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Black Book - The Eastern Expansion Campaigns


simison

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Off-hand, I would say anywhere from a third to half the Legion. It's a boring duty that few Legions would embrace, and it makes Alexandros' job easier of implementing his various political agendas with his sons able to supervise and influence the worlds they are defending. 

As the Insurrection spread outwards from the galactic core, the Stormlord's gaze turned eastwards. Where before he had focused all his military might on the conquest and securing of the Maelstrom and its surrounding regions, he could now afford to expand beyond his power base. However, he foresaw that any offensive against the Segmentum Solar was doomed to a bloody failure if he did not secure his position first. While such an offensive would bleed the Loyalists heavily, the Stormlord had no desire for a war of grinding attrition at the gates of Segmentum Solar. For all the havoc he had inflicted on the Loyalist Legions, Alexandros barred the way with a war machine and resources that the nascent Imperium Nova could not match. Therefore, instead of looking to immediately advance westward, Icarion’s eyes fell upon the Eastern Fringe.

 

The Eastern Fringe was populous, with a relatively high density of habitable worlds within its comparatively small borders. More importantly from a military standpoint it was staggeringly rich in resources, far outstripping the galactic centre on a world-for-world basis. These two reasons alone would have been enough for the Stormlord to assail the Eastern Fringe. However, there was a third. Above all this was what drew his eye.

 

Ever since the Day of Revelation, the Eastern Fringe had been host to the Loyalist Dune Serpents, led by their Primarch Azus Bahmat. Hit hard by the Day of Revelation like every Loyalist Legion, the Dune Serpents suffered another, shameful rash of losses as somewhere between two-fifths and half their warriors declared for the Stormlord, sealing their pact with fratricide. This left the Legion a mere remnant of the force that which had prosecuted the Great Crusade, numbering just 48,000 strong. In terms of numbers at least, not even the Iron Bears had been laid so low.

 

Yet no Primarch, with their preternatural gifts of intellect and charisma, was easily defied by unfavourable odds. Reduced though his sons were, Azus swiftly devised a strategy to compensate for the situation, using them to blunt the enemy's advance while Army and Solar Auxilia regiments held the line. Insurrectionist supply lines were attacked, their goods plundered or destroyed. Expeditionary Fleets arrived at the front under-equipped and leeched of their strength. The XIVth Legion's murderous chem-weapon arsenals were also deployed against mustering armies and parade grounds became littered with twisted corpses.

 

As the campaign progressed, their dread weapons were used for retribution against those worlds which defected to the Stormlord's banner. Under the pitiless eyes of Azus, billions were killed in this manner, empty hive cities serving as grim warnings to any who contemplated rebellion. Morale among the mortal Insurrectionist troops plummeted, and the Imperials forced them into retreat in several sectors, Jon Lawrenz assuming command of several Army and Auxilia regiments to lead the assault on the fortress world of Kalinia VIII. Some worlds such as Pavonis were seized and fortified, while others were simply stripped of any assets deemed valuable to the campaign before the Dune Serpents reduced them to husks, lacking any value for the foe. In the wake of Kalinia VIII Azus began a campaign of terror against Insurrectionist worlds, sparking panic on every planet which felt itself within reach of the XIVth. This was the scenario that truly worried Icarion, that his still fragile realm might come under attack.

 

Icarion could ill afford for this state of affairs to continue, small as this warfront was in the grand scheme of things - mere hundreds of worlds as opposed to thousands, although the average citizen will nonetheless find the numbers staggering. The Eastern Fringe had become a tarpit, sucking in resources he would rather keep for other theatres. Every day Azus remained at liberty, bleeding Icarion’s empire, the harder it would be to keep planets and armies on his side, and the advantage he had gained from the Day of Revelation would begin to slip away. The Eastern Fringe needed a swift, decisive end, and thus Icarion dispatched not one, but two Legions at almost full strength, as well as committing a great number of the Traitor Serpents.

 

Each Insurrectionist force came to this fight with its own motives, beyond simple obedience. The Steel Legion, subtly aligning themselves with radical sects of the Mechanicum, set their eyes on the Forge World Hephaesta. Dubbed the Jewel of the East, Hephaesta had prospered even through the Age of Strife, accumulating masses of technology which few worlds rivaled even then. The Steel Legion had long coveted the priesthood’s jealously guarded secrets. Now, with Kelbor-Hal diminished after the Schism of Mars, Nomus spied a chance to begin learning them, though the Mechanicum’s stranglehold on so much knowledge forced him to move carefully. Hephaesta would serve both as a source of spoil for the Legion and a way of supporting its own allies within the Mechanicum. In time, Nomus anticipated that the Legions would gain the upper hand over the magi and cast them aside. This was to be the first step towards that goal.

