and marched out to do battle one last time. Numbering but 300, they were out numbered and with nowhere they could escape to. However, they welcomed such an end, wishing only that they die so that their brothers of other vessels might live. Forming a solid wall of shields, spears and muscle outside the command chamber, they prepared to face the transhumans who had once been their brothers and do battle for the final time.

So they did. With nothing but doom behind them, they showed no hesitation nor despair when they were charged by the Harbingers, only determination and courage the likes of which is better suited to gods of old Terra than men. Giving their all, they cut down many times their own number. However, with each assault, they numbered fewer and fewer as they gradually fell to I^st Legion blades, each Space Marines' last moments a stand worthy of an entire epic. Unfortunately by the fifth charge, they were just thirty strong and now faced the First Sentinal and the Volta elite of the I^st. Meeting the challenge head on, they locked shields and with a mighty roar clashed with the I^st, the very foundations of the vessel shaking with the impact. At the centre of this battle of heroes were Pyrrhicles of the V^th and [Raiden Athrawes] of the I^st. The two warriors clashed in both the physical and spiritual realm and as their blades crossed so too did their wills. Alas, Phyrricles was only half of a Legiones Astartes, while [Athrawes] was a true Legionnaire, and thus the outcome was inevitable. While Pyhrricles put up a heroic defence, his aged body betrayed him as the toll of a thousand battles wore him down, until, finally, a beam from [Athrawes'] blade found the less armoured joint between Pyhrricles' neck and shoulder. Bleeding out upon the deck, Pyhrricles at last knew peace after a lifetime of war.

While the remaining Halycon Wardens mounted a last stand to defend the body of their leader, they were but five and death found them to be easy targets. The Battle of Madrigal was over.

 

[Need to check the spelling of First Sentinel. Also need confirmation of who he is, will send Athrawes PM.]

[Sigismund229]

Few editing points. Corrections are in caps.

IST not Ith(you call them the Ith up until the end of the 2nd paragraph)

"Yet the Ist had MADE ancient oaths..."

"It also gave a genuine CHANCE of escape..."

 

other than that s'good

[Chief Captain Redd]

@Simison Yep those sound like good choices for the Red. And I love the new paragraph about the Vindicator.

[Sigismund229]

Question: Now that the writing is begining toget finished, do we have any way of getting the art(as in the pictures of sm from the various legions in their respective sections) for book 1?

[simison]

Question: Now that the writing is begining toget finished, do we have any way of getting the art(as in the pictures of sm from the various legions in their respective sections) for book 1?

 

I confess, I'm completely out of my league. I obviously can't offer much in the way of funds, but if someone can figure out how I can help, by all means. 

 

I know Grifft has pulled together what he can, but any other ideas?

[Skalpynock]

As long as it's helmet markings on Mark II armour, I can manage something. For more complex edits, I'm still trying to work out the advanced recoloring capacities of Gimp. I'll have a go at something basic this week.

[simison]

Actually, I can think of one wild card we could play in the art department: recruitment. We could send a call out to the rest of B&C and other 40k forums, asking for help. Show some of what we have, generate interest, and see if anyone responds. 

[Sigismund229]

Actually, I can think of one wild card we could play in the art department: recruitment. We could send a call out to the rest of B&C and other 40k forums, asking for help. Show some of what we have, generate interest, and see if anyone responds. 

I think we should definitely give it a shot

[simison]

 

Actually, I can think of one wild card we could play in the art department: recruitment. We could send a call out to the rest of B&C and other 40k forums, asking for help. Show some of what we have, generate interest, and see if anyone responds. 

I think we should definitely give it a shot

 

 

Alright, who goes where? I have a small presence on heresy30k and dakkadakka. 

 

EDIT: Next question, do we want to prepare a...show piece? An ad? Man, I can't get the word right, but basically have our future threads start out with an attention-grabbing yet informative first post. Perhaps showcasing some of Grifft's work?

[MikhalLeNoir]

Does anybody has contacts to the newsportals like bols or natfka? Maybe we can place something there for getting some chaps. Wjat about the guys who provided art for the dornian heresy?

[simison]

Does anybody has contacts to the newsportals like bols or natfka? Maybe we can place something there for getting some chaps. Wjat about the guys who provided art for the dornian heresy?

 

That would be awesome. What's going on with the Legio Imprint?

[Sigismund229]

 

 

Actually, I can think of one wild card we could play in the art department: recruitment. We could send a call out to the rest of B&C and other 40k forums, asking for help. Show some of what we have, generate interest, and see if anyone responds. 

I think we should definitely give it a shot

 

 

Alright, who goes where? I have a small presence on heresy30k and dakkadakka. 

 

EDIT: Next question, do we want to prepare a...show piece? An ad? Man, I can't get the word right, but basically have our future threads start out with an attention-grabbing yet informative first post. Perhaps showcasing some of Grifft's work?

 

I could try on Warseer although I wouldn't expect too much from it given the reaction lost legions generally get on there

[simison]

And my other question? The most I can think of is perhaps showcasing a couple of our Primarch pictures and some PDF pages, along with a general outline of the Insurrection. 

[simison]

While I await a response to my question (if not, I'll throw something together later), before I started in on the campaigns, I felt like something was missing. Went to Betrayal, and quickly identified it. I don't remember a single section setting up the battlefields. Each campaign at least needs a few paragraphs detailing the planet, and why are legions there. 

 

With that in mind, Athrawes, can I get some details about Madrigal, Akira, and the shipyards? 

[MikhalLeNoir]

As nobody answers: yep. We should prepare a showpiece. What shpuld be inside? Of course a general outline. Then the different color schemes. Legions and maybe a teaser for book 1. And hoe this roject started

[simison]

We do have Skal's image of the legion color schemes somewhere on this board.

 

As far as the legions, how much info? An Index article is too much, I'd assume. Perhaps a codex intro blurb? They're only a paragraph or two long.

 

Perhaps the color scheme between the general outline and the legion overview.

 

What should be the first thing readers see?

[MikhalLeNoir]

Just a pitch of 2 sentences per legion. Same could go for the primarchs. An index astsrtes is indeed far too long.

[simison]

For the Lost Legions, do we leave them out or do we want to give them a slot and then put a strikethrough on them?