Black Book - Insurrection (PUBLISHED)

[Chief Captain Redd]

The other note worthy point of the Iron Bears' Auxiliaries is the Iron Bears fight in relatively small numbers typically just one Grand Wartribe, so the Bears use their individual prowess amongst the more numerous Auxilas.

 

(I apologize for the following listical)

 

So the IVth Grand Wartribe might be the largest, but they also have

200,000 Daughters of Daer'dd,

3000 Iron Ogryns (simple power armour);

the Huronian 1st, 2nd, and 7th Spartans, the 13th Heavy Cavalry.

The Accer Ferrisian 55th, 66th heavy Infantry and 72nd Artillery and Ordinance Specialists.

The Aquos Superior 2/48th, 3/13th, & 8/10th Heavy armour and Super heavy regiments; and the 51st and 52nd Air Superiority divisions;

Knight Houses Augustus and Blinstrubas;

And finally Titan Legio Ferris Caninus Rex

 

All this means is that even without a full legion they can enact massive operations conquering whole systems in the span of a week. Or lay siege to a Fortress Planet in a day.

[Slips]

Which reminds me- Slips, should I send the additions for the Scions' tech to Grifft, or would you like to?

If you have em handy go for it :p

[Big Bad Squig]

I am officially declaring Godslayers...

 

DONE!!!!!!!!

(for book 1 at least... *sigh*)

 

Godslayers (Book 1)

 
                The Space Marines of the Emperor’s Legions are genetically engineered, psycho-indoctrinated warriors with superhuman abilities and minds and souls tempered for war. In addition each individual legion has its own idiosyncrasies and character - the product of their gene-seed and unique warrior culture.

                The Godslayers Legion possess one notable quirk; that of being, as defined by their Primarch Koschei Kharkovic, Psychic Suppressants.  This, in reality, translates to even the least-experienced Godslayer initiate having significant warding against psychic attack.  Higher up the echelons of command in the Eighth Legion this trait is far more common, lending many of Godslayer officers an immunity to all but the strongest powers of the Warp.  As well as this, the Godslayers are renowned for their stubborn and perhaps hopeful resilience, fighting on even after all seems lost.  As such, the Legion was often utilised during the earlier years of the Great Crusade in attrition engagements, when the strength of will of the Eighth Legion could be counted on to win the day. 

 

Legiones Astartes:  Godslayers

 

Psychic Suppressants:  Adamantine Will

To The Last:  If the army’s Warlord is slain, all models with this rule gain Feel No Pain (6+) and Stubborn.  Additionally, Godslayers may never voluntarily Go to Ground.

Lanterns of Humanity:  Destroyer Squads, Vigilator Consuls, Recon Marines or any models equipped with phosphex bombs or shells may not be included in a Godslayers army.

 

Legion Specific Weapons:

 

Any Character with the Legiones Astartes (Godslayers) special rule may take any items from this list:

 

Ripper Glaive

Any Independent Character with the Legiones Astartes (Godslayers) special rule replace their combat blade with a Ripper Glaive for 20 points.  A Ripper Glaive is a weapon with the following profile:

 

RNG: -   Str: +1   AP: 3      Melee, Two-handed, Rending (5+)

 

Kingslayer Knife

Any Character with the Legiones Astartes (Godslayers) special rule replace their combat blade with a Kingslayer Knife for 10 points.  A Kingslayer Knife is a weapon with the following profile:

 

RNG: -   Str: User   AP: 4      Melee, Murderous Strike, Rending (5+)

 

Zbruchan Repeater Shotgun

Any Character with the Legiones Astartes (Godslayers) special rule replace their boltgun or bolt pistol with a Zbruchan Repeater Shotgun for 5 points.  A Zbruchan Repeater Shotgun is a weapon with the following profile:

 

RNG: 12”   Str: 4   AP: -      Assault 3

 

Zbruchan Fire (Relic)

Zbruchan Fire is a unique suit of Terminator Armour, crafted for the first Godslayers Legion Master, Prometear Thyris.  It incorporates a great many life support systems that allow the wearer to survive wounds and physical damage to an obscene extent, and, when in the right hands, can make a warrior nigh unstoppable.  Only one model in a Godslayers army with the Independent Character special rule may take Zbruchan Fire, which replaces the model’s power or artificer armour, for 50 points.  It confers a 2+ armour save, a 4+ invulnerable save, and the Slow and Purposeful, Eternal Warrior and Feel No Pain special rules.

 

 

(LORD OF WAR) Koschei Kharkovic – 415 pts

Primarch of the Godslayers, The Dreamer, The Light In The Darkness

[RED BOX] On the smaller end of the Primarchs, Koschei Kharkovic has never claimed to be a fighter.  While to mortals he appears a god made manifest, he pales in comparison those amongst his brothers such as Raktra Akarro or Daer’dd Niimkiikaa.  Instead, his true power comes from his mind.  As one of the most forgiving and peaceable of the Primarchs Koschei serves as a preeminent diplomat, and his 67^th Expeditionary Fleet has one of the least bloody histories in the Great Crusade.  Koschei prefers often to negotiate around battle, although it would be a grave mistake to see this as weakness for, when angered, Kharkovic can become a relentless force of destruction.  Aiding the Primarch’s formidable strength is his nature as a Warp Suppressant, the strongest extant in his legion.  Likened to those possessed by Pariahs, Kharkovic’s powers are so forceful that he is able to nullify the attacks of almost any psyker entirely.  

WS: 7  BS: 5   S: 6   T: 6   W: 6   I: 6   A: 4   Ld: 10   Sv: 2+

                            

Unit Composition:

·         1 (Unique)

 

Unit Type:

·         Infantry (Character)

 

Wargear:

·         The Black Mantle

·         God’s Hand

·         Blade of the Pariah

 

Special Rules:

·         Primarch

·         Preferred Enemy (psykers)

·         Sire of the Godslayers

·         Bulky

·         Psychic Suppressant

 

Warlord Trait:

·         Intimidating Presence

 

God’s Hand:  God’s Hand is, in essence, a power fist, although to use such a word to describe such a weapon seems grossly unjust.  The power generators of God’s Hand are permanently overcharged allowing the weapon to melt through armoured hulls of vehicles and flesh and bone alike.  Due to this, however, God’s Hand is vastly difficult to manoeuvre in combat, requiring extra effort from the wielder.  It is a melee weapon with the following profile:

RNG: -   S: x2   AP: 1   Melee, Unwieldy, Concussive, Specialist Weapon

 

Blade of the Pariah:  The very same blade stolen from the Zbruchan High Lord Samofrakiya and used in his murder, the Blade of the Pariah has undergone decades of tinkering and modifications under the hands of the artificers of many legions.  Notable among these are the Iron Bears, who were able to fit the blade with an arcane device seeking out those with psychic ability, and turning the weapon into something even more lethal when fighting them.

RNG: -   S: User   AP: 3   Melee, Murderous Strike, Piercing Blow, Psy-bane

Psy-bane:  Gains the Instant Death special rule when targeting a psyker.

 

The Black Mantle:  The Black Mantle is what emerged from the forges of Terra on Koschei’s request for a suit of armour.  Thickly built and broad shouldered, the Black Mantle incorporates a powerful field generator amidst layered plates of ceramite, and is able to turn aside all but the most well placed strikes.  Additionally, this formidable suit of armour was designed specifically to resist the strongest of weaponry, providing the Primarch notable protection against arms even as powerful as a Volcano Cannon.  It provides a 2+ armour save, 4+ invulnerable save, Aegis

Aegis:  Destroyer weapons suffer a -1 modifier on the Destroyer chart when targeting Koschei.

 

Sire of the Godslayers:  Feel No Pain.  All friendly models with Legiones Astartes (Godslayers) gain Feel No Pain (6+).  If Koschei is slain, all friendly models with Legiones Astartes (Godslayers) gain Feel No Pain and Fearless.

 

Psychic Suppressant: All blessing and maledictions within 6" inches immediately cease to effect.  All psykers within 6" inches suffer -2 leadership.  He and his unit may not be targeted by any psychic powers, and he grants all units fully within 6 inches +2 to Deny the Witch rolls.

 

 

(HQ) Karl Volkov – 220 pts

First Captain of the Eighth

[RED BOX] Hailing from the same village on the eastern coast of Sdradazkia as Koschei Kharkovic himself, Karl Volkov has long been the right hand of the Primarch.  Even before reuniting with his Legion, Koschei appointed Volkov as his Regent, who was to marshal his armies during Kharkovic’s rapid rebellion.  Volkov’s Goliath Units were transferred into the Godslayers Legion (as well as their founder), serving as elite troops and often as a bodyguard for the Primarch or newly appointed First Captain.  In battle, Volkov wields the mighty Lucifer Glaive, an ancient Terran relic gifted to the Zbruchan arrivals to the Legion by the Nord Merican tribesmen that is said to glow with such heat that it is able to melt flesh.

