SoH era Abaddon force disposition?

[MegaVolt87]

Was just wondering outside of Reavers, termi's/ Justarian and vets squads, what else would have been under First Captain Abaddon's direct control? Was he commanding hundreds or thousands under his banner? I am unsure how much leeway I would have to add a DIY named personage under his thumb and how many and what would make sense under that DIY guy who would also make it to the 40k era. Also would it be weird to add a black armoured sarge/ chieftains to squads with the rest SoH green to reflect they are affiliated with Abaddon? What about black armoured vet squads and Termi's that aren't Justarian, but again under Abaddon? 

[Marshal Loss]

There are tragically few accounts shining the limelight on Abaddon as a commander during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, but we do see him in HH: Conquest leading a vast Sons of Horus force (many thousands) to take over the major Hive World of Manachea and know that his command record was second only to his primarch. Taking into account his rank and status, you can justify giving him control of pretty much anything, because if Horus wasn't there, Abaddon had seniority. Slaves to Darkness (with Horus absent) has Aximand in command of the legion only because Abaddon was elsewhere.

 

Keep in mind that the Sons of Horus were only loosely organised relative to most legions. Abaddon was first captain and a member of the Mournival and while the Justaerin may have been the only formation officially/originally intended to be under his control, in practice - with no "chapter master" level rank in the legion - he'd take command in any theatre of war by default and would have anything he wanted at his disposal.

 

As the war went on, the Sons of Horus' livery changed to reflect their status as the praetorians of the new Master of Mankind - grimy bronze became gleaming gold, etc, and they adopted a lot more black. You can see an example of that kind of thing in HH: Retribution with the SoH slave master in black & gold with green shoulders, and the unreleased art of Sons of Horus Reavers intended for Conquest (who weren't from the first company) wearing predominately black. In fact, the first ever SoH colour plates were entirely black. Their green armour is a much more recent invention.

 

Long story short, that's the beauty of the Sons of Horus. They are so idiosyncratic and change so much over time that you can basically do anything you want. Lots of black, lots of green, a mix, blingy gold, dull and grimy, all are perfectly viable and supported by the lore. Coming up with your own system to denote association with Abaddon sounds characterful and fun to me. The only thing I'd steer clear of is doing terminators in a scheme identical to Justaerin, as the first company look is so iconic and you want people to instantly be able to tell them apart on the table. Maybe black terminators with green shoulders for non-Justaerin and the traditional black with red shoulders for the Justaerin? Something like that would work fine.

[MegaVolt87]

Good points. I think I could get away with black armoured vet squads going by the Vengeful Spirit cover art for the HH novel as a reference. I'll have to think more on what the character colours will be, I am leaning towards black and red as a nod from Abaddon, as "this up and comer is affiliated with my faction." 

[Closet Skeleton]

Old fluff was that Abaddon murdered all other surviving Sons of Horus Captains after the theft of Horus' body but that doesn't seem to have been strongly kept to.

 

The idea that GW would write their fluff to restrict lee way in creating characters goes against most of the company's actual policies

[Lucien Eilam]

Old fluff was that Abaddon murdered all other surviving Sons of Horus Captains after the theft of Horus' body but that doesn't seem to have been strongly kept to.

 

In the AD-B Black Legion novels, any Sons of Horus Captain crossing Abaddon’s path is given a “join or die” ultimatum. So, he doesn’t kill them all, but there are still no Sons of Horus Captains left in pretty short order. They either take the Black, or die.

 

That was all well after the Horus Heresy ended though. I think this topic is about the Heresy era.

[MegaVolt87]

Yes, initially in HH but shows up again to join after an absence in the 40k era is the plan for the character.

[Excessus]

In HH, Abby was the first captain of the SoH...if he wanted it, he got it. I doubt anyone would deny him the use of their troops if he asked.