Original Horus Heresy / Space Marine lore

[INKS]

I know that over the years and even back in third edition there was a lot of lore in the rule book of 40k about the Emperor and his basic story. But I am sure it goes back much further than that. Anyone know the first appearance of this lore and who wrote it? And perhaps who the original artists were?

[malika666]

The Horus Heresy was invented so that GW didn't have to take that big a financial risk when producing the first editions of Adeptus Titanicus and Space Marine.

[Joe]

I want to go out on a limb and say that Collected Visions may have mentioned something on this subject, but I can't remember off the top of my head. You might be able to get a meaningful response by emailing some of the staff who worked at Games Workshop in that era - the Perry Brothers, Rick Priestley and so on. The examples I've listed are easily approachable, and from my own experiences perfectly happy to answer any queries you may have.

[Brother Tyler]

The foundational lore dates back to the 1st edition of the game. At an early point during that edition, the Horus Heresy was known as the "First Inter-Legionary War" (my memory is fuzzy and I don't have time to search through my books for the reference, but I'll find it eventually). Later, other games such as Adeptus Titanicus solidified it into the event we've come to know. That was further cemented when the Realm of Darkness sourcebooks were published (Slaves to Darkness in 1989, followed shortly thereafter by Lost and the Damned).

 

The authors and artists for Adeptus Titanicus are listed at the BGG (follow the link). For some reason, I have some recollection (perhaps incorrect) that William King also wrote some fiction in White Dwarf during the same time period.

[INKS]

Thanks for the info. I'll look deeper into that.

[Sword Brother Adelard]

The Horus Heresy was invented so that GW didn't have to take that big a financial risk when producing the first editions of Adeptus Titanicus and Space Marine.

I think the reality is that they 'massively' expanded on the snippets and mentions about the heresy prior to that point to explain why the two sets of identical titans were fighting.

 

Think how much less fun the setting would have been had they been as lazy as most of us and called it a 'training exercise'

[Rik Lightstar]

The initial Rogue Trader book had no real mentions of the Heresy and a lot of the other background hadn't really been "nailed down"

• Primarchs as we know them weren't a thing then at all,
• The Emperor had a fair few bits a lot of which have never or very rarely been revisited such as Star Child, Sensei and the Shaman Origins
• The Badab Wars and the "Tyrant of Badab" got a fair few side-bars though, and that was very much a Marine vs Marine conflict

Over the lifespan of the First Edition it evolved into something far more recognisable and since Second Edition there haven't been so many dramatic shifts in the overall background.

 

Space Marine and Adeptus Titanicus first editions were where they really built out the heresy fluff to a greater extent and they appeared toward the tail end of First Edition 40k as I remember.

 

Realm of Chaos and Slaves to Darkness had more about the Emperor and Chaos Space Marines.

 

Rik

[Slave to Darkness]

I know that over the years and even back in third edition there was a lot of lore in the rule book of 40k about the Emperor and his basic story. But I am sure it goes back much further than that. Anyone know the first appearance of this lore and who wrote it? And perhaps who the original artists were?

Check your inbox Frater

[N1SB]

What a great line of questioning.  Worth reflecting on this New Year's Day.

 

Also, Happy New Year, Frateri.

[INKS]

I appreciate all the information. I know much of it is probably outdated but I am still interested. I am more into the Lore anymore than I am actual models.

[alfred_the_great]

Slaves to Darkness (published 1988) had the first section on it I can find.

[Mechanicus Tech-Support]

I may be remembering wrong but in one version I believe instead of teleporting onto the vengeful spirit, weren't they attacking Horus's command bunker? And thats where we got Olanius originally from?

[alfred_the_great]

I may be remembering wrong but in one version I believe instead of teleporting onto the vengeful spirit, weren't they attacking Horus's command bunker? And thats where we got Olanius originally from?

 

Yup, I think it was in Realms of Chaos.

 

Olianus is in the 40k Compendium (IIRC).

[Karhedron]

Here is some of the earliest fluff in the modern form. This covers the Siege of Terra (WD circa 1993) and the Emperor's final confrontation with Horus aboard the Vengeful Spirit (circa 1991). 

 

https://members.tripod.com/orcrist_game/40k/id3.html