Faces of Heresy

[Kinstryfe]

Inspired by a pseudo-request in the painting thread, I figured I might as well introduce my heretics and invite others to do the same. I have numerous small armies (A guard army, even evil guard, is never complete. It merely explores new avenues of expansion), but two larger ones who comprise the bulk of my guardsmen, the Baavar Geneclade (Khorne worshippers), and the Orlean First Cohort. I'll share what background I've worked up below, and hope others will do the same for their regiments, cults, warbands, and other assorted formations.

 

The Baavar Geneclade

 

The Baavar Geneclade started life in the Baavar Clanwarrens, specifically in the warrens under the control of their Archgenetech. Obsessed with perfection of the human form, the Archgenetech and his followers in the clade believed themselves to be descended from a perfect common ancestor from the Dark Ages, an ancestor they believed held the perfect human form locked within its genes. Utilizing genecraft, eugenic breeding, and other long unspoken of techniques, the genetechs of Baavar spent generations trying to unlock this perfection. After unknown years and generations they achieved what they believed to be perfection in the form of the first genegineered members of their warrens, each infused with the genetic code of the Archgenetech themself. For again years unknown, the Archgenetech ruled over the entirety of the Clanwarrens, having quickly overthrown the other ruling Magos and quickly populating the warrens with his cohorts of genetically homogenous soldiers. The Archgenetech ruled as a living god in this fashion over a society built in his image, the society secure in their perfection until the coming of the Emperor of Mankind to the Baavar's warrens. Attempting a peaceful integration into the fledgling Empire the Emperor led a procession into the warrens, under the watchful gaze of thousands of pairs of eyes peering through thousands of targeting scopes. First came rank upon rank of barely controlled techno barbarians, followed by a cadre of hulking Thunder Warriors and, finally, the golden clad Custodians flanking The Emperor of Mankind himself. They wound for hours through the warrens’ tunnels, the cavalcade of military force on both sides refusing to be the one responsible for what could only be a massacre on both sides. Finally The Emperor found Himself in the Archgenetech’s amphitheatre, a tail of His army trailing thru the entire labyrinthine complex, the Archgenetech seated on his throne complex, massed ranks of his most impressive soldiery flanking for a full kilometer in all directions. For long moments the assembled troops stood. Unmoving, untalking, the Archgenetech the only soul daring to take action as two gods stared into each other and took one another's measure. The Archgenetech rose from his throne and cleared his throat. He barely uttered a single syllable, “Ki…”, before a flash of light pierced the cavern and the Archgenetech's throat and surrounding flesh were vaporized. Nobody dared move except the Baavar’s First Hand, positioned to the immediate right of the throne, who lowered his laslock rifle, its barrel still steaming and glowing faintly in the damp underground air. To a man the Baavar Geneclade took a knee to The Emperor. Tens of thousands of Baavar Genewrought knew that they were descended from the perfect human and they wept, having finally laid eyes on the man whom they knew embodied that perfect ideal, and would take his place on their throne from now on.

 