WS: 7   BS: 4   S: 4   T: 4   W: 4   I: 5   A: 4   Ld: 10   Sv: 2+

 

Unit Composition:

·         1 (Unique)

 

Unit Type:

·         Infantry (Character)

 

Wargear:

·         Cataphractii Terminator Armour

·         Volkite charger

·         Lucifer Glaive

 

Special Rules:

·         Independent Character

·         Legiones Astartes (Godslayers)

·         Eternal Warrior

·         Master of the Legion

·         Feel No Pain

·         Fearless

·         Furious charge

 

Warlord Trait:

·         Bloody Handed

 

Lucifer Glaive:  RNG: -   S: +1   AP: 3   Melee, Murderous Strike, Piercing Blow, Deflagrate

 

 

(HQ) Alexander Kharkovic – 230 pts
He Who Lived

[RED BOX] Alexander Kharkovic, Koschei’s adopted nephew, serves as a captain within the Godslayers Legion, and as a member of the Primarch’s Council.  While the Primarch invariably favours him (as much as he tries to hide it), Alexander Kharkovic was not inducted into the Legion on merit of his connections alone.  During his time fighting with the 67^th Expedition, the younger Kharkovic has evolved into a skilled fighter, surviving many a seemingly impossible scenario.  This fabled resilience has been present in the man ever since his childhood, when he lived through the collapse of o building.  It is darkly whispered among the more superstitious Terrans that Koschei is not the only being whose favour Alexander Kharkovic has earned.  Adding to his martial prowess is his considerable power as a Warp Suppressant, as well as his mind for politics.  This keen wit has been indispensable to his uncle on many occasions, with him perceiving tensions amongst the legionnaires that the idealistic Koschei had missed.
WS: 6 BS: 5 S: 4 T: 4 W: 3 I: 5 A: 4 Ld: 10 Sv: 2+

Unit Composition:
· 1 (Unique)

Unit Type:
· Jump Infantry (Character)

Wargear:
· Artificer Armour
· Kryl’ya
· Archaeotech Pistol
· Thunder Hammer

Special Rules:
· Eternal Warrior
· Master of the Legion
· Legiones Astartes (Godslayers)
· Primarchkin
· Otherworldly Protection
· Pariah (Secundus)

Pariah:
Alexander Kharkovic automatically possesses the following abilities:
· Psychic Void:

Upgraded to 12” range

· Indomitable Will:

Upgraded to 6” range

Kryl’ya: Confers the jump unit type, and the Jink and Thunderous Impact special rules.
Thunderous Impact: The Unwieldy special rule conferred by Alexander’s Thunder Hammer is ignored during the first turn of a combat into which Alexander charged, using his jump pack.

Primarchkin: Alexander passes Look Out, Sir! rolls on a 2+.  In addition, should Alexander be slain, and Koschei Kharkovic is present on the battlefield, Koschei gains the Rage and Hatred special rules.

Otherworldly Protection: Alexander has a 4+ invulnerable save

 

 

(ELITES) Goliath Terminator Squad – 200 pts

[RED BOX] Goliath Terminators were first born from a need to combat larger xenoforms encountered on the fringes of the Segmentum Pacificus during the early years of the Great Crusade.  Using enormous, two-handed power glaives called Rippers, Goliaths make up the majority of Karl Volkov’s First Company and are the legion’s fighting elite.  Although they excel in all forms of combat, Goliaths are trained foremost in the art of the beastslayer, being able to bring down even the largest of monsters with a well-placed jab or slice. 

 

Goliath Terminator                WS: 4   BS: 4   S: 4   T: 4   W: 1   I: 4   A: 2   Ld: 9   Sv: 2+

Goliath Terminator Sergeant  WS: 5   BS: 4   S: 4   T: 4   W: 1   I: 4   A: 3   Ld: 10   Sv: 2+

 

Unit Composition:

·               4 Goliath Terminators

·               1 Goliath Terminator Sergeant

Unit Type:

·               Goliath Terminator – Infantry

·               Goliath Terminator Sergeant – Infantry (Character)

Wargear:

·               Cataphractii Terminator Armour

·               Combi-bolter

·               Ripper Glaive

 

Dedicated Transport:

·               A Goliath Terminator squad numbering five models may take a Land Raider Phobos as a Dedicated Transport or a Spartan if ten models or fewer.  Note that if an army contains a character that has one of the Rites of War special rules (see page 189), other Dedicated Transport options may be available for the squad.

 

Special Rules:

·               Legiones Astartes (Godslayers)

·               Stubborn

·               Monster Hunter

 

Options:

·               The Goliath Terminator Squad may take:

·         Up to seven additional Goliath Terminators ………………………… 35 pts per model

·               Any model may exchange their combi-bolter for a volkite charger … 5 pts per model

·               Any model may exchange their Ripper glaive for one of the following:

·         Power fist ……………………………………………………………………………..  5 pts

·         Chainfist ……………………………………………………………………………….  10 pts

 

Ripper Glaive:  RNG: -   Str: +1   AP: 3      Melee, Two-handed, Rending (5+)

 

 

(TROOPS) Suppressor Squad – 210 pts

[RED BOX] The Soul-Eater Curse exists within all Godslayers, from lowly initiates to captains and chaplains.  Although it is latent in most, in those chosen it will blossom throughout the marine’s life.  While, when fully matured, they may be promoted to high ranks, when younger these pariahs will be assigned to Suppressor Squads, to prove themselves.  While one suppressor marine on his own would be no more than an irritation to a psyker, in large clusters, bolters raging and chainblades revving, these squads are able to project a veil of darkness across the battlefield that only the sharpest minds can penetrate.

 

Suppressor Marine         WS: 4   BS: 4   S: 4   T: 4   W: 1   I: 4   A: 1   Ld: 8   Sv: 3+

Suppressor Witchbane  WS: 4   BS: 4   S: 4   T: 4   W: 1   I: 4   A: 2   Ld: 9   Sv: 3+

 

Unit Composition:

·          9 Suppressor Marines

·         1 Suppressor Witchbane

Unit Type:

·         Suppressor Marine – Infantry

·         Suppressor Witchbane – Infantry (Character)

Wargear:

·         Power Armour

·         Bolter

·         Bolt Pistol

 

Special Rules:

·         Legiones Astartes (Godslayers)

·         Twisted Brotherhood

 

Pariah:

Suppressor Squads automatically possess the following abilities:

·         Psychic Void:

o   Upgraded to 12” range

 

Options:

·         The Suppressor Squad may take:

o   Up to fifteen additional Suppressor Marines ……………… 12 pts per model

·         The Suppressor squad may buy up to 25 points of upgrades from Pariah Abilities

·         All models in the unit may take a combat blade … 2 pts per model

·         The Suppressor Witchbane may exchange their bolter for one of the following:

o   Combi-weapon …………………………..................................  10 pts

o   Power weapon ………………………………………………………….  10 pts

o   Power fist ……………………………………………………...............  15 pts

o   Lightning claw …………………………………………………………… 15 pts

o   Plasma pistol ……………………………………………………………..  15 pts

o   Heavy chainsword ……………………………………………………… 5 pts

·         The Suppressor Witchbane may take melta bombs ………………… 5 pts

·         The Suppressor Witchbane may upgrade to Artificer Armour … 10 pts

 

 

 

 

Numeration:  VIII^th Legion
 
Primogenitor:  Koschei Kharkovic

 

Allegiance:  Traitoris Perdita
 
Cognomen (Prior):  Godslayers.  This name was not changed by the Primarch upon his discovery, instead he adapted to fit within the established traditions of the legion.   
 
Observed Strategic Tendencies:  Diplomatic Missions, Psychic Suppression, Massed Orbital and Artillery Bombardments, Siege and Attrition warfare, Massed Armoured Assaults.
 
Noteworthy Domains: Zbruch and the surrounding Gladius system.

 

The Godslayers – once a mighty legion, whose name and reputation shone through the bleak void of space.  They exemplified the kindness and forgiveness of the Emperor, and were, it may be said, the future of humanity, their Primarch going as far as to earn the moniker the Light in the Darkness.

 

It was not to last.  Manipulated and tricked, the Primarch Koschei Kharkovic looked into the eyes of death and saw nought but another ally.  This once proud legion was reborn, warped into monsters fighting under the banner of the Stormborn.  Now their names and identities are twisted and misremembered in myths and nursery rhymes; mindless, traitorous villains acting out of spite and anger.

 

Origins of the Godslayers

As the Unification Wars on Terra drew to a close, the Emperor’s attentions began to spread to beyond the confines of the grey sky.  To undertake his newfound expedition of conquest (aptly named the Great Crusade), he created the Legiones Astartes, armies of superhuman warriors created using the prototype Thunder Warriors as an initial base.