 

The Drowned’s objectives remain uncertain to this day, although the seizure of Insurrectionist data-cores has provided amples clues. Charged by Icarion with fighting in theatres where there was little or no need to spare the populace, the Drowned viewed their assignment as a chance to refine their less salubrious methods of war. While the Steel Legion built a reputation as liberators, the Drowned would be free to wage war as they pleased. The mysterious and terrible weapons they had spent decades refining could be tested en masse, and prisoners taken for aspirants or twisted into thralls to support the XVIth's campaigns. The callous sons of Morro seized on this opportunity, marching further down down the path to utter corruption.

 

As for the turncoat Serpents, already split into a multittude of warbands, there was scant unity of purpose. Only a few factions constituted more than a Chapter-equivalent in size, and many of their leaders refused to serve under a brother, now that they had renounced their own father. Some, such as Mahrid Ganzur, saw themselves locked in a war for the Legion’s very soul, while others fought solely for power or to avenge perceived slights by their loyal brothers. Ultimately, however, all fought to survive and grow in power. To this end they sought gene-seed, disdaining the notion of using that of their cousins, even if that was mingled with their own. Equally, they coveted the Loyalists’ arsenal, which retained many of the most potent ships and weapons given to the Dune Serpents. But above all there was a need to cement their place in the Stormlord’s armies, and no gesture could surpass the destruction of their former kin.

 

The Eastern Fringe now became one of the Insurrection’s major fronts and was subjected to violence of a severity rarely seen in the early Insurrection. While Nomus and Morro marshaled a force to crush any army that faced them head on, Azus drew on all his cunning and gifts for deception to stymie their advances. Icarion would ultimately have his prize, but the unrelenting struggle would see the Eastern Fringe savagely reduced from its former prosperity, and Azus and his allies would do much to arrest the march on Terra.

I'm assuming this is meant to be the modified version of my intro for Book 2B?

 

Let's get the cons(as I see them) out of the way first

 

-When talking about why Icarion doesnt go straight to Terra I wouldn't say "fearing that such a conflict would see his forces too weak to conquer Terra". That implies that he's uncertain about it and that he'd get to Terra, which is far from sure in a war of attrition given his relative derth of planetary support. I'd say: "foreseeing that he would lose such a conflict, for while he had more legions at his side than the Warmaster, the resources he could call upon paled in contrast to those of his brother".

 

-In the second paragraph I'd replace viewpoint with perspective.

 

-Also in the second paragraph I'd say "was what, above all, drew his eye"

 

-Wasn't it near half the DS who declared for Icarion?

 

-Beginning of the first paragraph, I'd say "with their pretenatural gifts"

 

-In the third paragraph, when you say "In terms of numbers, at least" you don't need the first coma. It would be better to say "In terms of numbers at least,"

 

 

-Somewhere in the third paragraph, I'd say that the DS were even beginning to weaken Icarion's hold on his Eastern border through the strategic use of calculated brutality against civilians, striking fear into the hearts of every system within striking distance of the XIVth.

 

-Problem I've got with the fifth paragraph is that it treats it as if the Eastern Fringe is already a major warzone, which it doesn't become until after the SL and Drowned turn up and start kicking the DS around

 

-In the sixth paragraph, why would the SL bother with making an alliance with radical sects of the Mechanicum? The whole point of them going to Hephaesta was that the Mechanicum guarded their secrets jealously before the Insurrection. What reason have the SL got to believe that just because they've sided with Icarion they'll behave any different?

 

Pros

 

-Greater depth to why the traitor DS are involved

 

-No mentioning of the VE involvement or Azus capture, keeping those two elements a surprise

 

-More clear indication of how much the fighting goes in the Insurrectionists favour

I'd thought we said 40%, will check.

 

Viz weakening Icarion's hold, that's a thought I'd missed, though I think they'd mostly be stalling the masses of Army units sent East.

 

Well, we can add that in the context of the Insurrection it's not that big, but it's still pretty huge by any sensible metric.

 

The whole point with the Mechanicum is that Kelbor-Hal's position makes the difference, but only so much. Forge Worlds are vital to the war effort, and if a Legion muscles in then it will hurt Icarion's side because the Insurrectionist Mechanicum will resent it. The Legions can't supplant them quickly enough to make up the losses if Forge Worlds abandon Icarion. But it's established that some sects force Mars to keep a tight grip on them. And among those there will definitely be figures who'll look at the aftermath of Mars and see a chance to climb the greasy pole.

