So, recently, i've noticed a lot of interesting RP's pop up which are more of group writing sessions and i have to say that i think those would translate well to a reimagining of the Horus Heresy. Now, there are multiple ways that we can do this:
1) Reimagining the Horus Heresy
A number of Space Marine Legions have turned from the Emperor's Light and towards the Chaos Gods. Each member takes a legion and chooses whether they want to remain loyal or turn traitor.
2) Rewriting the Heresy
Instead of using the Space Marine Legions from continuity, we each create our own, unique Legions with unique histories and tactics.
3) Less Heresy, More Secession
Instead of the civil war being about Traitors vs Loyalists, instead, One of the Primarchs tries to make their Byzantium, a second Imperium that they rule. Several of the legions follow, several of them don't.
Curious to hear the idea's of those interested.
Discord Server
Appearance: Standing at almost 15 foot tall, Ovid is enormous, even by Primarch status. His armour is all encompassing, bronze and with red trimmings. His face is always hidden behind his helmet, having never been seen by anyone, except The Emperor and a chosen few allies. He has a long, flowing cape that almost looks like folded Bat Wings and horns embroidened all across his armour.
Psyker Status: N/A
Life and Times: Like all of the Primarchs, Ovid was thrown through the universe by the Chaos Gods. Although, it seemed as though Nurgle took a shine to Ovid. As a baby, his pod was discovered by Queen Pasiphae. It is said that, in his youth, Ovid was one of the most beautiful children that had ever been seen. On his homeworld, they worshipped Nurgle, the God of Nature and great protector of all. As Ovid grew, he was trained as a warrior, all weakness systematically beaten out of him. But no matter how much he was beaten, his beautiful face showed through. After his 25th birthday, he was taken and underwent a coming-of-age ritual that saw him receive the blessings of the Grandfather. During the ritual, his beautiful face was changed forever. Growing monstrous. Nurgle offered him power, unimaginable power, in return for servitude. To become general to the most powerful army ever assembled. He was tempted... Until he saw the army in question. Festering piles of ungodly monstrosities, pools of unspeakable filth, a beautiful woman caged at the foot of a cauldron...
It was then that Ovid first glimpsed upon his father... His true father... The Golden, glowing man burst into the chambers, with a swing of his sword, Ovid witnessed his mother and many of the priests turn to dust before his very eyes, along with the Grandfather being driven back. As the Emperor looked over the frightened man, he saw the face of a mutant. His first thought was to end the poor wretch's existance... But he had not found any of the other Primarchs, and it was entirely possible that he would never do so. He had not the luxury to slay his ONLY Primarch yet. His lips parted "Lo... My son... The first of many... You have been touched by an evil that you cannot comprehend. You will know this evil and you will resist it, for that will be your duty." After saying that, he teleported to his flagship with his son in tow. "Now, My son, your people have committed transgressions against all of humanity in conspiring with Daemons. They are beyond saving, as their minds will forever be tainted by the Plaguefather and there is no salvation through him." As their eyes met, Ovid knew that the fortitude of this man, his true father, was absolute.
"What must i do, my father?" The Emperor motioned to a button on the console that was glowing red.
"With but the press of a button, all life will end on thy world. The Plaguefather will lose one of his most prized possessions, I will gain absolutely nothing, and you... Time will tell." The aura of godhood surrounding the golden man penetrated all that surrounded him, as if he radiated the purest of all compassion. Without another word, Ovid pushed the button. The ships surrounding the planet bombarded it, destroying absolutely everything on the surface. Reducing the once lush planet to a hellish wasteland of fire and death.
Ovid was brought to the Emperor's armory and was fitted with a special suit of Power Armour, including a helmet that couldn't be removed, per his own request, before being taken to his legion. Previously under the command of Praetor Leonin and known as "Sons of Helas" With the arrival of the Primarch, he gave them a new name. "Grand Reapers."
