IA - Blackshields, Legion traitors and similar

[Kelborn]

And Cawl, as well needed 10k years of research and several brains and a semi AI to get stuff done. Those chapters like the cursed founding or similar genetic diviations are most likely his experiments.

 

Thus, I'm OK with Kozja having the chimearic forces.

[bluntblade]

I'd initially go with the Warbringers just implanting the stuff straight and using that to understand the Legions' gene-seed.

[bluntblade]

We've talked about devoting an entire Book to Blackshields, Insurgos and Chymerae warbands. If we go down that route rather than dispersing them, who do we want to showcase? Off the top of my head, these are the high-priority candidates:

 

Loyalist

Shepherds of Eden

Grey Wardens

Vengeful Talons (Loyalist EW)

Brotherhood of the Black Hand (Loyalist Warbringers, late Insurrection - they make their way to Tricendia after the Suzerainty breaks away and contact Aegar Vyrn)

 

Insurrectionist

Hammers of Malis

Morning Stars

Bloodlords (Insurrectionist Predators)

Stygian Host (Insurrectionist Warbringers, late Insurrection)

 

Traitor Dune Serpents will be dealt with in the Eastern Front campaign, so I'm leaving them out. On that basis, so we want to make Recantation happen, or put these warbands in other Books?

[Doctor Perils]

Sons of Nothingness too probably (also late Insurrection)

[bluntblade]

Very true, though they haven't renounced their loyalties have they?

[simison]

Aren't the Shepherds and Stars getting their own red books?

[bluntblade]

Err

[Kelborn]

Loyalists - Black Condas (Predators) - late Insurrection

 

If needed.

[bluntblade]

I think they'd be better to include than the Shepherds, actually, given the theme.

[simison]

Err

 

That's not an answer.

[bluntblade]

It's an "I have no idea" answer.

 

Though I think it was discussed.

Edited June 25, 2019 by bluntblade

[bluntblade]

Thinking more about the Derivae - in particular, they'd come without a preexisting command cadre, so I suggest they be split into Chapters and Brigades under commanders of the Lightning Bearers, Warbringers and maybe Eagle Warriors (particularly later on, as Kozja and Icarion begin to fall out).

[bluntblade]

i forget how, but I seem to have alighted on the name of the Sidorae Legions for them. Does anyone object and if not, does anyone have names for the newborn Legions?

[simison]

I don't, but I'm confused. Which Legions would be involved at this stage?

[bluntblade]

Only after five years or so. These would be WoL, SH, IB and CL.

[simison]

I will give them a chance to answer before I offer suggestions.

[Chief Captain Redd]

Should we not include Wiindigoo and Naagloshii here?

[bluntblade]

Honestly, I keep forgetting them, but I was wondering if we could use those factions to highlight the psychological impact of Daer'dd's death. Bit like Iron Hands turning the Keys of Hel after Ferrus' death and the suggestion that some of then went renegade.

[bluntblade]

One Blackshield force I intend to explore a bit during Recantation:

 

The Bloodstone Dragons

  The Bloodstone Dragons were a collection of XVII^th Legion Brigades which, prior to the Insurrection, had languished in relative obscurity. They were fierce and capable warriors, but proud and aloof even among their kindred. For this reason, the Jade General had been accustomed to keep them apart as the core of the 3922^nd Expeditionary Fleet, led by Lord Commander Yu Sima. Sima took full advantage of this isolation, cultivating an army defined by bitter pride and bloody violence.

 

  Finally, the Insurrection gave the Bloodstone Dragons the opportunity to prove their worth, hunting down Loyalist fleets and breaking several strongholds in the path of the Insurrectionist advance. In these battles they attained a bloody renown for their skill and aggression, becoming ever more prideful and notably belligerent. In a portent of what was to come, they earned significantly more favour from the Harbingers and Eagle Warriors they fought beside than from their own brothers. Despite the likely misgivings of his Primarch, Sima’s fleet was reinforced with weaponry and new recruits, increasing its power and substantiating its master’s claim to the title of Bloodstone General.

 

  It is likely that these gifts came largely at Icarion’s behest rather than that of the Jade General, after Sima razed the XIX^th Legion outpost at Siruca. This victory brought him into the favour of Marshal Hizade Matusaga, and in time the notice of Susanoo Empyon. Thereafter the Bloodstone Dragons fought at the Harbingers’ side, and their allegiance belonged to the Stormlord.

 

  When the Suzerain Declaration was made, Sima scorned it and declared that his warriors would have no part of what he deemed a vain folly on the part of his Primarch. His sword, and the swords of his warriors, belonged to Icarion. It is also likely that the corruption spread by the Eagle Warriors had already begun to work upon them, for when the Insurrectionists began to give themselves over to Chaos, the Bloodstone Dragons were among the first to show its loathsome effects.

[TheBlindPrimarch]

I wouldn't mind the Shining Companions being featured, but as small as they are, and as closely tied as they are to Saint Selene, it might be better to include them with her.

[bluntblade]

Continuing the Sidorae Legions:

In both matters of recruitment and creation, Icarion prioritised control. For the most part he favoured worlds which served regiments under his banner, as was the case with Voritus Prime, Lepida and Deratum. Gomaha, meanwhile, had often provided aspirants to the Eagle Warriors, and Icarion set it to the same purpose once Chalcea fell to the Berserkers of Uran. Its natives, plied surreptitiously by the Eagle Warriors, had massacred their Imperial rulers and abased themselves before the Berserkers of Uran.

The next step to cultivating fealty in his new soldiers lay in the processes of Ascension. Hypno-indoctrination has always been part and parcel of making a Space Marine, imparting a deluge of knowledge and buttressing the loyalty that such a warrior feels to his brothers. A few Legions, such as the Void Eagles and Berserkers of Uran, already pushed its use to extremes in order to cultivate fanaticism in their neophytes, and Icarion would do the same with the Sidorae. As their bodies were remade, so too would their minds, and they would be imprinted with a loyalty to Icarion that surpassed all else. The method, of course, has its limits, but was broadly successful.

Icarion's reasons can be readily surmised; he sought to drastically enhance his power base within the Insurrectionist camp. While he was unanimously hailed as the future Emperor, it seems overwhelmingly likely that he did not trust many of his allies. Kozja Darzalas in particular was an uneasy ally to him, commanding a Legion almost as powerful and possessed of similar ambition. Therefore Icarion worked to ensure that multiple Legions would answer to him, and him alone.

Edited October 4, 2019 by bluntblade

[simison]

Abused or abased? 

Edited October 4, 2019 by simison

[Nomus Sardauk]

Two quick mistakes I noted:

 

"Its natives, plied surreptitiously by the Eagle Warriors, had massacred their Imperial rulers and abused themselves before the Berserkers of Uran."

 

I take it that was meant to be "abased?"

 

"As their bodies were remade, stop would their minds, and they would be imprinted with a loyalty to Icarion that surpassed all else."

 

Replace "stop" with "so"

[bluntblade]

Indeed. Typing on a phone keyboard was a bad idea.

Edited October 4, 2019 by bluntblade

[bluntblade]

So far, I'm happy to confirm the Behemoths recruiting from Gomaha. Going for something like Cretacia, but pre/early Mezezoic and more Iron Age than Stone. Thoughts?

 

Keen to use gangers for the Scion or WoL successors. A Feudal world could be interesting for the CL, shall consult The World of Ice and Fire.