Sven's Sons of Horus - 21st Company

[SvenIronhand]

“You call us bandits. Terrorists, even. Yet what is the standard Compliance but banditry and terrorism? You come to these worlds, these distinct peoples, and you remold them through fear into giving up their lives, the fruits of their planets. If we are these things, you are several orders of magnitude worse.”

-Yaser, Chieftain of Razzia Reaver Squad

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Their initial stock drawn from the Nakh teips of the Caucasus, the Sons of Horus’s 21st Company was always marked out by its autocthonic culture. Their particular way of seeing things and making war, while not superseding that of the 16th Legion, was of this culture. Norms of nokhchalla and adat held sway amongst its leadership, even as Cthonian ganger stock and other Terran regions entered the recruitment pool. Perhaps, then, it was no surprise that the shock of the Heresy - its outbreak a surprise even to those favored by Horus - caused a regression to the culture of its birth amongst the 21st. In a search for meaning, the 21st turned to Tasawuuf mysticism and Nakh culture as a lens to comprehend the vast forces which now determined their destinies.  

Nakh culture, since time immemorial, has been defined by their relations to their neighbors. The territorial ambitions of Muscovy, the Ethnarchy and Akkad sharpened the inhabitants of the mountainous Northern Caucasus into fierce warriors, disposed to egalitarian ways and possessed of free spirits. For the Ethnarchy in particular, the Nakh were a persistent thorn in their side. Equal or superior in prowess, if not might, to the genehanced Ur-Khasis, they fought a long war for freedom and survival - supported at times by the Legiones Astartes and other sundry Imperial forces. It is this culture that influenced the 21st Company so, from their dawn in the Unification Wars to the Great Heresy War.
 

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The Chieftain Melhun Barabbas was an independent sort by his very nature. While obedient to his Primarch, Barabbas largely ran his Company as his own personal fiefdom, seeing it along the lines of a teip. However, he was not immune to outside influence, nor was the Company. As the warrior-lodge crept into the heart of the Sons of Horus and Chaos infected the Legion, the 21st syncretized its traditions with those of the lodge, in remembrance of the Tasawuuf mystics. Squads and demi-companies became known as tariqa, each bearing the character of warbands more than dependent subunits. Horus, ever keen to exploit the advantages of his subordinates, set the 21st largely to raiding and reaving duties - capitalizing on their egalitarian ethos and large contingents of infantry. 

Names of infamy are associated with the tariqa. The cognomen of the Alfidai' Demi-Company, "Red Redemption", is still whispered in hushed tones in the worlds of the Ultima Segmentum. Ranging far, striking fast and savagely, these bands of raiders struck terror into their foes...    
 

[Marshal Mittens]

Nice! I will be following your thread!

[SvenIronhand]

The Alfidai' Reavers were particularly notorious out of the 21st's subunits. Naming themselves the "Red Redemption", they took influence from the occult concepts of the XVIIth. Known for their brutality against mortal forces and even other Astartes, the Red Redemption fought with savage abandon, growing from a squad to a Demi-Company.  

(Still WIP, but liking how he's coming out.)
 

Edited July 8, 2022 by SvenIronhand

[Marshal Rohr]

Excellent start! Look forward to seeing more. 

[SvenIronhand]

"Never will we divert, never will we divert, never will we divert from the steps of the path. Our path is the straight path, with the guidance of the Truth."
-War-chant of the Red Redemption

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As with much of the true history of the War, the Red Redemption's beliefs are and were obscure. Frenzied hearsays of a cult dedicated to Khorne, ritually flaying their very flesh to replace it with metal carapace, seem to hold little weight under closer examination. These seem to have their origin in Old Earth prejudices against the Nakh and other Tasawuuf believers, ala the common trope of the "Nakh sharpening his flensing knife near the Terak River". What seems to be true in these tales is that the Alfidai' held to an occultist strain of Chaos worship, influenced and encouraged by the Chaplains of the Word Bearers. 

Primary sources recovered by the Inquisition after the Great Heresy War have revealed a more philosophical bent to their internal writings. In particular, the Book of Kharman reveals a theory of Ihsan. Literally "perfection" in the Arabyan dialect of the Nakh, it was a multifaceted conception of such. The Imperium approached Ihsan in many ways, the anonymous author wrote, but not spiritually due to its state atheism and the Emperor's rejection of the Primordial Truth. In order to create a perfect society, the new age would - again - have to be birthed by a "red redemption in fire and blood"

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by SvenIronhand

[SvenIronhand]

Some more Reavers, including a Chieftain.




Veterans. 

 

[Kabin Miniatures]

Awesome work, love the lore too! 

[SvenIronhand]

Spoiler

1000 pts list - Pride of the Legion

HQ 

Delegatus Consul

-Power Sword

-Plasma Pistol

 

Compulsory Troops

Veteran Tactical Squad

-Banestrike Bolters

Veteran Tactical Squad

-Banestrike Bolters

Elites

Reaver Attack Squad

-Plasma Pistol
-Power Axe on Chieftain

Justaerin Terminator Squad (stock w/Land Raider Proteus as DT)

No painting today, as I have a learning game tonight. But here's what I'm thinking I'll expand to. 

[SvenIronhand]

Well, learning game didn't pan out, but I have managed to paint these two in the meantime.



Veterans. Markings on left shoulderpad mark these out as members of the destroyed "Death's Head" Tariqa.

[GodEmperorOfMankind]

Excellent work there brother

[SvenIronhand]

 

The chief advantage of the 21st’s idiosyncratic modus operandi was the mobility only a largely infantry force could enjoy. Not being as bound to the long supply train of their fellows, the Tariqa could range far, range fast over a trouble spot or conflict zone. Elite pioneers, roving reavers, and peril-dead pathfinders, the 21st were used to being the “tip” of the “striking spear” more so than any mechanized or armored force. In this sense, they were similar to the Star Hunters of bygone days, operating as handfuls of Astartes across wide battlefronts. Within days, they could identify the command elements of the foe, direct their forces against them, and destroy. 

This way of war harkened back to that of the Nakh tribes. When engaging a superior enemy such as the Ethnarchy, the teips would split their forces into small, foot-mobile groups of well-organized fighters. In the case of the hated Ur-Khasis, these hunting groups would ambush their foes, using power weapons and boltguns to penetrate the superior armor of the Ethnarchy’s thralls. The Volchek teip was particularly adept at this, using well-made power stilettos and estocs to kill the occupiers. 

Adding the murder-minded peoples of other worlds - Cthonians, Neo-geddonians, and Vortisians - to their ranks refined this Terran-born outlook. The 21st, in later engagements, would probe out and close to the foe’s points of weakness. The ensuing attacks were characteristically, simply brutal on their part. Reaver and Veteran squads would advance to contact under withering fire support from the 21st’s Dreadnought talons and heavy support elements, engaging first at range, then closing to hack the main body of the enemy force apart. Meanwhile, Seeker squads and ad-hoc units of Chieftains would seek out the enemy’s champions and leaders. When the dust settled, the enemy would be set to flight, pursued by the 21st.