The recruits for these new armies were drawn from all across Terra’s scorched surface.  The Godslayers in particular hailed from conquered regions of the Nord Merican Ice Wastes, lands hostile to life with its lack of vegetation and chilling temperatures.  The largest of these regions was inhabited by a tribe that called themselves the ‘Hunters of the Greatest Beast’.  This tribe held ancient beliefs hailing back to far before the Dark Age of Technology, beliefs that detailed a Time Before, when one god had ruled over the world in peace.  However, one of this god’s lieutenants had grown ambitious and attempted to seize power.  He was cast out, tumbling down from the god’s sky-realm and crashing into the depths of the earth.  Although he was presumed dead, the Hunters of the Greatest Beast believed that this fallen creature still lingered, and that it was their duty to find him and finish what their god had begun.

This tribe was chosen as the primary recruitment pool for the newly born Eighth Legion due to the admirable resistance they put up against the Emperor’s ranks of Thunder Warriors.  This tribe demonstrated incredible resolve, often fighting to the last man, even when outnumbered, simply to protect settlements or important areas from the Emperor’s wrath.  And so it was, when he needed men to form the early cores of his space marine legions, he looked to the lands of the Ice Wastes.  The recruits, on the whole, accepted the VIII^th’s geneseed at exceptional rates, growing the Godslayers into one of the largest legions at the onset of the Emperor’s Great Crusade.

Although many of the tribe's customs were kept, the tribal leaders were purged on the Emperor’s order; they, after all, were the religious leaders of the tribes, and in the Emperor’s vision of humanity, religion had no place.  Instead, the Emperor appointed one of his trusted advisors, a noble by the name Prometear Thyris, to command the legion.  It was he who would establish the legion's heraldry of orange and grey.  Thyris ruled the legion with utter discipline; a necessity as he was able eliminate the unwanted traditions that the tribesmen held on to.  However, this draconian style of command would lead to Thyris refusing to take prisoners, all would pay the price of death for their resistance.  Before the discovery of their Primarch, the Godslayers had hardened into merciless killers.

 

The Dreamer's Beginnings

Hidden amongst distant stars, on the barren feudal world of Zbruch, a storm was brewing.  To a couple living in a tiny hut in a tiny town, a miracle was bestowed.  The baby to be named Koschei landed in his pod in the street, and was claimed by Iosif Kharkovic, a smallholder living under the tyranny of the High Lord of Zbruch, the world's preeminent sorcerer.  Koschei was raised by his adopted family, his adopted parents and younger brother, and taught to follow in his father’s footsteps.  As he matured, the young Primarch became the pride of his community with word of his strength and wisdom travelling far and wide across the cold lands.  His fame was to be his downfall, for rumours of the man with strength enough to lift whole houses managed to reach the ears of the Zbruchan aristocracy.  The High Lord himself sought to discover for himself the truth about this mythical being; although the quiet hamlet in which Koschei had grown up had been fairly unaffected by the Lord’s jurisdiction, a different reality played out elsewhere, a reality that invoked the fear of rebellion in the High Lord.  While the disillusioned populace shared a common resentment toward their overlords, they lacked a leader who could harness their strength of will into a power rivalling the aristocracy.  It was this possibility the High Lord foresaw Koschei embodying.

                And so it was that troops and parades began passing throughout the region.  The locals noticed this increase in activity and feared the worst.  Slowly, the High Lord’s soldiers drew ever closer to the Kharkovics and their quiet life of farming, until, one day, Iosif heard a knock at the door.  The High Lord himself and his officials greeted him, ordering the family to gather outside the house.  Although he was merely a peasant, Iosif showed great courage when he disobeyed the High Lord's order, determined to protect his family despite the power of the tyrant he faced.  Alas, the High Lord would not broker any resistance and ordered Iosif executed without second thought.  Before his adopted father's blood had touched the ground, Koschei charged the High Lord and his elite guards.  Prepared for the worst, one hundred of the High Lord's finest warriors had accompanied him.  In the span of minutes, half their number lay on the ground, their bodies broken by the Primarch's blows.  Yet, Koschei had never mastered the arts of battle and was unarmed.  Bleeding from a dozen wounds, he collapsed. 

A more paranoid tyrant would have executed Koschei lest he had a chance to become a more lethal threat.  However, the High Lord was cunning, seeing a powerful ally in Koschei.  When Koschei next awoke, he found himself in the chambers of the High Lord of Zbruch.  The Lord was satisfied; the potential revolutionary had been neutralised.  Now, he sought to transform Koschei from a potential threat into his greatest soldier.  The High Lord showered the young Primarch with gifts and luxuries.  As Koschei's fury weakened, the High Lord gradually inducted Koschei into the ways of war.  In short time, Koschei became the most dangerous man on Zbruch.  Times heals all wounds, even the deaths of fathers.  Koschei's memories of his simple life before faded away. 

It was not to be. 

                One day, Koschei wished for a momentary reprieve from his opulent life and walked outside the palace walls for simple exercise.  What was to be a brief journey grew in weight as Koschei saw the poverty and hunger High Lord Samofrakiya inflicted upon his people.  Worse still were the reactions of the common folk to him.  They cowered before the High Lord's pawn, pleading for their lives whenever Koschei attempted to merely talk with them.  Memories of his past life flooded back to him, and he found that he did not want to turn back.  He wandered, becoming disgusted by the world he saw and more disgusted still by the thought of the bloated royals sitting in their palaces and feeding from suffering.  The rebellious thoughts that the High Lord had so feared began to form in Koschei’s mind.

His mind filled with raw, unvarnished truth, he returned to the company of the High Lord, who enquired as to where he had been.  Koschei gave a vague answer about following the trail of a thieving servant.  The Lord attempted to read the information from Koschei’s mind, but as had always been the case, his psychic power seemed to have no effect on his adopted son.  Samofrakiya turned.  Koschei saw the glint of a blade on his belt, and reached for it silently.  Hate enveloped him, and he drove the sword through the tyrant’s back.  As the High Lord fell, he gathered his power and attempted to strike a crippling blow directly against Koschei’s mind, desperate to retaliate.  What neither of the pair had known was that, somewhere deep within the Primarch’s altered DNA, there lurked a gene with the ability to suffocate the psychic presence of any individual in Koschei’s vicinity, a gene that would manifest itself in many of the new initiates to the legion.  Samofrakiya's last blow was rendered null, and he died filled with impotent fury.

In the days that followed the High Lord’s murder, a brief yet violent revolt broke out across Zbruch.  Yet, the rebellion was not filled with the long-suspected peasantry.  No, it was the aristocracy that sought to end Koschei's rule when he announced popular reforms would happen during his reign.  Refusing to surrender their lives of comfortable luxury, they marshalled their forces to remove Koschei from power and to secure their leechlike lives.  The first few battles were short affairs.  Lords and ladies took to the field with tens of thousands of warrior-servants, confident in their ability to overwhelm Koschei's smaller forces.  Their arrogance was reduced to panic when Koschei inspired whole divisions of common soldiers to desert to his cause.  Latter battles marked a shift where the aristocracy deployed in smaller but fanatically loyal armies, but now Koschei's command had swelled into the hundreds of thousands and made quick work of the last few rebel leaders.  The aristocracy were driven out into exile, and Koschei himself travelled through the wilderness, uniting the isolated villages and sharing with them the riches of the palaces he and his newly formed army had plundered.  He preached his newfound message of equality to all he met, and within months Zbruch had transformed to a place of unity and bounty.

Zbruch's golden age under Koschei's guidance would last only a few decades before visitors from the heavens above would irrevocably change Zbruch's fate forever.  For the Master of Mankind would not be denied his son.  Appearing in great drop-ships that Zbruch had never before seen, the Imperium would land on the outskirts of Zbruch's capital.  Wary and apprehensive, Koschei advanced toward the landing zone, trailed by his elite guard.  When they neared the strange crafts, doors opened and the Eighth Legion paraded out with the Emperor at their head.  Accompanied by the Primarch Daer'dd, the Emperor offered the hand of friendship to his lost son.  To his dismay, Koschei reacted with hostility, who felt oppressed by the Emperor's overwhelming psychic aura.  Wishing no harm done to Koschei, the Emperor restrained himself, allowing himself to be cut rather than be forced to execute Koschei.  After a brief skirmish, Daer'dd stepped forth and restrained his ill-tempered brother. 

The blood split that day would prove to be thin.  Over a period of weeks, the Emperor revealed Koschei's purpose and his benevolent mission to save humanity from its foes.  Koschei gradually forsook his earlier anger and would become the Emperor's faithful legion master alongside his brothers.  Daer'dd was the first of his brothers he befriended, and this friendship grew deeper as they often campaigned side-by-side.  When Koschei joined the ranks of the Great Crusade, he did so within the explicit role of liberator.  As Koschei had freed Zbruch from a tyrant, so he would free all of humanity from their vicious xenos overlords.  His tool would be the Godslayers legion, a legion not of pariahs but of a strange half-breed, which he referred to as Warp Suppressants.  Unlike other Primarchs, such as Raktra Akarro, Koschei refrained from extensively moulding his legion, instead choosing to adopt many of his legion's ways.  With one exception.  Koschei's predecessor, Legion Master Prometear Thyris, earned his immediate disdain.  In him, Koschei saw arrogance and a brutal style of leadership that hung over his sons.  However, simply stripping Thyris of his rank and power would open a new wound that would stand between him and his legion.  For Thyris had long commanded the Eighth and his influence ran deep within.

