The Crixus Crusade - Sapper's attempt to stay on track.

[Sapper_39]

Hello all,

 

I've been a long-time lurker of various 40k forums, and I've always loved the more narrative project logs. As I've drifted further away from the gaming side of the hobby the past few years, I've been slowly chipping away (pun intended) at painting my various armies. What emerged from attempting to tie all of my armies together, as well as a means to keep me motivated, was my own narrative corner of the galaxy - The Crixus Nebulae.

 

This log will serve as a means to publish the story of the various forces involved in the Crixus Crusade, and to keep me motivated. Who knows, maybe it'll inspire you too.

 

So, without further adieu, let's step off:

 

The Crixus Crusade

 

 

The Crixus Nebulae is a region located in the Ultima Segmentum. At the boundaries of Imperial-controlled space, the Nebulae is a collection of isolated worlds which have been colonized by Humans since the Dark Age of Technology. Contact had been re-established with portions of the region during the Great Crusade and the worlds remained loyal to the Imperium for several millennia until contact was lost in M.39.
    The nebulae had always been an area that had been plagued by warp-storms, and maintaining contact had been a constant irritant for Administratum officials. In M.39 Warp storms flared around all major routes in and out of the nebulae, effectively cutting it off from Imperial control. Without the Emperor’s divine light, it was not long before xenos, renegades, and all manner of undesirables began to settle in.
     By mid M.40 a point of entry into the Nebulae had been discovered. One stable warp route existed that led through a previously undiscovered human world, named Ghestan. Miraculously Ghestan had escaped discovery not only during the 9,000 years of the Imperium, but also during the Great Crusade. As exploratory fleets began to probe deeper into the Nebulae, the fears of Imperial officials were confirmed. In the centuries of lost contact the Crixus nebulae had become a haven of heretics and xenos both.
    Imperial records indicated that within the nebulae were several Forge-worlds, Shrine-worlds, and Hive-worlds. The valuable resources that had been lost to Imperium, both in man and machine, were invaluable. Thus the Departmento Munitorum undertook plans for a crusade-level invasion of the Crixus nebulae. Beginning in 432.M41 it would take until 651.M41 for plans to fully come to fruition. In 740.M41 the High Lords of Terra authorized the initiation of the crusade, and units began to move towards their rendezvous point at Kar Duniash, the segmentum Fortress for Ultima. From Kar Duniash the crusade fleet underwent a 19-month warp journey to the fortress world of Asgaard.
    Asgaard was to be the Imperial staging point and centre of operations for the Crusade itself. Upon arrival, crusade HQ immediately set about reorganizing the crusade’s battlegroups to take into account losses sustained during warp-transit. Those few transports and ships that were not able to rendezvous with the fleet at Kar Duniash finally linked up with the rest of the crusade.
    Once all forces had been present above and on Asgaard, a commencement parade was held. The parade itself was held on Asgaard’s massive parade square, a road 2 kilometres across and 14 kilometres long. Representatives from all units of the crusade took part in the march past. The parade itself lasted for a total 36 continuous hours, requiring those participants who held later places in the parade to establish camp at the beginning of the parade route. The Lord Marshall delivered a speech at the beginning of the ceremony, where he asked the Emperor to bring support and victory to his armies. Celebrations continued for a week after the parade, and with the final administrative tasks complete after 310 years, the Crixus Crusade had begun.

 

Stay tuned in the coming days for an ongoing dramatis personae of the forces involved in the Crusade, the worlds they will fight and die over, as well as some pics of actual models!