With him set up as the leader of the Grand Reapers, he set himself and his men up directly under the Emperor's command, their specialist job to fight Daemons. He set about snuffing out every world that he so much as sniffed the presence of a Daemon on, the rest that he found were subjugated and their children drafted to his legions ranks. During his campaign in the Argenis Cluster, he came into contact with Nurgle once again. The Plaguefather told him that he did not blame him for his actions, that he had been seduced by another chaos god. The Plaguefather was forgiving, and to show this, he gifted the man with another mutation, against his will. A huge pair of wings burst from his back, he forced the vision of Nurgle back into the warp, but was now stuck as even more of a misshapen monstrosity. He folded his wings back and now hides them as a cape for his armour. Many successful campaigns and the deaths of millions at his hands, he has earned the nickname "The Emperor's Headsman."
Ideology: Ovid is known for his brutality and staunch, unwavering loyalty to The Emperor, teaching all around him that the Emperor is infallible. Anyone that questions The Emperor in his presence is quickly shouted down by him. He seemingly has no particular love, nor disdain for Aliens, seeing them as inconsequential, although he does love their unique, anti-daemon technologies. His views on Psykers are, however, rather positive. Those touched by The Warp have a unique ability to search it out, as well as battle it and he see's his Psykers as one of his most valuable resources. He does criticize his brothers for not using more of them. His father has a saying "Knowledge is power, hide it well" and Ovid takes this to heart. Despite looking like a giant brute, he is actually immensely intelligent, having surrounded himself with learning, even from a young age.
Wargear:
The Armour of Purity: An immense suit of Bronze Terminator-like armour with a large Helmet covering his face. The armour is hermetically sealed and grafted perfectly onto his body, it only ever comes off in the most dire of circumstances. It is made of heavy ceramite, making immensely resilient to heat and cold. It also has Digital Weapons built into eye-sockets, as well as the guantlets.
Shield of the Just: An absolutely immense Stormshield, even by Space Marine standards, measuring 7 foot in diameter. It is covered in battle scars and symbols.
Hammer of Terra: The Hammer of Terra is a Halberd, created by the Emperor's finest blacksmiths and awarded by The Emperor himself to his first son. The Axe is almost a polearm, even in his hands. His combat skills lie in defensive dueling, this allows him to exploit his opponents weaknesses from a distance.
Other: Anything that doesn't fit into a specific section, but bare's talking about.
Legion Number: III
Legion Strength:
Space Marines: 35,000 (approximately)
Solar Auxillia: 10,000,000
Special Agents: ????
Favoured Legion Tactics: The Grand Reapers have a Shock & Awe battle-plan, where, upon arrival on a planet, their first targets are the highest members of leadership, orbital bombardments, aircraft carpet bombings and drop pod assaults quickly taking every strategic point. This form of attack is brutal and devastating, because they will have spent months gathering information.
Before an assault on a planet begins, they will send their special agents to kidnap and indoctrinate members of population to relay information to them. These sleeper agents are subjected to immense gene-altering to make them far physically faster and stronger, no match for a Space Marine, but easily able to overcome an unaltered human.
In cases that these tactics cannot be employed, such as fortress worlds with no chances of infiltration, the Reapers are able to fall back on their specialist form of combat as they used as "Sons of Helas" which is Trench Warfare, marching forward in massive shield-wall formations. Their Shock & Awe tactics are used to secure a landing site, before they dig in and fortify, allowing their enemies to expend resources trying (And failing) to remove them, before beginning small, incremental pushes to spread like an infection across the planet's surface. Whilst they are dug in, they will send infiltration teams to kidnap enemy soldiers for indoctrination, much as they do with their regular tactics, who sow chaos and confusion among the ranks, allowing the Reapers to swoop in for the killing blow.
Legion Leadership:
The Legion has multiple different chains of command, but all feed into the centeral command.
The first chain is of the 3 catagories of members:
1) Spartiates - All Marines possess this rank. They are considered the "Proper" members of the Legion.
2) Perioeci - "Nearby Dwellers" These are the non-Astartes that are still very much important to the running of the Legion. The Technopriests that serve under the Techmarines, the humans that crew their vast fleet and others of that ilk.
3) Helots - The Helots are the Special Agents that, as far as everyone outside of the Legion are concerned, do not exist. They are considered to be the lowest of the low in the Legions.