The Genebrothers of the Baavar are a highly unusual Imperial Army regiment. Born of highly homogeneous breeding practices, each brother is nearly identical in appearance and mannerisms to the next. Being naturally born humans though, rather than clones, there is some small variance that crops up from time to time, accounting for some of the more specialized units the Baavar field. Each brother is tall for an unaugmented human, often passing two meters in height, and naturally slender of limb and torso. Generations of eugenic breeding has rendered the Baavar almost universally hairless and excessively pale of skin, even when environmental conditions should preclude it. Due to their long rule by the Archgenetech the Baavar hold the uncommon belief that they are not truly an individual until they have earned that right, living and fighting under rebreathers and masks until they have reached a position of note within their regiment. Even then, it is rare to see a Baavar fully unmasked, many having become accustomed to their rebreathers and whatever compounds the regimental Commissars have seen fit to add to improve regimental morale. This lack of self identity combined with a sense of superiority tends to annoy other forces alongside whom they take to the field, but none more than the Adeptus Astartes. Shortly after joining The Emperor's armies, the Baavar were genetested for compatibility with the Legiones Astartes. Being of such ubiquitous stock, almost the entirety of the Baavar were judged incompatible with the existing legions. A small numbers were however found compatible, and this gave rise to the peculiar and sometimes infuriating habit of addressing all Astartes as brothers ever since a scant three Baavar were found fit for Astartes training and enhancement. Not knowing which legions these Baavar eventually joined does not dissuade the rest of the Baavar from being immensely proud of this fact, and they remain sure that one of their number has been a part of every Legion they have fought beside. The only Legion of notable contrast are the brothers of the VIth, who seemed to be highly amused at the idea of their “little brothers” fighting alongside them. This habit aside, many other Legiones Astartes forces have developed a particular dislike for the Baavar simply due to their unorthodox approach to tactics, seeming to shift their plan of battle from a gunline to a bayonet charge and back on vague whims. It has been to many an allied commander's chagrin when these seemingly random movements seem to actually aid the battle, with more than one not knowing whether the Baavar were tactical geniuses, bloodthirsty madmen, or both. It is thankful then that the XIIth, a small number of which have joined the 2756th Expedition Fleet, find the chaos and irregularity of the Baavar endearing, and tend to almost dare the Baavar regiments to try to keep up with them on the battlefield. Unfortunately, neither the accompanying IIIrd nor the cohorts of the Orleans Basin appreciate these displays of wild unpredictability, and more than once the Baavar have found themselves being chastised and given the most boring field assignments by their Astartes fleet commanders. This, along with the wildly different philosophies of their respective upbringings, has led to a particular animosity between the Baavar and the Orlean First Cohort which has almost progressed into outright combat or friendly fire on more than a few occasions.

 

Orlean Basin First Cohort

 

The Orlean First Cohort hail from the upper hive spires of the Orlean Basin off of the Nord Merican conclaves. The regiment as a whole consists of over a dozen cohorts comprised of everyone from children of nobles to ganger scum, and the regiment practices strict segregation to foster competition and rivalry between the various cohorts. The Orlean First Cohort is comprised exclusively of the children of the upper hive spires, most usually the later sons of wealthy families or dispossessed nobles with no options left to them. The trappings of wealth and luxury are reflected in the armament and style of warfare of the Orlean First, with all members traditionally bringing their own equipment to service, rather than utilizing the normal arms and equipment supplied by the regimental quartermasters. Rejecting the usual flak armor of the Imperial Army the First is decked out almost completely in regal, if early design, powered armor with servo muscled arms and armored torsos. The First is also most commonly fitted with Boltguns instead of the usual munitorium issued lasgun, letting them lay down destructive power rarely welded by the linesmen of the Imperial Army and only uncommonly seen outside of the Legiones Astartes. Befitting their stature, the Orlean First were most commonly attached to the III Legion, their armor painted a deep purple in honor of their Astartes commanders. Striding the battlefield inside their RH1N0 armored transports, the Orlean First Cohort represent the best aspects of mankind's nobility and the most destructive firepower an armyman can bring to bear.

 

For a long time, the bulk of the Orlean regiments were assigned to Expedition Fleet 2756, alongside a small force of the IIIrd Legion, a continent of the XIIth Legion acquired by happenstance as their dead vessel was intercepted by the crusade fleet, and various other regiments of the Imperial Army and Navy. The Orlean Cohorts served with distinction, the First Cohort using it's firepower to great effect to wipe out what xenos resistance couldn't be overrun by the massed ranks of conscripts from the lower Cohorts. This continued until the world of 2756-34, whose foul inhabitants took a large toll on human and post-human alike with witchcraft and weaponry the likes of which the Orleans didn't believe could exist, let alone expected to have to combat. It was only due to the Orlean First's commanding Centurion’s strict disregard for his troops’ lives that the xenos capital could finally be surrounded until a drop assault by the brothers of the IIIrd could end the xenos menace for good, albeit at the cost of over twenty complete lower cohorts. Following the final pacification of 2756-34, now called Nova Orlea in the regiment’s honor, the Orlean were gifted with a set of blades that were said to have been manufactured by the IIIrd Legion’s finest artificers. They were given six matching blades covered in strange runes and sheathed in a pale blue power field, and a seventh double bladed weapon to crown the set. First Centurion Jamnl was given the honor of weilding the double blade, christened Orlean’s Honour, as badge of office. The remaining six blades were gifted to the officers of highest familial stature, much to the anger of Third Centurion Tyrmni who was an accomplished soldier and strategist but who hailed from one of the relatively minor spire houses and was the only Centurion-grade officer to lack a blade as his mark of stature. This would go on to be the cause of much infighting among the First Cohort, with more than one duel of honor ending in maiming, disembowelment, or even worse debilitating injury and assignment to officership in the lower cohorts. The worst fate went to those crippled so severely in these duals that they were removed from service in the regiment and assigned to oversee the ongoing colonization and rebuilding of New Orlea into a productive member of the Imperial machine.