 

The Eighth Take to the Stars

                By fortune (as it seemed at first), Thyris perished in one of the earliest engagements of the Godslayers legion, dying a valiant death in the face of a charging greenskin horde.  While his loss was keenly felt by the Terrans of the legion, they quickly learned that their new master was a far kinder one, and one from whom they had very little to fear.  Thus it was that, over a period of mere months, the Godslayers were unified, and the divide between the Terrans and Zbruchans was quickly forgotten, something which many other legions were not able to boast.  This was achieved by the reshuffling of companies into the system of Brotherhoods, which ensured an almost equal number of recruits from both worlds.

                This feat of integrating the new recruits into the Eighth Legion with almost no conflict was only the first of the newly discovered Primarch’s diplomatic successes.  In fact, Koschei quickly earned a reputation among his peers as one of the Crusade’s most determined negotiators, viewed alternatively as a blessing and a blight upon the Imperium by the different Primarchs.  Azus Bahmut and Raktra Akarro in particular never saw eye to eye with the idealistic Kharkovic, thinking his reliance on peace a weakness.  Despite his brothers’ scorn, Koschei was soon able to earn the respect of many of the more reasonable of his brothers, and was happily redeemed for the tension of his first encounter with the Emperor.

                Despite the Godslayers’ use of diplomacy and negation, the legion was engaged in many major campaigns before the Insurrection.  One of the more taxing of these campaigns was conducted in the swathe of systems known as the Black Reach against a rebellious human empire, which was ended with the assistance of the Dune Serpent and Grave Stalker Legions.  By the time the Eighth had regrouped, word reached the 67^th Expeditionary Fleet of the success in the drawn out war against the Quarith Empire.  However, for Koschei, this success was drowned out by the shocking news that the Emperor was retiring from the Crusade.  While Kharkovic and his legion were confident in the abilities of Alexandros to manage the Legions, and indeed happy with his appointment, it came as a small betrayal to Kharkovic that his father, who had indeed persuaded him to join his cause in the first place, was abandoning his sons to return to Terra.  However, never one for paranoia, Koschei reasoned that the Emperor would have a valid reason for his announcement, and was sure that this reason would eventually be revealed.

                In the months after the announcement, this reason’s absence was noted by Kharkovic.  As well as this, there was a growing tension within the Eighth Legion, one that not even the Primarch himself seemed to be able to fully remedy.  Many of the astartes, like Koschei, felt wronged by the Emperor’s withdrawal, and slowly, but acutely noticeable to those who knew where to look, the 67^th Expedition’s pace slowed, and morale dipped.  Kharkovic feared how far the Crusade would deteriorate in the Emperor’s absence.

                And so when Koschei was approached by Icarion Anasem, he was more susceptible to the ideas that his brother put forward.  After all, his intentions seemed honourable, and, after Kharkovic’s own experiences with his legion, action seemed necessary to maintain the pace of the Crusade.  Ever trusting, Kharkovic allowed himself to be swayed by the honeyed lies his brother fed him.  After some consideration, it was decided that the mighty Eighth Legion, upholder of the Emperor’s will and beacon of light amongst the madness of the Great Crusade, would muster under the banner of the Stormborn in open rebellion against the Imperium of Man.

                And thus it was that the Godslayers were sent to the mysterious and dangerous region of space known as the Ghoul Stars.              

 

Organisation and Structure within the Legion

                A sprawling legion, the Godslayers are nonetheless united in their adherence to their Primarch’s vision.  The Eighth Legion is organised into Brotherhoods, each number approximately five thousand astartes and under the leadership of seven officers.  Unlike other legions (of which the Eagle Warriors are a notable example), Brotherhoods are not dominated by marines hailing from either Zbruch or Terra, with the Primarch and his council striving for an even mix.  Transfer between Brotherhoods is common, with some legionnaires having served in near half of all the Legion’s Brotherhoods throughout their lifespan.

                Similar to the septumvirates that govern Brotherhoods, the Godslayers Legion is ruled not solely by the Primarch himself, but by the Primarch’s Council, a grouping of ten captains and the Kharkovic himself.  Each of these ten captains are assigned three Brotherhoods, from which the captains will relay requests and messages to the Primarch.

                While promotion to the position of captain can be on merit of many different qualities, one of the more common attributes among officers of the Godslayers Legion is the manifestation of the Pariah gene.  While it exists in all astartes of the Eighth, those in which it is most noticeable are assigned to Suppressor Squadrons to prove their skill through combat.  Those who are worthy are promoted to the officer corps, with many ending their careers as captains or centurions.

                Zbruchan culture maintains that one’s ancestry must be honoured, and, as such, Dreadnoughts are a respected part of the Godslayers Legion.  More numerous than those of many other legions, Dreadnoughts of the Godslayers are granted the honour of garrisoning Zbruch.  Kept in the massive system of catacombs and vaults underneath Hive Primus known as the Caves of the Dead, the Dreadnoughts’ slumber is watched over by the Venerable Warden Lazarus, a Contemptor-class Dreadnought who predates the subjugation of the Sol System.

                In addition to the roles that the Chaplains of other legions fulfil, the Zmeyazyka of the Eighth Legion serve as the primary diplomatic envoys of the Godslayers.  Almost exclusively Zbruchan, the Zmeyazyka are handpicked by the Primarch’s Council, often being accompanied by Kharkovic to assist in negotiations – this proximity to the Primarch lends the Zmeyazyka an incredible amount of respect.  The sight of a Zmeyazyka on the field of battle is both inspiring and terrifying to a Godslayer in equal measure; after all, for one of these ordained peacekeepers to turn to warfare, conditions must be dire indeed.

                Given the Godslayers’ skill in attrition and siege warfare, it is only fitting that a significant number of the Legion are contained within Breacher squads.  The elite formations known as Obolochka in Zbruchan form an important part of each Godslayer Brotherhood, and are an evolution of the Breacher Siege Squads found in every legion.  The Obolochka, when not on the front lines of a battle, are commonly used as defensive parties to repel boarders from Godslayer spacecraft.

                The majority of the Godslayers Legion is contained within the 67^th Expeditionary Fleet, headed by Koschei Kharkovic himself, making it one of the largest Imperial Expeditions.  Despite this, on occasion those officers held in the Primarch’s esteem will be granted the privilege of a fleet of their own.  These fleets are rare in number, and small, often acting as a supplementary force to a larger number of Imperial Army soldiers or Titans.  Fewer still are the elusive Lost Brotherhoods, long forgotten Expeditionary Fleets perhaps dating back to before the discovery of Zbruch, or containing Terrans too stubborn or violent to adapt to the changes made by Kharkovic to his Legion.

 

The Death of Prometear Thyris

                It was only in hindsight was the true nature of Koschei's first battle as legion master revealed.  Now commanding the 66^th Expeditionary Fleet, Koschei and the Godslayers passed through an unknown system, barely ten parsecs into their journey.  Initial scans revealed a typical solar system: a single star at the centre with six planets on circular orbits accompanied by a few satellites.  On the second planet, the fleet's scanner detected signs of occupation, human occupation.  Ordering the fleet to enter orbit, Koschei would pore over new readings aboard his flagship, the Krylataya Pobeda.  Under the sweeping gaze of the Imperial sensors existed large-scale settlements and numerous human bio-signs, along with anomalous readings.  Although the anomalous readings were a cause of concern, the Primarch took the advice from his adopted nephew and elected to make his presence known.  Ordering for transmissions to be broadcasted announcing his arrival to what he hoped to be a friendly human population, Koschei took with him the legion’s elite First Company, as well as Prometear Thyris and his nephew Alexander Kharkovic, who had recently been inducted into the Godslayers per Koschei’s special request.   These select warriors were deployed by Thunderhawk into the largest planetary settlement as informed by ship scanners.  However, no sign of the supposed human occupation could be seen.  Accurate readings were prevented due to the unusual planetary atmosphere, while physical searches were able to confirm that the abodes had been lived in as recently as an hour ago, not one human soul was to be found. 

                Around two hours into the legion’s search, word arrived via vox that heat signatures had been detected half a mile south of their position.  The detachment of space marines began to move in that direction, but almost immediately were warned to hold their ground.  The heat signatures had increased drastically in number, and probes had spotted what appeared to be greenskin technology in the outer reaches of the city.  Within minutes, the xenos had made themselves visible, and began to surround the Primarch’s position.