The end of the Schism of Mars will discuss exactly what Kelbor-Hal's defeat entails, including the points made above.

"...bleed the [L]oyalists heavily..."

 

"...military viewpoint, [but] it..."

 

"...millennia[,] and..."

 

"...the [L]oyalist Dune..."

 

"... their [P]rimarch Azus."

 

"...every [L]oyalist [L]egion, the..."

 

"Expeditionary [F]leets arrived at..."

 

"The XIV[th] Legion's..."

 

"...mustering armies[,] and parade grounds..."

 

"... the campaign[,] before the..."

 

"...of the XIV[th]. This..."

 

"...of the [T]raitor Serpents."

 

"... support the XVI[th]’s campaigns."

 

"...the [T]raitor Serpents..."

 

"...the [L]oyalists’ arsenal..."

 

"...major fronts[,] and was..."

Working on it

 

Good. I've updated the first post. Not much has changed outside the general history, though I am aware that much work has been done on the Steel Legion. I'm not sure if I missed it, but is there a proper title page for the Steel Legion?

Don't think so.

 

Was something said about House Toho fluff? Because that's slowly in-progress, what I've done so far is in the Yannatar thread.

 

How many proper battles are we depicting with the turncoat Serpents? Also interested to hear how many characters we might give them.

Was something said about House Toho fluff? Because that's slowly in-progress, what I've done so far is in the Yannatar thread.

 

How many proper battles are we depicting with the turncoat Serpents? Also interested to hear how many characters we might give them.

 

While there's been more development, I didn't see anything that was ready to submit to Grifft, including its own title page. 

 

Not sure about the number of battles. Think Sig would have a better answer for that. 

 

I had only one character planned for the traitor Serpents.

How many proper battles are we depicting with the turncoat Serpents? Also interested to hear how many characters we might give them.

Overall? Or only on the Eastern Fringe? And by proper battles do you mean full scale pitched battles?

How many proper battles are we depicting with the turncoat Serpents? Also interested to hear how many characters we might give them.

Overall? Or only on the Eastern Fringe? And by proper battles do you mean full scale pitched battles?

 

P.S. Apologies for the accidental double post. On holiday and hotel wifi leaves something to be desired

  • 2 weeks later...

 

I'm happy to use Timur, but he's not exactly representative, so another one might be handy.

 

I'm not sure how you would have a Traitor Dune Serpent that could represent all of them given the fact that they devolve into a hundred different factions.

But doesn't Timur successfully represent that since he's only exceptional for his ability to gather a larger-than-usual amount of Traitor Serpents and being a tad more bloody than the usual Dune Serpent?

 

If not, what kind of a character were you thinking?

Command Hierarchy


 


Unlike the loose organization of their parent Legion, the Morning Stars observed a strict chain of command from the lowest to the greatest. The Havildar occupied the lowest rung as a Space Marine who had only recently proven his worth and granted the right to head a squad. The path to a Subedar, or a captain, required a record of personal bravery, tactical insight, and a known reputation of honour before one was allowed to command the subah or company. The Jemadar served not only as commanders of the musters, but also were the personal advisors to the Zamindar, the highest rank within the Morning Stars. To become a Jemadar necessitated not only the skills sought in a battalion commander, but a Jemadar was a Morning Star who had successfully won three 'duels of glory'. Duels of glory were single combats against enemy leaders who were proficient in hand-to-hand combat. Ork warbosses were a common and a reliable foe to be counted for duels of glory and helped several Jemadar reach their rank. The final trial for a would-be Jemadar was a complete recital of their heroic deeds to the Zamindar in a difficult environment, which could range from kneeling naked in a frozen tundra to running laps in a scorching desert.


 


Since the Legion's inception, only seven Morning Stars have had the honour of serving as the Zamindar, Sohrak Mashyan being the last. To reach the pinnacle of the Morning Stars' structure required thirty successful duels of glory and one hundred successful battles, the latter must be prosecuted to the letter of the Morning Stars' unspoken code of honour. Finally a candidate for Zamindar was required to enter a pilgrimage to distant Terra. There with an escort of four Jemadars, the candidate journeyed to North Ind where the IVth Legion maintained its recruitment rights as insisted by the Morning Stars over Yucahu's apathy. At a specifically created memorial which recorded the VIth Legion's first battle, the new Zamindar would swear to uphold the Morning Star's honour and prosecute justice 'till the end of time, finishing the ceremony with ritual bloodletting to seal the oath. 


 


[skal, how many Morning Stars have served as the zamindar?]


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