[Akrim]

Cool Kinstryfe, like to read the rest.

[Perigrin]

Oh, Nice! I guess i should introduce my army here, as it is the first that i have really fluffed out much.

The Cult of the Sleeper

 

The Cult of the Sleeper were once the crew of the Rogue Trader vessel Tranquil, the serfs of the Trader House that had served faithfully for generations upon generations. However, over time, strange things began to  happen in the bowels of the ship. Workers heard a voice whispering secrets and dark predictions of the future to them, which rapidly showed to be true. Those who listened and  did as it commanded were rewarded with fortune and peace, while those who did not listen suddenly developed a startling trend towards violent accidental death. The workers and serfs began to worship this voice as a god, doing its will and attempting to bring others into the fold. The cult began to grow in influence and power, as their god wasn't a distant and unresponsive one who supposedly guarded mankind in return for their devotion, this was a god who helped those who worshiped him greatly, granting them gifts of fortune and foresight. Even the ships Adeptus Mechanicus presence was corrupted, as the Sleeper, as he began to be called, allowed and encouraged them to innovate and improve, goading them closer and closer to tech heresy. One fateful day, as the Rogue Trader ordered a warp jump to some minor trade system or another, the Sleeper sent a mass message to his followers urging them to rise up and take the ship for themselves. The Uprising was swift and brutal, the vast majority of the ships crew of 150,000 rising up for the Sleeper, following his guidance to a shipment of Plasma Weapons the Rogue Trader was currently under contract to sell  to some buyer or another. The Defense Forces were swiftly overrun by the massive hordes of fanatical cultists and murderous servators of Heretek Design. The Rogue Trader was captured and ritually sacrificed to the sleeper at the end of the uprising, the ship's surviving crew now entirely united in faith in the Sleeper. The most powerful of the Cult's Psykers, a mutant named Kars, was chosen by the sleeper to lead the ship and its crew, for the Sleeper needed more blood if it were to be awoken, and a directionless ship would be no  good to him. The Cult have been fading in and out of the Immaterium ever since, arriving to pillage a world with unmatched ferocity, legions of cultists backed by insane machines created by the Hereteks in their laboratories deep within the ship.

 

 

The cult mostly relies on massive hordes of fanatically loyal cultists with surprisingly heavy firepower for mortal renegades due to seizing the armoury of the ship and all weapons shipments the Rogue Trader was so fond of trading in, with Carapace Armour and Plasma Weapon's being unusually common. Plasma weapons have come to be nearly a holy symbol of the cult due to the Sleeper leading them to a great many of them at the start of their rebellion. The sizable Heretek population of the ship also greatly contributes to the well armed nature of the cult, spewing out crazed weapons and robotic killing machines. They tend to attack worlds at exactly the right time, hitting planets exactly at their weakest point. The cult is a very well disciplined and ferocious army in large part due to the belief that every cultist holds that they are truely on a holy mission to collect sacrifices and loot for the cult. The cult does lack Tanks and heavy armour, having nothing larger than your average dreadnaught in its armoury, but is seeking to steal some in the near future. Rumours of Iron Warrior Chaos Space Marines being seen mixed in with the ranks of the cult are unconfirmed. The identity of the Sleeper is also unconfirmed.