                The first wave of greenskin foot soldiers were cut down with ease by the combi-bolters of the Goliath Terminators.  Koschei himself made an effort to engage as many of the Ork chieftains as possible in a show of strength directed toward the Terran members of his legion.  His nephew, meanwhile, focused on supporting those units which found themselves struggling, but however many Orks were killed, more always surged forwards to fill the gaps the fallen had left.  Soon after the initial ambush, a trio of squiggoths lumbered towards them, their great size and strength bolstering the Ork horde.  Against a larger or better-prepared force, these creatures would've posed no significant threat.  Alas, Koschei had deployed only with an elite reconnaissance force that couldn't absorb many casualties and was bereft of armoured or artillery units.  The Primarch voxed his flagship and requested immediate reinforcements, while masses of brave Goliaths hacked away at the beasts with their power glaives.

                Despite losing many Terminators to their deadly charge, the squiggoths were eventually overwhelmed by a hundred cuts.  Their deaths proved to be a shock to the Ork's morale, and many greenskins fled the battlefield.  This, combined with occasional, cautious bombing runs executed by passing flyers allowed the Godslayers detachment to force their attackers to break formation and establish a defensive line.  Freed from the siege, reinforcing Godslayer companies joined Koschei's diminished detachment using a network of primitive roads.  Massed columns of vindicator tanks, rapier weapon batteries and a lone Fellblade crawled forwards, supporting their brothers with vicious suppressive fire.  Koschei’s fighters charged forward, turning the tide on the greenskins as they carved through the line, slaughtering the Orks as they took shelter from the bombardment.  Thyris fought his way to the tip of the attacking spear, seeking glory for himself.

                The xenos were quick to respond, staging a counterattack led by a warboss who had recently arrived on the battlefield.  The legionnaires were ordered to fall back, leading the Orks into the jaws of an ambush led by the vindicator siege tanks.  Yet, Thyris continued his charge, his motivation unknown for the odds he faced were grave indeed.  A few squads of Terran Godslayers attempted a rescue mission, clearing a path for Thyris to return to Koschei's lines.  As this happened, the lion's share of the Godslayers had successfully connected with the reinforcements.  Before the firing lanes could be completely cleared of friendly units, Alexander Kharkovic gave the order for the tanks under his command to open fire.

                Thyris’ command was still engaged in close combat with the greenskins when the vindicator shells hit home.  Explosions ripped through the Ork horde, spilling much of their hated blood.  The price for Alexander's impatience was steep as many Terran Godslayers too felt death embrace them within those powerful rounds of ordnance.  Thyris himself had been critically wounded during the bombardment, spared only because of the strength of his armour's shield generators.  Abruptly aware of how close to death he danced, he attempted to retreat while furiously activating his vox to stop the shelling.  He made a chilling discovery when he realized his suit's vox wasn't operating.  None of his efforts to reboot the system succeeded, and another barrage crashed onto his position.  In between the flashes of light and the hammers of concussion, Thyris saw the warboss approaching.  Despite all his wounds, Thyris stood and fought, eventually being overwhelmed as more and more Orks piled into the fight.  With the legion master dead, the Orks charged forward.  Into the trap.

                Within minutes, the attack had been blunted by the sheer firepower of the Godslayers line.  Heavy bolters and graviton cannons slowed the charge, with sporadic counterattacks halting any groups that drew too close.  In an hour, the entire Ork horde had routed, fleeing the city to take shelter elsewhere.  In the coming weeks, the Ork threat would be almost entirely purged from the planet, and the human population – who were being used as slave-labour by the xenos – were liberated.

                Only later would it emerge that Thyris’ communication systems had been sabotaged on the order of Alexander Kharkovic, and that, in fact, the entire battle was engineered as an attempt to stop him from posing what Alexander viewed as a threat to his uncle’s command.

 

Purging Sixty Six Twenty Five
                Months after the death of the Godslayers’ Legion Master, the 66^th Expeditionary Fleet made to refuel and rearm in a human system previously brought into compliance by a fleet consisting of elements of the Void Eagles Legion.  The Krylataya Pobeda, along with an assortment of escorting ships, docked at a large space station above the world of Verden, while dispatching a small party, including Kharkovic himself, to greet the planetary governor and the world’s people.
While the Primarch was away however, the unarmed fleet and the station at which they rested was set upon by a swarm of raiding craft.  The craft breached the station, flooding the corridors with piratical, augmented, human warriors, who claimed precious resources and stole away any workers they encountered to serve as slaves.  By the time the Astartes were able to respond, the raiders had disappeared.  The Primarch was immediately called back to his fleet, and demanded immediate retaliation.
                The Imperial ships were, despite their opponents’ head start, the superior vessels, and slowly caught up with the fleeing pirates.  Electing not to open fire, the fleet instead let their quarry lead them to their base of operations – a planet later to be designated Sixty Six Twenty Five, and its three moons.
                The Krylataya Pobeda advanced towards the planet, broadcasting in Gothic on all channels.  These broadcasts were rapidly answered with threats, warning the Eighth Legion to depart the pirates’ (or Velocitarii, in their own dialect) system.  Ignoring these, Kharkovic ordered the fleet forward, until it was within the orbit of the world’s third moon.  The Velocitarii were requested to attend a parlay in which, despite their previous attacks on Verden, they could be integrated into the Imperium of Man.  The Velocitarii categorically refused, clearly convinced of their own superiority based on their previous engagement.
                In response, the fleet pressed forward in a push towards the Velocitarii homeworld.  Immediately the ships were presented with a tide of smaller raiders, as had been encountered over Verden.  This time however, the Godslayers were prepared, spreading out and denying the pirates the chance to surround them, all the while subjecting the enemy to a withering hail of fire.  The raiders, tiny as they were, were unable to stand against this level of bombardment, each vessel being only twice the size of a Thunderhawk gunship.  The Velocitarii fleet was easily crushed underfoot.
                Once in orbit of the enemy world, the entire First, Third, Eighth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Nineteenth War-Companies were ferried by Stormbird to the outskirts of a city, though it was barely that; the settlements on the Velocitarii world were many, but small, at least compared to Imperial hives.  The city chosen was not selected at random – it seemed to serve as a rudimentary manufacturing centre for raiders.  Nor was the landing location, for within minutes of the Godslayers contingent’s arrival a macro-cannon bombardment of the city began in earnest.
By the time it had finished, the city lay all but ruined, and yet nothing stirred.  The force advanced, flanked by Fellglaives and ranks of Sicarans.  Still it encountered no resistance.  Then, all of a sudden, the all-too-familiar raiding craft burst across the sky, deploying, by parachute, Velocitarii fighters in amidst the Godslayer line.  Though the attack took the legionnaires by surprise, they were able to eliminate the paratroopers, sustaining relatively low losses.  They were, after all, Astartes. 
The ships passed over again, dropping a far larger contingent this time, along with a number of primitive bombs.  More Godslayers fell, but the landing Velocitarii were met with the fury of Karl Volkov and his Goliaths, being yet again overrun.
                As the raiders flew overhead once more, the Legion’s Stormbirds rose slowly from the ground, each more than a match for a Velocitarii craft.  The vicious flyers swatted down the next flock the enemy tossed at the Astartes, forcing a change of tactics from the defenders, one that brought the fight back down to the ground.
                Spears of Velocitarii outriders mounted upon crude motorcycles raced towards the Godslayers.  Too fast to be hit by the Glaives or other, more ponderous war machines, the job of engaging them fell to the Astartes.  However, true to their nature, the Velocitarii refused to be pinned down in a close quarters, striking only where they could again flee, or where they were sure they could emerge victorious – weak points in the Godslayers line.  Watching from orbit, a plan began to formulate in Koschei Kharkovic’s mind.
                Slowly, this strategy of attacking, then leaping back, then attacking again began to take its toll on the Godslayers.  Though they fought bravely, they were being cut down in ever increasing numbers, just as ever increasing numbers of Velocitarii joined the fight.  The Legion, however, still dominated the skies, and it was this upon which Koschei intended to seize.
                As the Velocitarii made a final push against a defeated enemy, encircling the Godslayer force, the sky lit up.  Hundreds upon hundreds of drop pods rained down from the Krylataya Pobeda, landing in a jagged ring around the Velocitarii, pinning them in position with automated bolter fire.  The Primarch himself led the Godslayer counter-attack, tearing through terrified outriders with bellowed rage.  In less than half an hour, the Velocitarii force had been slaughtered to a man.
After the fall of the first city, the Velocitarii were quick to surrender.  Over a period of months, the world made the painful transition into Imperial compliance, the memory of the now-departed Eighth Legion still fresh and painful in the minds of Sixty Six Twenty Five’s citizens.

 

The Final Exodus

                The Exodite System formally designated Siratius III was first encountered by the Godslayers Legion at the height of the Great Crusade.  As the 66^th Fleet moved to bypass what at first seemed an uninhabited system, navigators aboard began to sense a surge in psychic activity.  This activity was traced to Siratius III, a relatively small star system consisting of only three populated planets.  Preliminary scans indicated hostile conditions on all four of the planets, but the Fleet’s commanding officers resolved to investigate nonetheless.

