It is the 32nd Millennium, a time of rebuilding in the aftermath of wars begun long ago.
Over 1000 years have passed since the Emperor was slain and mankind still mourns his passing. Upon Terra, scarred and defiant cradle of mankind does his son Magnus sit upon the Golden Throne. By his sacrifice do the ships of Man travel through the Immaterium and by the efforts of his brothers do the denizens of over a million worlds march to battle, to once more reclaim humanity's birthright amongst the stars.
The great Tetrarchy, the dividing of the galaxy amongst the surviving loyal sons now rules Imperial space. Horus, Sanguinius, Perturabo and Guilliman, their realms were carved in their ambition of Mankind's future, an unfading imprint of themselves into human culture. Pushing back the frontiers against aliens and traitors alike, the Imperium has recovered from the dark days of the Heresy, the battles fought long ago have been neither forgotten nor forgiven and great fleets fight an endless war alongside endless armies to bring the remaining traitor sons and their corrupted Legions to final justice.
But the era of Primarchs has long since passed, the brothers having either fell in battle or disappeared to fulfil their own private missions. Now lesser mortals take their place in ruling a Imperium still divided by blood, by ambition and even by religion as the Imperial Cult tightens its grasp on Mankind's soul as the last of the Imperial Regents disappears. Will the Imperium be united once more under a single banner or will it continue to fragment and have the light of its civilisation snuffed out amongst the stars?
It is no longer an era of Legend, only fading hopes and horrors yet to be realised.
The Tetrarch Imperial
The Imperium survived the Great Heresy, barely. The Emperor was slain, a blade to the back at the hands of his son, Lion El'Jonson. His place on the Golden Throne was taken by his son Magnus, maintaining the Astronomicon, leaving the rule of his Imperium to his remaining loyal sons, advised by the ever wise Malcador the Sigillite. Of these, four had the skill at administration and more importantly, the surviving strength, to divide power amongst themselves as equal brothers, so to jointly rule their father's empire till their subsequent disappearances. Yet the Primarchs of old are long since vanished, leaving stewardship to their sons. With the disappearance of the Sigillite and rising conflicts of interest and ego, will the Imperium remain united or will the cracks fracture further?
Lupercal Imperium "Sons of the Warmaster"
Warmaster Ezekyle Abaddon is old. He served at the side of his Primarch through the glorious days of the Great Crusade to the tragedy of the Heresy. He has seen the Imperium rise from the ashes and witnesses it beginning to falter under the misrule of lesser men. Stubborn and Prideful, he commands one of the most powerful and experienced legions in the Imperium as he defends the Southern Imperium from the remaining traitor enclaves and will do anything to save it, even from itself.
Sanguinial Imperium "Under the wings of Angels"
Regents to a father having left to follow his prophetic visions. The sons of Sanguinius are well respected and loved within their territory making up the galactic northwest, guarding the entrance of the Cadian Gate, their worlds flourishing after their ravaging by the Ork and traitor hordes a millenia ago. However, behind kind smiles and gentle rule, lies a dark hunger that threatens their souls.
Olympian Imperium "A Web of Iron"
It is a testament to Perturabo that his greatest work, the Citadel of Terra, remains remarkably unchanged, the bastion proven during the planets seige in the dying days of the Heresy. It is to no surprise then when it was revealed that the sectors surrounding his homeworld of Olympia had formed a enclave of stability whilst the rest of the Imperium had fallen into anarchy, the limited garrisons using the Iron Warrior built fortresses scattered across the galaxy to provide secure lines of supply and communication for the war effort and the later rebuilding. When offered a section of the Imperium to rule, Perturabo took it as his rightful due, a late acknowledgement of his skillful defense of the Imperial Throneworld by those who arrived too late to make an impact. Incorporating the remnants of the Adeptus Mechanicus upon the relatively untouched forgewolds remaining within the galactic North-East, the Web of Iron functions through cold, ruthless logic, content to win wars through brutal attrition as they grind the weakness from mankind, leaving only those capable of seeing the species survive into the future. Though he disappeared one day without warning, along with his brother Horus on a unknown quest, his descendents follow his character and principles. Iron within, Iron Without.