Edited August 22, 2017 by Perigrin

[Tamika]

The Ashen Veil

 

They knew the system was called Minerva, but nothing of the unknown forces that overthrew the oppressive regime of the Imperium thousands of years ago. After the revolution an attempt by the Imperium was made to regain the system but their fleet did not arrive intact. Hundreds of years of brutal civil wars ensued. Jealous rivals seeking to take control of the system for themselves, Chaos cults hoping to turn the people to their patron deity; and worse. These wars have made the cultures of the system produce hardened warriors whom respected life but would rather die than be enslaved. The system was finally united when the Prophet Tamika Oni led the peaceful rebellion against the Grey Dragon Dynasty of Minerva IIIa. She and her disciples took control of the Government and ordered immediate elections, where they won an overwhelming majority thus securing control of the both planets. Several years and many tactical nuclear strikes later the entire system was united behind Tamika Oni. Her dreams and visions of a brighter future for its citizens were enough to maintain the peace and form a loyal core of believers that would govern and maintain order on the six worlds. The system was united once again, but no longer subservient to the oppression of the Imperium. Tamika Oni died of a mysterious illness shortly after. The Council of the Five took over: an elected official from each world (Minerva IIIa & IIIb only got one seat) who then elected a Supreme Overlord. With relative peace in the system and everyday problems left to the governing bodies on each world, it was the Supreme Overlords job to organize the defense of the system to external threats. Despite thousands of years of isolation from the oppression of the Imperium, there was still regular warp travel and communication in and out of the system, in small warp-capable vessels. They were as well-prepared, as much as any human force could be, for the horrors of the Galaxy.

Minerva - Red Dwarf
Minerva I - Agriculture World (~2billion population, extreme climate, hot and humid, nuclear fallout) Main Faction: Aurora Dawn
Minerva II - Agriculture World (~5billion population, temperate climate, small oceans, hurricanes, nuclear fallout) Main Faction: Union Militant
Minerva IIIa - Hive World (~150billion population, double planet, vast deserts, little water, freezing poles, high gravity and escape velocity, dense atmosphere, system government centre, nuclear fallout) Main Faction: Grey Dragons
Minerva IIIb - Forge World (~3billion population, double planet, temperate world with small oceans and rich crust, centre of power) Main Faction: Grey Dragons
Minerva IV - Ocean World (~1billion, floating cities, abundant and diverse sea life, frozen polar caps with millions of rocky islands) Main Faction: Aurora Dawn
Minerva V - Hive World (~65billion population, thin atmosphere being terraformed, cold but habitable, small deep seas linked by cracks in the crust, acid rain, nuclear fallout) Main Faction: Union Militant
The Ashen Veil - Debris Belt (tens of thousands of interstellar vessels torn to shreds as they dropped out of the warp near Minerva VI, massive pirate activity in this area)
Minerva VI - Brown Dwarf (retrograde orbit, unnatural orbital velocity, dozens of cold dead moons, pirate bases, deadly radiation)

All the planets apart from Minerva VI orbit closely together just within the habitable zone of their ancient sun. They are similar in size to Holy Terra, apart from Minerva IIIa which is a super-earth. Minerva IIIb is tidally locked to Minerva IIIa. The Ashen Veil is visible on every planet even during daylight hours.

The system has two hive worlds and so there are no shortage of recruits or hardened veterans from the recent civil war to lead the system in its defense against the threats of the Universe. The system is near the Eye of Terror and they have avoided being destroyed by various Chaos Warlords through delicate diplomacy and a tenuous relationship with the Black Legion. Such interstellar diplomacy with Chaos, Xenos and other Renegade Forces is controlled by the Grey Dragon Dynasty. Dangerous rifts and warp-storms and strange gravitational effects around the system have deposited thousands of large interstellar ships into the orbit of the planetary system, so much so that it has formed its own dark asteroid-like belt around the central star. The belt grows every year as ships too large to drop out of the warp in this sector of space meet their fate. The inhabitants of all six planets named their system after it; the Ashen Veil.