                The 66^th Expeditionary Fleet moved into orbit of the outlying world.  Preparations were made to launch landing craft to the surface to search for clues on what or who could be causing this tremendous amount of psychic activity.  Before these could be implemented, however, the Krylataya Pobeda itself received a transmission.  This transmission detailed the inhabitants of the system as Eldar Exodites, and warned the Imperial ships against mounting an attack on the xenos.  The Exodites were told, in return, that the Godslayers Legion had no wish for violence between the two races.  Negotiations were organised, to take place on the surface of the world below.

                Kharkovic himself led the diplomatic detachment to meet the Eldar, as had become customary.  The Primarch did not wish to provoke the xenos, who, although relatively primitive in relation to their cousins, boasted considerable numbers and psychic power, and so brought with him only a small number of Legionnaires.  He was greeted by a group of seers who called themselves simply The Parliament, and the bodyguard of Eldar that accompanied them.

                Though initial discussions were peaceful, the mood soured as Kharkovic was introduced to the eldest member of The Parliament, an ancient creature by the name of Mhuratagh.  This Eldar, unlike the others, seemed unwilling and even afraid to be near the Primarch.  He claimed that his humours had been unbalanced, and demanded that the meeting be adjourned for a moment while he recovered.  The Godslayers were unsurprised; they were by now used to the effect their presence could have on those with psychic ability.

                Before the meeting could even begin again, the Eldar struck.  As they rested on the edges of the settlement in which the gathering had taken place, the unsuspecting Godslayers were struck by blasts of psychic energy.  As the astartes scurried to prepare for battle, they found themselves flanked by hundreds upon thousands of the Exodite warriors, cutting through the hastily formed outer line with ease.

                Immediate extraction was requested by Godslayer officers, while the diplomatic detachment was forced to flee from the Eldar settlement with their Primarch in tow.  Koschei himself was the target of the majority of fire.  Before aircraft could reach the Legion’s often changing position, the detachment found themselves subjected to multiple rapid strikes, carving through the centre of the group, slowly managing to isolate certain groups from the mass of astartes.  Kharkovic and a small delegation of marines were cut off from the rest and surrounded.  At the head of this assault came The Parliament themselves, calling out for Kharkovic, whom they called ‘Kinslayer’, to come forward.

                Before the xenos could muster for a final push to destroy their foe, however, a fleet of Stormbirds announced their arrival by bombarding the Eldar mass with missiles and incendiaries.  Taken aback by the sudden aerial attack, the Exodites were pushed back, allowing for the bedraggled group of Legionnaires to regroup and make a rush for the transporters.

                As the Legionnaires fled through the upper atmosphere to reach the Expeditionary Fleet, the full might of the Exodites was revealed.  Only minutes after the Stormbirds’ departure, signatures of hundreds of ships were detected racing after the craft, and gaining ground.  It became clear that the Exodus had taken no toll on the Eldar’s technologies, and, although the Primarch was able to reach his ship before the xenos could intercept him, immediately a vicious void battle erupted as the Eldar fighters opened fire on the orbiting ships.  Some of the smallest ships, caught by surprise, were destroyed, dooming all those on board to die.  Retaliatory fire removed some of the Eldar ships, but the majority of the craft were fast enough to avoid the ponderous Imperial cruisers.  The battle was taking too heavy a toll on the Godslayers.  Diplomacy, it was decided, was not longer an option.

                As battle raged around it, the mighty Krylataya Pobeda descended into the planet’s atmosphere, shelling the ground beneath it where The Parliament had mustered to attack with macro-cannons.  Almost immediately, the surviving Eldar fighters broke away from the battle above the world, screaming down towards Kharkovic’s flagship, harassing it in an attempt to disrupt its fire.  The Krylataya Pobeda would not break.  Even as the xenos encircled the ship, others descended from above, turning their weaponry on the Eldar fighters while they were distracted.  The xenos were rapidly overwhelmed.

                All of a sudden, the bombardment was halted.  It seemed as if a psychic shield was being projected out to smother the fire of the assaulting ships, and so high up were the Godslayers that not even the Primarch himself had any chance to suppress it.  And so the Legion resolved to come to the ground once again.

                Landing in almost full force, the Godslayers of the 66^th Expeditionary Fleet made straight for the now ruined city in which negotiations had been held.  They were accompanied by regiments of the Imperial Army, sent to reinforce the Space Marines.  Storming the outer sections of the Eldar settlement, the Imperial forces soon found themselves meeting heavy resistance.  The attackers’ assault was slowed by psychic energy, while any stragglers were picked off by roaming bands of xenos guerrilla fighters.  Though the Godslayers were resistant to the psychic attacks of the Eldar, they were not immune, and the Exodites had massed in such force that resisting their combined efforts.  The legionnaires were being held back by the xenos, while the humans of the Imperial Army were being massacred.  It was then that Koschei struck.

                Accompanied by hundreds of Suppressors, marines in whom the Pariah gene had manifested most strongly, the Primarch breached the city’s psychic defences with ease.  Robbed of their powers, the Eldar were forced into a brutal short-ranged siege.  The xenos stood very little chance.  Within the period of only a week, the Exodites had been pushed back to the city’s centre, and although reinforcements had arrived at the planet from elsewhere in the system, the Eldar craft were entirely outmatched by the orbiting Expeditionary Fleet.  In the halls of a great citadel, the final blows were to be struck.  Kharkovic and his chosen burst inside, slaying any who opposed their advance.  Once reached, The Parliament were quick to surrender.

                Final negotiations were set in place, in which it was decided that the Exodites would be allowed to migrate, fleeing from the advance of the Great Crusade to the far reaches of the Ghoul Stars.  Only moments before the close of these negotiations was the Eldar’s final card played.  An incendiary device beneath the floor was detonated, killing all nearby and collapsing the building’s ceiling onto the room’s occupants.  Kharkovic himself was one of the only survivors, dragging himself to freedom through the rubble with a support beam through his stomach.  The Primarch recovered eventually from this assassination attempt, and the 66^th Fleet went on to depart the system.  Despite all this, the Exodites were spared, although it was darkly whispered in some corners of the Krylataya Pobeda that the finalisation of the details of compliance was left to the Berserkers of Uran.

 

 

 

I don't think anything's missing.  Please tell me if there is though!

[Grifftofer]

It would be awesome if you could write a short-ish paragraph on the Godslayers as a legion to go at the beginning of their Appendix entry. It will  be following on from this paragraph:

 

 

The Space Marines of the Emperor’s Legions are genetically engineered, psycho-indoctrinated warriors with superhuman abilities and minds and souls tempered for war. In addition each individual legion has its own idiosyncrasies and character - the product of their gene-seed and unique warrior culture.

 

Likewise a Red Box-type description of the Primarch himself would be great too

[simison]

Redd, we need a quote for the Iron Bears chapter.

[Nomus Sardauk]

Redd, we need a quote for the Iron Bears chapter.

For some reason Alexandros' last line from the rediscovery of Daer'dd story Little Brother immediately popped into my head: :D

"Come now, Icarion, it can't be possibly be any worse than mjod."

[simison]

Hilarious, and if only.

[Chief Captain Redd]

"Let the enemy know your blade, your axe, your bolter rounds, for once they know your tools they shall fear your work"

Hymn of Iron

 

Does this work?

[simison]

Yes, I'll pass it on.

[Sigismund229]

Hs anyone got any fluff thay want me to write?

[simison]

You're welcome to work on the Warriors of Peace.

 

The Iron Bears don't have a paragraph summing them up on their first Appendix page. 

[simison]

Okay, read through Iron Bears Legion rules, and they're a little ridiculous.

 

Why no Legion Breacher Squads?

 

Why does every single Iron Bear have Void Hardened Armour? Isn't that a ridiculous amount of free points?

[Chief Captain Redd]

Breacher Squads can't be taken in the Legion because there are exactly zero in the legion. Shields are common amongst all of the VIth and the Leviathans take what roles of them are needed.I would stop the use of Tactical squads in favor of Veteran tacs, but I realized they could be a neophyte clan.

 

And we can tac on points the Void Hardened rule; Griff wrote that, and there were points I think I left them off just seeing how it felt and stuck.

[Grifftofer]

Just to point out that Void Hardened armour is actually a rule that only comes into play during Zone Mortalis games (and allows units to ignore the pseudo-rending effect of weapons). As far as I'm aware it doesn't have any points costs associated with it anywhere.

 

You might be thinking of the Hardened armour on Breacher Squads (and available as an upgrade on Heavy Support Squads) that allows for re-rolling of armour saves vs template/blast weapons.

 

They are very similarly named, which is unhelpful, and if you have Hardened armour you get Void Hardened as a side benefit, which just adds to the confusion IMO. I would never suggest that Hardened be a free upgrade (unless its the biggest Legion benefit), but Void Hardened is quite a niche ability overall, in spite of its usefulness.