Greater Ultramar "Cities of Marble and Gold"
Rebuffed by his estranged siblings when making his case for the utilisation of the Codex Astartes, Roboute Guilliman continued his great works unhindered, his realm relatively untouched by the galaxywide war. Splitting his legion into several chapters, each interconnected by bonds of blood and fellowship, he focused on providing the principles of Ultramar to his surrounding sectors, making the South East of the Galaxy part of his Greater Ultramar. Despite the loss of his vessel in a sudden warpstorm, the sons of Guilliman continue his legacy of strong, fair rule, with a empire of many chapters standing alongside their unfamiliar brothers to maintain the ethos he instilled within the defenders of his shining cities.
The Lesser Loyalists
Below the great powers that are the Tetrarchs, there are the other loyalist powers, those whom were not utterly crippled by the Heresy, like the Adeptus Mechanicus whom still attempt to rebuild to this day, but were decimated nonetheless, their homeworlds scoured or lost, their Primarch slain by his traitor kin.
The Thousand Sons "Faithful children guarding their father's burden"
Led by Chief Librarian Ahzek Ahriman, ancient and withered by time, the Thousand Son's were led through the crucible during the Heresy, Prospero destroyed by the daemon-primarch Lorgar in ruthless betrayal, their father bound to the Golden Throne so that the Imperium might live. Yet they were purified by their loyalty, the flaw in their geneseed corrected and their numbers grow, if not flourish. Given guardianship of Terra by the long departed Sigillite, the Sons of Magnus use their wisdom and psychic might to guard the Segmentum Solar and the heart of mankind.
The Emperor's Children "Forever in Mourning"
The Primarch Fulgrim died in his mutually assured destruction, facing his brother Ferrus upon Medusa's breaking surface as the planet's mantle burned and broken asunder. Once ostentatious and proud, the Emperor's children now uniform themselves in conservative drab greys and sullen silences, mourning a brightness lost and seeking eternal penance at their failure to see the darkness festering in their brother legions heart.
The White Scars "Wounds Heal, Scars never forget"
Their Khan lost slaying the creature Rogal Dorn, his body left unretrieved to their shame, their homeworlds lush grasslands turned to desert by foul sorcery, the riders of Chogoris fight in keeping with their ways of old. Stormseers cast death and guide the tribes whilst fleets of bikes and nimble warships glide around their enemies, striking weakness wherever they find it. Though lacking in numbers, the White Scars endeavor to be everywhere at once. Some say they almost succeed at this task.
The Death Guard "The Line was Held"
No other legion suffered the casualties of the Death Guard. When the Heresy began, it was the Death Guard who first faced their traitor brothers at all fronts. When Barbarus's tainted air spawned immaterial horrors, it was the Death Guard who held on till the last untainted civilian escaped, burning their own homeworld to spare the galaxy from a new abomination. It was the Death Guard who stood firm as the Orks drowned the North in blood and the Salamanders issued forth more technological horrors in the south. When the Daemon Primarchs Lorgar and Russ faced the Emperor on Terra, Mortarion himself died defiant to the last, holding his brothers back till his father could use his power to banish them utterly from reality. A mere fragment of what they once were and untrusted by many of their brother legions, the Death Guard can be found wandering the galactic south, doing whatever it takes to give humanity one more day, no matter how dire the situation.
The Blackwatch "A Night of Vengeance"
The dark hulls of the Blackwatch signal the end for many a traitor world, drifting from warzone to warzone, giving hope to the loyal and utter dread to the traitor. By Imperial decree this legion of unknown origin was granted to the direct command of the Warmaster Horus Lupercal, rumoured to be compiled of those within the Night Lords who were considered worth salvaging. Of dark reputation and darker deeds, many a traitor had learnt the true meaning of fear at their hands.
][REDACTED][
][REDACTED][
Citizen, your inquiry has been noted.
Please surrender yourself to your nearest Imperial Official for mandatory mindwipe and mental reconditioning.
The Great Incursions of Chaos
Sons rebelling against a tyrannical father, using the ignorant to further his own ambition of godhood. Though many failed and martyred themselves as sacrifices to the gods, the true powers, some greater beings achieved something...more.
Though weakened by setbacks, their strength assailed by Imperial Crusades as their borders remain in a state of flux, these enclaves carved out by the strongest of the traitor legions continue to weaken the already injured Imperium, continuing the Long War till they can snuff out the last vestiges of the Emperor's legacy.