As far as Leadership goes, Squads are separated into squads of 12. These squads are always grouped together in 3's, called a Enomotia, with each Enomotia is lead by a Enomotarches, who is a Corporal equivalent. 2 Enomotiai form a Pentekostys, under a Pentekonter, a Sergeant equivalent. 2 of these Pentekostys become a Iochos under a Iochagos, Major equivalent. 4 of these Iochagos form a Mora, under a Polemarchos, Lieutenant equivalent. 6 Mora's form into Megali-Etaireia, under a Kapetanios, or Captain. There are 10 Megali-Etaireia.
The last form of leadership is a the Special Agents, known as the "Tribunius" The Tribunius are a order of Psykers inside of the Grand Reapers that are tasked with bringing Helots into the fold, they specialize in telepathy and mind control abilities, as well as Biomancy to give their Helots temporary physical boosts.
Specialist Marines known simply as "The 10" These are 10 marines that have shown a specific aptitude for infiltration and indoctrination. The 10 are nameless, faceless and psykers. They go where they please and are answerable only to The Primarch. The 10 are armed with special Chameleon Cloaks, which are special devices, captured from an alien planet. They allow the wearer to change his physical appearance to any that they will. Of course, these are crude knock-offs, as such, they can only assume a form physically similar to the users. The 10 use these to disguise themselves as Marines of different Megali-Etaireia, or of different Legions altogether, when infiltrating planets under the jurisdiction of other Legions, or even to keep tabs on them.
Notable Legion Members:
The 10: 10 nameless, faceless Marines that infiltrate, indoctrinate and secure knowledge and sleeper-soldiers for the Imperium.
Cleomenes Ansarx: Ansarx is the Grand Praetor and leader of the former Sons of Helas. He is an honour-bound warrior and, notably, a detractor of their underhanded tactics. But he still serves his Primarch unwaveringly. His weapons of choice are a Power Lance and Stormshield.
Ferdinand Castellius: Chief Librarian, born on Terra and head of the Tribunus. His body, from the neck down, is covered in tattooes. He wields a Force Sword and Stormbolter.
Areus Cimmratus: Kapetanios of the first Megali-Etaireia and formerly the Second in Command of the Sons of Helas. Areus is Cleomenes' closest aid and his most trusted man. He wears a suit of Cataphractii Terminator armour, with a Power Fist and Twin-linked Autocannon.
Inspirations: NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPARTAN INQUISITION!!!
Assigned Armies:
197th Stathen Homeguard: In the Strathen System, they found a militant human civilization. They put up a good fight, but they fell, like all others do. After the subjugation of the Strathen System, they brought the Strathens into their fold as an Army. The Strathens are Mechanized specialists, making heavy use of Walkers and Super-Heavy tanks.
1st and Only Ironguard: Cybornetically enhanced humans. The Ironguard are specialist shocktroopers, who probe the battle-lines for weaknesses, before attacking in force. The Ironguard are notoriously difficult to kill.
Other: Due to Ovid's homeworld being subjected to Exterminatus, the Grand Reapers have taken Ganymede, the Moon of Jupiter in the Terran System as their homeworld, terraforming it into a fortress planet and Hiveworld. They recruit heavily from Terra and the surrounding planets to ensure maximum purity.
1) Reimagining the Horus Heresy
A number of Space Marine Legions have turned from the Emperor's Light and towards the Chaos Gods. Each member takes a legion and chooses whether they want to remain loyal or turn traitor.
2) Rewriting the Heresy
Instead of using the Space Marine Legions from continuity, we each create our own, unique Legions with unique histories and tactics.
3) Less Heresy, More Secession
Instead of the civil war being about Traitors vs Loyalists, instead, One of the Primarchs tries to make their Byzantium, a second Imperium that they rule. Several of the legions follow, several of them don't.
Curious to hear the idea's of those interested.
[hider=Primarch][center][h1]Name here[/h1]
[img]Image URL here. Can just be a face.[/img]
[b]Appearance:[/b] At least a paragraph long.
[b]Psyker Status:[/b] What level, if any, what school they practice mostly ETC. If not a Psyker, just put N/A
[b]Life and Times:[/b] Doesn't HAVE to be amazingly indepth, just an overview on the most important events from their life and a basic bit of background info. This MUST contain their first meeting with The Emperor.