[simison]

Okay, that's much better. So, is the universal shielding represented in the rules later on or is that a fluff thing?

 

Also, how many shield armies do we have? I know my Wardens are one. I think the Crimson Lions are a second.

[Sigismund229]

Yup Lions use shields pretty much universally

[bluntblade]

Looking at the Lions' fluff, only Clans Balda, Askar and Tauran are the only (relatively small) Clans who don't go in for shield wall tactics, and even then I imagine plenty of their warriors use shields.

[Sigismund229]

Even Askar and Balda use shield walls. Tauran are the only ones who really don't primarily use shields and even their plenty of Tauran's warriors do

[Chief Captain Redd]

It's represented in my RoW(s) it's less about shield walls and more about Bears being glory hounds.

 

I think it's just those three. I apologize for anyone I'm forgetting but I can't think of it for any other Legion.

[simison]

The Iron Bears' fluff chapter is done.

[simison]

So, going back to rules, it does seem unbalanced. The Iron Bears have one weakness, no breachers, but three bonuses, two of which are hefty. As I understand it, without ATSKNF, Stubborn is a premium. Situational it may be, but this is after the army is given Counter Attack as a whole. Then Martial Pride grants two bonuses for forced duels.

 

After rereading the Imperial Fists & the Ultramarine tactics, I don't think it's as bad as before, but it needs to be toned down a little more, given the small drawback. Removing Hatred bonus from Martial Pride should be enough, I think.

[Sigismund229]

Underwater Madness

 

While Icarion had an advantage in sheer numbers of legionnaires, he knew that in some arena’s, who would hold the upper hand remained unclear. One such were the wars fought beneath the oceans of the galaxy. Of the legions who specialised in such brutal engagements, the Drowned and the Scions Hospitalier, only one had sworn itself to his cause. While the embittered and estranged Morro had been an early recruit to Icarion’s cause, Pionius, with his almost fanatical belief in the purity of the human form and fierce loyalty to the Emperor, would have been too dangerous to try and persuade to join the Insurrection as he would likely have sent word to their father of Icarion’s designs, which would throw the Stormborn’s plans into turmoil. This left the two opposing sides, those loyal to the Emperor and those loyal to Icarion, with equal strength underwater, their forces almost evenly matched and this was an inescapable fact when Icarion began to plan the opening phases of his betrayal. He couldn’t allow those loyal to the Emperor to outmatch him in any arena, for Icarion hoped to achieve as swift and bloodless a victory as possible (even now, he hoped that, as his treachery was revealed, he could sway the Warmaster to his cause) and for this he would need total superiority in all arena’s.

 

It was with this aim in mind, the securing of the underwater theatre, that Icarion dispatched his brother, Sorrosworn Morro, to the world of Untara Prime. It was here that Pionius Santor was currently prosecuting the Great Crusade alongside a force of perhaps some 45,000 of the Scions Hospitalier’s finest astartes. In this, Icarion saw a chance to eliminate the entire Scions Hospitalier upper command structure, crippling the legion and dooming it to ineffectual guerrilla actions, securing the underwater theatre and removing yet another legion from those who opposed him. However, it would be no easy task for in the times before the Insurrection, Pionius had been the brother to whom Morro had been closest. To extent that any other than Morro himself did, Pionius knew all of Morro’s weaknesses and how to exploit them and so, Untara would be a test for the Drowned and their primarch, baptizing them to Icarion’s cause in blood, theirs and that of the XIXth. Once he had turned upon the man who had once been his closest brother and bathed his weaponry in the blood of the sons of Iona, Morro would have no choice but to continue down the road of betrayal. This much, Icarion had seen and every path on which Morro shed the blood of the XIXth was one where he also stood by Icarion’s side at Terra.

 

As ordered, Morro set off to Untara Prime, accompanied by nearly 60,000 of the Drowned, armed and prepared to fight under the crushing weight of the oceans and in the murky depths. While the Iron Bears would be outnumbered, surprised and unable to flee, leaving them no choice but to fight, the XIXth would not have their backs against the wall as the VI had. The oceans of Untara Prime were enormous, covering almost 90% of the planet, giving the Scions Hospitalier ample room to disengage and fight a running battle in which they could hit the Drowned and then withdrew before the Drowned could hit back. In this kind of battle, even more than in ordinary marine warfare, numbers didn’t matter. All that mattered was who could deliver the harder punch faster. To this end, the Drowned were armoured entirely in reinforced and void hardened mkIV plate, a gift from the Lord of the Mechanicus, the traitor Kelbor Hal. While it was hardened in the same manner as the mkIII plate that was more common in actions fought in a void or in the murky deeps. While the armour had been in development for decades, designed as a replacement for the clunky and aging suits of mkIII armour many void specialists were forced to use, the only legion to receive a significant number of the suits were the Drowned (a benefit of their allegiance to Icarion). Included within the suits, in addition to extra mobility due to using the mkIV chassis rather than mkIII, were numerous features specifically designed for war under the waves, such as devices referred to by the Drowned as “gills” which enabled the suits to extract breathable oxygen from the water around them when activated and, although a major drain on power, this would allow the Drowned to fight for longer in an underwater environment.

In addition to these new suits of armour, the Drowned were also lavishly equipped with new ammunition. While work on the new type had originally begun following the Qarith triumph, the focus had quickly shifted from simply penetrating the protection of heavily armoured opponents, like Qarith warriors, to penetrating astartes war plate. This change had been made by Kelbor Hal following his making a secret oath of allegiance to Icarion's cause. These new shells could be relied upon to penetrate enemy plate from a range of 15 metres or closer and given the close range nature of marine warfare, this would make them especially useful underwater, meaning the Drowned had been given the most supplies of them out of all the legions loyal to Icarion.

 

However, it would be a mistake to think that the destruction of the Scions Hospitalier was the only reason the Drowned were launching an assault on Untara Prime. The planet was also one of the principal oil wells of the Great Crusade and without the supplies extracted from beneath its sea bed, entire expeditions would be left without fuel and unable to respond to Icarion's rebellion. This was the Drowned's secondary objective on the world: to cripple it economically and disable its oil refineries, rendering the world useless to the Imperium for months, possibly even years, to come.

 

Despite the Drowned's extensive re-equipment and training for the battle they would encounter on the world's surface with the Scion's Hospitalier, for them to let their guard down for even a moment would be a fatal flaw. In spite of its distance from the frontlines of the Great Crusade, Untara was a world that had been heavily fortified by Niklaas and his Fire Keepers. Ever planning for the worst case scenario, the X had included six Bellephoron class defence lasers, perfectly capable of destroying the world if they had to, as well as leaving a permanent garrison of their psyker brethren, although many said it was more of a prison than a garrison, a dumping ground for the astartes who Niklaas was unable to tolerate the presence of. While this was a formidable display of the world’s importance in and of itself, Untara was also defended in orbit by the Untarii Armoured cohorts, giant legions of heavily armoured and well equipped armsmen who were stationed on board the star forts that housed the defence lasers.

 

The Drowned's plan to seize and cripple this world was simple: Drowned boarding parties would seize the orbital platforms as their fleet punched through that of the Scions, splitting it in two and preventing an effective evacuation from taking place, and the Districtas Facilitas Majorum while Morro and his elite launched an assault on the Omnium from orbit alongside the Pelargich Monarchs and Hennahson would lead an assault by the destroyer cadre upon the Crucible of Embers with the aim of converting the imprisoned Fire Keepers to the Stormborn's cause and then the oil rigs would be obliterated from orbit, thus ensuring maximum devastation of the world for as few losses as possible.

 

As the Drowned fleet ripped its way into real space over Untara Prime, rumours immediately began flying amongst the Imperial Army and even the Scions Hospitalier who were at the world to refuel. Why had the Warmaster sent the XVIth to Untara Prime in such vast numbers? Surely such numbers of astartes being sent to a world far from the frontlines of the Great Crusade was a gross misuse of manpower? However, despite the apparent randomness of the Drowned's appearance, Pionius Santor, joyful at the opportunity to see his brother, sent out long range vox hails to the XVIth legion ships now closing with the world. Despite this and for reasons best known to themselves, the Drowned did not return the hails, instead maintaining strict vox silence. However, this didn't overly concern the Scions Hospitalier who had frequently served alongside the Drowned in other theatres and knew them to be mercurial and reserved at the best of times, even though rarely outright hostile, the Scions had grown used to the XVIth keeping their own counsel and only sharing their intentions with others when they chose. So it was that for the long hours it took for the Drowned to reach world, no preparations were made to defend Untara, as none thought a war between the legions to be possible. The events which followed would prove them wrong.

 

As the Drowned's fleet closed with the world and with the Scions, the final preparations for battle began to take place. Helmets were locked on, weapons sealed against water, squads loaded into boarding torpedoes and specialized kraken drop pods, another gift from Kelbor Hal. With the Drowned fully armed and armoured, the stage was set for an underwater battle on a scale unrivalled by any other engagement of the same kind in the Great Crusade.