The Dark Imperium "Tainted Utopia under the gods"
A sprawling empire stretching along the western edge of the galaxy, the Dark Imperium is a twisted parody of their loyalist brethren, where daemons walk alongside and rule over men, the Word Bearers under the divided leadership of Kor Phaeron and the Dark Apostle Erebus, rule in stewardship of their conquered worlds, sacrificing the unworthy in veneration of their dark gods and their daemon primarch who looks on in pride from within his palace, deep within the Warp. Upon a thousand worlds, ability, faith and power alone brings absolution, where the lowest can rise from the unwashed masses, for the gods see everything within the hearts of men and it makes them pleased.
Prometheum Dominion "Blood, Fire and Steel"
Red eyed giants rule Nocturne, the volcanic planet acting as a forge for greater and more terrible weapons as its armies march forth to bring war to the Imperium of mankind. Daemon Engines and Relics of arcane sophistication, Vulkan might have ascended to his workshop, never to return, but his sons continue to fuel his war and burn the galaxy.
Corvidae Oversector "Where the Wild Things are"
Upon the Liberators return to Deliverance, he found his planet occupied once more, this time not by the overseers of Kiavahr, but his own errant sons. The chastisement was bloody and brutal, but when it was done, the moon lay in ruins but the legion was whole once more. Fleeing a vengeful Imperium and distrustful of Lorgar's honeyed words, Corax led his legion to their only remaining sanctuary, the empire carved out by his Ashen Clawed children, out on the edges of space, far from Imperial Justice. There, outside civilisations borders, the badlands are a haven for pirates, mutants,warlords and worse, sending out raiding parties and festering as as a wound in a crippled Imperium of Man.
The Broken Legions - They whom dwell within the Eye of Terror….
Deep within the Eye of Terror, post-human warriors battle one another for supremacy, for power and for reasons they have long since forgotten in a existence without time nor meaning. Without number nor sanity, the only reason these beings have not yet spewed forth from reality's gaping wound in a Black Crusade is the lack of someone capable enough to unite them to a single purpose.
The Space Wolves "The Hounds of Khorne"
Feasting and slaying one another only to rise again the next day upon their lords personal domain of Slahtrheimr, the Space Wolves are led by the Daemon Primarch Leman Russ, the Wolf of the Blood God. Even now the animalistic packs of the Space Wolves howl throughout the Immaterium, seeking greater battles to slake their bloodlust.
The Iron Hands "Fleshcutting and Obsessions"
Favorites of the Pleasure God, the fleshchangers of the Iron Hands ,scattered throughout the warp, spend their days perfecting their own bodies through modification, under the tutelage of the traitor Fabius Bile, continue their hunt for Eldar Souls or otherwises battle across the Eye of Terror, armies of gene-spliced genetic horrors acting as the vanguard of their warbands, twisted mockeries of their long slain Primarch screaming in pain and confusion as they die again and again and again.
The Imperial Fists "Even when shattered their rot spreads"
Rogal Dorn might have died at the Khan's hands, but his children endure the pain and despair to grow marvels for Grandfather Nurgle. Splintering into various warbands, so to spread Grandfathers love further afield. Led by the likes as the Plague Lords, Sigismund and Alexis Polux, the Imperial Fists taint continues to poison worlds to this day.
The Dark Angels "Fallen so very far"
A Blackened Legion of Fallen Angels, the sons of Jonson have been long in mourning of their fallen father, the legion on the cusp of breaking apart as a power struggle erupts upon the Daemon-World of Camlann. Yet of amongst the traitors within the eye, they are one of the most powerful legions, favoring all the gods, their father having struck down the Emperor himself! If united once more, perhaps they might achieve similar feats of greatness, should one of their leader's plots triumph over his rivals, of course.
The Warhounds "Broken Men chasing the Legacy of a Dead Man"
The Warhounds tale is one of woe and sorrow, betrayed at every turn by a cruel and uncaring galaxy. Having exchanged one set of chains for another and witnessing the descent of his legion into madness as even the newest of untouched recruits fell into a frenzy of mutation and insanity, Legion Master Kharn gathered together those that remained comparatively untouched by the taint of the Dark Gods influence and entered the Eye of Terror, seeking Angron's Gorechild on a doomed quest, seeking either death or redemption. This is not something that can end in triumph, only tragedy, yet the even as the stubborn Astartes acknowledges this as his numbers dwindle, he continues forwards, seeking a way to redeem his lost legion.
