The Loyalist Legions Underrepresented During the Siege

[Dalmyth]

So from things I've read and heard, every Legion was involved in the Siege of Terra in some form whether it be in a much larger sense like the Traitor Legions or the White Scars, Blood Angels, and Imperial Fists or in some smaller stuff like the Space Wolves, Salamanders, Raven Guard, and Iron Hands or the Dark Angels falling in between those two extremes. This led me to wondering something though, were the loyalists using all the loyal geneseed reserves they had at the time to defend the Palace in the years leading up to it or was it just something that didn't really happen? Mostly because I have an idea for a force of inductii Ultramarines that I think might fit well there.

Edited November 3 by Dalmyth

[MARK0SIAN]

With the caveat that the scope of the siege is big enough to allow for almost anything to work, I think it’s probably more likely that any inductii that were created would be folded into the Imperial Fists.

 

The command structure etc would already be in place, rather than having to effectively create a new one. I think they’d do this even if the inductii weren’t made from IF geneseed. 
 

That said, there’s no reason an isolated Ultramarines force close to Terra couldn’t have arrived and fought in the siege. Or even arrived with enough time to petition Dorn to release some of the stored UM geneseed to make the Inductii. That way you could even include some more veteran UM units or HQs to lead the inductii.

[lansalt]

Going by the lore:

• Only IF, BA and WS were in the Siege until the end as the main defenders. The books explicitly mention their new recruits.
• RG and SW were able to reach Terra but left before the Siege. Both were able to recruit a few new marines (with a terrible outcome for the RG as we know). Some stayed behind and fought until the end.
• The rest of the Shattered Legions, IH and Sallies, never had more than very small isolated forces helping where they could.
• A force of DA led by Corswain joined the defenders during the late siege and helped liberate the Astronomicon
• The UM infamously did not fight in the Siege. They were blockaded and unable to join the defenders until Horus was killed and the warp barrier was lifted. Then they proceed to mop up all remaining traitors in the system

 

[N1SB]

Sister Dalmyth, take care because Brother Iansalt's breakdown is right.

 

You're right that there were indeed Salamanders...and they were all in the Throne Room with Vulkan pretty much the entirety of the Siege.  And you're also correct that there were Dark Angels during the Siege, and they were all with Corswain to relight the Astronomicon (to guide the Lion's force and the Ultramarines to Terra).

(In an almost comedic twist, the Dark Angel Lord Cypher shows up from nowhere in Volume II of The End and the Death and even Corswain's like, "what're YOU doing here?")

 

So in most cases, those small forces of Loyalist Legions were only there for a very specific reason.  However, I also remember 2 Iron Hands and they were just 2 guys wearing black in a sea of yellow armour outside the Imperial Palace as the doors closed (iirc Volume I of The End and the Death), to show there were just random Loyalists all over.

 

There were a couple of Ultramarines in the Crusader Host, an honourary, almost ceremonial role with representatives of all the Legions on Terra, that were there before the Heresy began.  When Rogal Dorn found out about Horus's betrayal, he had them all imprisoned, just in case any of them were Traitors.  We never found out about those Ultramarines.

 

However, we know some of the Crusader Host were let out to perform roles during the Heresy.  The Blood Angel Dominion Zephon was a super nice guy and had this tragic task of inscribing the names of his Legion's fallen on some Terran wall, but he would be tapped by the Custodes for a [REDACTED] in the Imperial [TOP SECRET] [VERBOTEN].

 

In fact, a lot of those in the Crusader Host were given jobs by Malcador the Sigilite to join the [FILE DOES NOT EXIST].

 

As to your specific ideas:

 

On 11/4/2025 at 2:29 AM, Dalmyth said:

This led me to wondering something though, were the loyalists using all the loyal geneseed reserves they had at the time to defend the Palace in the years leading up to it or was it just something that didn't really happen? Mostly because I have an idea for a force of inductii Ultramarines that I think might fit well there.

 

Right, regarding the geneseed issue, please do keep in mind the very 1st thing the Traitors did in the Siege was take over the Selenar Gene Cults that were churning out Inductii, precisely for that reason.  This is a case of where someone has the raw material, the geneseed, but not necessarily the processing facilities to make actual Legionnaires.

 

But that might not matter as much, so what's your idea for the Ultramarines Inductii during the Siege?  I can think of at least 1 good reason.

[calgar101]

I think a point against your idea is not that Dorn wouldn't have access to other gene-seed but his recruitment pool would be smaller. Instead of using Ultramarine gene seed, he'd just use his or either the Khans or Sanguinius and bolster their legions.

 

Im not trying to rain on your idea, just providing a reason against. 

Im an Ultramarine fan boy, and my idea for a small force of them on Terra, is a small detachment outside of Ultramar that managed to reach Terra.

[librisrouge]

On 11/24/2025 at 2:45 PM, calgar101 said:

Im an Ultramarine fan boy, and my idea for a small force of them on Terra, is a small detachment outside of Ultramar that managed to reach Terra.

I think that this is the best argument for playing legions not known for the Siege of Terra as though they were there. The legions were huge and the heresy threw the entire galaxy into turmoil. It is possible, and even likely, that a couple hundred of each loyalist legion was at Terra when the Siege got to full steam. They likely wouldn't be recruiting inductii from Terra, the big three would take those since they had far greater authority, and wouldn't be in any big roles.