 

The first shots were fired by the Queen of the Damned at 00:04 Terran standard, a series of boarding torpedoes that slammed into orbital station 5 and plasma bolts which destroyed the XIXth legion battle barge Pureheart. Within minutes of this first shot, the entire Drowned fleet was opening fire, bolts of las and lance weaponry slamming into the ships of the XIXth and hundreds of drops pods in the grey-blue of the XVIth were hurtling down towards the surface of Untara Prime, carrying within them thousands of XVIth legion astartes, eager to confirm their loyalty to the new Emperor in blood. So it was that the battle of Untara Prime began.

 

In orbit, the iron fist of the Drowned’s fleet smashed through the unsuspecting vessels of the XIXth legion and the Untaran defence fleet. As volleys of las and plasma crashed into the surprised ships and star-forts in orbit over Untara Prime, boarding parties of Drowned legionnaires crashed into the vessels, seeking to capture as many intact as possible. While the armsmen and the Scions Hospitalier fought and died hard, seeking to make the Drowned pay in blood for their treachery, no amount of determination could overcome the superior numbers and weaponry of the Drowned. The new ammunition being used by the Drowned easily broke through the plate of the Scions Hospitalier and against this new ammunition the armsmen stood no chance. Tens of thousands were killed in their brave attempt to prevent the Drowned from capturing the star-forts and yet still they fought on, fighting side by side what Scions Hospitalier happened to find themselves on board the star-forts when the Drowned attacked. Of particular note was the last stand of the armsmen cohorts on board star-fort number 4. In the control room the remnants of the fort’s armsman garrison made a last stand orchestrated and led by brother Thersites of the 1st Grand Assembly. Pict feeds show Thersites armed with nothing but a bolt pistol holding high the banner of the Untarii armsmen cohorts and, when the armsmen began to lose spirit as they heard the Drowned’s mournful dirges, he roared “Let them come! Their names shall be lost to the ages while our deeds here shall echo through eternity! You see that coming men? That is not the foe. That is immortality! You have but to extend your hand and take it and your name shall live forever in the annals of Imperial history! Take it! It’s yours!”. In the battle that ensued, Thersites scored seven confirmed kills and one probable with just his bolt pistol before he fell and he is also credited with triggering the star-fort’s self-destruct mechanism as he died, killing all of the 2000 Drowned on board.

 

Despite acts of heroism like that of Thersites, one by one the star-forts were being knocked out by Drowned broadside fire and boarding parties. In the void above Untara, the Scions and their allies were dying, each a bright star extinguished by the waters of the Drowned. However, while each member of the XIXth legion lost that day was a tragedy, no loss was felt so keenly as that of the Hell’s Heart. Pionius’ Santor’s flagship, the Hell’s Heart had carried the XIXth to wars on a thousand worlds and was as much a part of the legion’s history as Pionius himself. Mighty though this ship was however, on Untara it faced a foe with numbers and firepower far in excess of its own. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Captain Nestor drove deep into the heart of the Drowned fleet, loosing broadside after broadside. However, although a giant in combat the Hell’s Heart was wounded and its shields were down. As it died, it was rammed by the Drowned battle barge River of Corpses and broken in two. In the moments before he died, Captain Nestor is said to have spoken the words “My life for Ionia, the jewel of the Imperium. My home”. With these words spoken and the wreckage of the Hell’s Heart and 6 star-forts now floating through the void over Untara, all eyes were on the war now raging in the depths of Untara’s vast oceans.

 

The main body of the Scions Hospitalier had been located near Omnium's main port, preparing to re-join the fleet in orbit now that the formalities had been observed and they had been re supplied, so this was where the main hammer blow of the Drowned's assault fell, nearly 30,000 astartes of the XVI. Crashing down amidst the structures and oil rigs that surrounded the port, the Drowned burst out of their Kraken assault pods bolters blazing, gunning down hundreds of the XIXth within minutes of landing and suffering very few casualties in return. Part of the reason for the enormous disparity between casualty figures was that the Drowned had come to Untara knowing they would have to fight and so had come armed with their full array of weapons. By contrast, the Scions Hospitalier hadn't expected anything more than a quick trip down to the world's surface to re supply and so, while wearing full plate so that they could move without fear of being crushed beneath the thousands of tonnes of water on top of them, they were armed with little more than side arms. Once they realised the gross disparity between the two sides ranged capabilities, the XIXth began to close in and engage the Drowned hand to hand, although even here they were badly outmatched by the Drowned, despite some managing to level the playing field by picking up weapons dropped by fallen members of the XVIth.

 

However, surrounded on all sides by the brutal sons of Styx, the Scions Hospitalier were ultimately doomed if they stayed and fought, despite their bravery. Realizing this, those few members of the XIXth who could boarded the nearest Phaeton, dragging those of their dead and wounded that they could onto the craft with them, escaping into orbit and there boarding one of the few Hospitalier vessels holding on in orbit and preparing to run the gauntlet of the Drowned's fleet. Those who couldn't fought their way free of the XVIth legion cordon and made their way out into the vast forest of oil rigs and extraction pipes where they intended to launch hit and run assaults against the Drowned. However, those who made it out into the "open" ocean were merely delaying their fate, as the Drowned began hunting them down and killing them without remorse or mercy. In some cases, the Scions simply ran out of oxygen in their suits and, without the "gills" built into the Drowned's armour, they suffocated inside their armour. Of the nearly 43,000 Scions Hospitalier who had gathered at the Omnium's port, only around 800 left Untara Prime alive.

 

Within the Omnium itself, Pionius Santor and his Depthstrider elite were engaged in a life or death struggle with Sorrosworn Morro and the Pelargich Monarchs. While the fighting had consisted of a series of hit and run engagements amidst the corridors of the Omnium, it culminated in the battle of Hangar XV-17. As Pionius and his bodyguard were about to board a Phaeton and head for orbit, their intention to escape and rally the full might of the XIXth to bring the treacherous curs of the XVIth to justice, at the last minute Morro and his Pelargich Monarchs emerged from the hangar's shadows and launched a last ditch assault upon Pionius' bedraggled party of survivors. In the bitter fighting that followed, Pionius was grievously wounded by Morro and forced to withdraw, although the rear guard action that followed left all but seven of the Depthstrider's dead in the hangar, their lives sacrificed so that Pionius might live.

 

Secondary to both these actions is Hennahson's assault upon the Crucible of Fire, often nothing but a footnote in accounts of the battle. Attacking it accompanied by 500 Drowned of the Destroyer Cadre, Hennahson had attacked it prepared for a brutal engagement should negotiations fail. In reality, he needn't have worried as the 200 odd Fire Keepers who garrisoned the structure willingly pledged themselves to the Stormborn's cause, estranged from their own legion as they were. Led by Kor Izhar they then confirmed this loyalty when they slaughtered a group of Scions who had sought refuge in the Crucible, making the Scions combust within their armour.

 

When the last of the Drowned returned from their hunt of the XIXth who remained on the world's surface, fresh scalps that still bled often hanging from their weapon belts, and the Drowned fleet destroyed the Untaran oil fields from orbit, 44,000 Scions Hospitalier had perished upon the world, their armoured bodies feeding whatever wildlife still survived in Untara Primes oceans. However, Morro withdrew ever inwards in the wake of his victory, for he viewed it as a defeat. The reason was that he had only wounded his brother and not even gravely enough to put him out of action for long, leaving the XIXth a very real threat. They would meet again. Someday, Morro and his brother would have a reckoning. For now, however, the Scions remained in play.

[Sigismund229]

Shouldn't be any mistakes left but it'd be appreciated if someone would check.

[simison]

Will check once I've finished the Legion work.

 

And, um, yeah. Redd, the Iron Bears have destroyed the Unique wargear limit. Something needs to be taken out to compensate for this.

 

Also, I believe that I established a limit of 3 unique legion units. Well, while I'm still reading through Tempest, I've obviously jumped to the rule section to help assess the Iron Bears' rules. The Ultramarines have 4 legion specific units. So, the question is, do the Ultramarines represent the new FW standard? Do we have any info on Book 6 yet? 

[Demus Ragnok]

Will check once I've finished the Legion work.

 

And, um, yeah. Redd, the Iron Bears have destroyed the Unique wargear limit. Something needs to be taken out to compensate for this.

 

Also, I believe that I established a limit of 3 unique legion units. Well, while I'm still reading through Tempest, I've obviously jumped to the rule section to help assess the Iron Bears' rules. The Ultramarines have 4 legion specific units. So, the question is, do the Ultramarines represent the new FW standard? Do we have any info on Book 6 yet?

Wait the Ultras have 4? I thought they got three.

1 Super Breachers

2 Super Shooty Terminators

3 Super assault squad

 

Whats no 4?