The Dark Mechanicus "Beyond Reason, nor Limitations"
The Fabricator General Kelbor Hal was betrayed, his attempts to free Mars from that Terran Warlord crushed at the hands of his gene-modified warriors. Forced to flee upon the Abyss-Class Warship, "The Trisagion" with his personal retinue of like-minded Tech-Priests, Skitarii and what carefully safeguarded knowledge he could claim before the oncoming Iron Warriors stormed his compound, the rightful leader of the Mechanicum fled, not to his backer in the primarch Lorgar who had abandoned him to his fate, but deep into the unknown of the warp, where he might rebuild his strength and return, unhindered by the petty limits forced upon his studies by the "Emperor of Mankind". Looting Loyalist Forge Worlds of their secrets, the Dark Mechanicus cut an imposing figure within the power plays of the Eye of Terror, offering forbidden technologies, deadly weapons and swarms of Terata, inhuman monsters built solely for bloodshed in exchange for the contents of what remains of the loyalist kindred's vault contents...
The Xenos…
The Heretic might be brought from its ignorance, the Traitor redeemed with death. There is nothing more foul than the Alien, the Xenos empires that encircle mankind's dominions like carrion birds stalking a dying animal. If a deal or an accord is struck with them, it is only temporary in nature, to be broken the moment it is no longer to their advantage. Cowardly and without redeeming features, a single hint of weakness by humanity and they will go for the throat.
The Eldar "So very close to the Edge"
A species forever dwindling in numbers as their fragment of a race is hunted across the galaxy, the Eldar once ruled the stars. Proud to the point of arrogance, with impressive psionic ability and advanced technologies, the Craftworlds travel the galaxy, each seeking to retain their species till they can reclaim their empire once more.
The Dark Kindred "Biting Shadows in the Night"
Twisted and Cruel cousins to the Eldar, a relic of a empire long since destroyed by darker powers, the Dark Eldar raid worlds in search of slaves and entertainments to bring back to their hidden city, where they spend their days in debauchery, intrigue and spectacles, a blackened spire lost within the webway where death lies in every shadow.
The Orks "The Unthinking Beast"
Hulking Greenskins split into warring tribes and bands, armed with crude technologies and relics looted from plundered worlds. The Orks are ruled by the strongest, the toughest and the biggest of their kind, their numbers uncountable. Far, far beyond the gaze of the Imperium of Mankind, the Beast awakens and hungers for the slaughter to come.
Rules
Three Claims system apply, posted in thread. Imperial claims take precedence over specific Xenos ones. Your fleet numbers will be PM'd to you once the claims are assigned.
Be Civil or get out
If you have queries on backstory, lore or what is going on, feel free to ask one of the mods.
Your forces are split into fleets, which are essentially a mix of warships, space marines and regular troops. In theory they can be replenished, but only after a long protracted period most likely beyond what the games timespan unless you have a way to recruit more.
Have Fun. This is a game, so don't get stressed over fictional events.
YOUR NATION: the name of your nation ALLIES: any allies COMBINED FORCES: the total number of men you are sending and however many men your allies are contributing OPPOSING NATION(S): who you are fighting MILITARY GOALS: what you are fighting for PLAN:
Organized into theatres and fronts
Have troop numbers included throughout the plan and specified
Contingencies, tactics, and other extras welcome
Note:
Joint war plans not required, but coordination or lack thereof must otherwise be included
Sanguine Imperium, reporting.
"Love the Emperor
for He is the salvation of mankind
Obey His words
for He will lead you into the light of the future
Heed His wisdom
for He will protect you from evil
Whisper His prayers with devotion,
for they will save your soul
Honour His servants,
for they speak in His voice
Tremble before His majesty,
for we all walk in His immortal shadow
And one day, if we keep the faith
He shall return"
Given how I will be busy with running my games could you maybe give me freedom to just write up a civil war between Cypher and Luther for the first few turns until I have time to fully claim a reunited First legion?
Now, the thing is, I'd love to pick up the story of Autek Mor and his quest for xenocide, but I am intrigued by what Wade could come up with for the Iron Hands. So only if Tenfold doesn't return and grab the Dark Imperium will I play Iron Hands. Therefore...
Not really interested in taking the Fists even though Nurglite Sigismund is an intriguing concept, I was thinking of taking a Sector Governor in, say, the Lupercal Imperium and being the fleshy straight man to the roided up Super Marines.
I was picking my choices off fucking crazy technology shit or to continue the War Hounds being the only sane people left.
Speaking of that, @Dovahsith changing my top three pick as I would love to see what Dr. Cylo @Deadly Snark can do with the Salamanders and their daemon engines of death.