[b]Ideology:[/b] How does your Primarch think? What do they want to achieve in the universe? Must include what they think about Aliens and Psykers.
[b]Wargear:[/b] Every Primarch is a Demi-God. They are always armed to the teeth with the most cutting edge of weapons. What legendary weapons and armours does yours wield?
[b]Other:[/b] Anything that doesn't fit into a specific section, but bare's talking about.
[/center]
[/hider]
[hider=Legion][center][h1]Legion Name[/h1]
[img]Paint scheme. Feel free to use any picture of a space marine. bolterandchainsword.com/smpbeta.php is a great tool to make your own colour schemes.[/img][/center]
[b]Legion Number:[/b] Roman numerals, I through to XX
[b]Legion Strength:[/b] How many Marines are around
[b]Homeworld:[/b] What is their homeworld like?
[b]Favoured Legion Tactics:[/b] General overview of how the Legion does battle. Try to have at least a paragraph.
[b]Legion Leadership:[/b] Of course, the Primarch is at the top, but what specialist leadership positions are there? E.G. The Thousand Sons have the different Cults such as the Corvidae and Pyrae. Just a quick view on how the Legion's leadership is organized.
[b]Notable Legion Members:[/b] A few colourful characters that belong to the Legion.
[b]Inspirations:[/b] Every Legion is based off of SOMETHING from history or popular media. Such as the Ultramarines based on the Romans, the Space Wolves on the Vikings and the Thousand Sons and Necrons currently waging that court battle to see who gets the "Space Egyptian" moniker.
[b]Assigned Armies:[/b] During the Great Crusade, Legions rarely travelled by themselves. They would create armies from those worlds that they conquered to use as shocktroopers or line-holders. Feel free to go nuts with this.
[b]Other:[/b] Anything i have forgotten.
[/hider]Discord Server
Ovid Androgeus
Appearance: Standing at almost 15 foot tall, Ovid is enormous, even by Primarch status. His armour is all encompassing, bronze and with red trimmings. His face is always hidden behind his helmet, having never been seen by anyone, except The Emperor and a chosen few allies. He has a long, flowing cape that almost looks like folded Bat Wings and horns embroidened all across his armour.
Psyker Status: N/A
Life and Times: Like all of the Primarchs, Ovid was thrown through the universe by the Chaos Gods. Although, it seemed as though Nurgle took a shine to Ovid. As a baby, his pod was discovered by Queen Pasiphae. It is said that, in his youth, Ovid was one of the most beautiful children that had ever been seen. On his homeworld, they worshipped Nurgle, the God of Nature and great protector of all. As Ovid grew, he was trained as a warrior, all weakness systematically beaten out of him. But no matter how much he was beaten, his beautiful face showed through. After his 25th birthday, he was taken and underwent a coming-of-age ritual that saw him receive the blessings of the Grandfather. During the ritual, his beautiful face was changed forever. Growing monstrous. Nurgle offered him power, unimaginable power, in return for servitude. To become general to the most powerful army ever assembled. He was tempted... Until he saw the army in question. Festering piles of ungodly monstrosities, pools of unspeakable filth, a beautiful woman caged at the foot of a cauldron...
It was then that Ovid first glimpsed upon his father... His true father... The Golden, glowing man burst into the chambers, with a swing of his sword, Ovid witnessed his mother and many of the priests turn to dust before his very eyes, along with the Grandfather being driven back. As the Emperor looked over the frightened man, he saw the face of a mutant. His first thought was to end the poor wretch's existance... But he had not found any of the other Primarchs, and it was entirely possible that he would never do so. He had not the luxury to slay his ONLY Primarch yet. His lips parted "Lo... My son... The first of many... You have been touched by an evil that you cannot comprehend. You will know this evil and you will resist it, for that will be your duty." After saying that, he teleported to his flagship with his son in tow. "Now, My son, your people have committed transgressions against all of humanity in conspiring with Daemons. They are beyond saving, as their minds will forever be tainted by the Plaguefather and there is no salvation through him." As their eyes met, Ovid knew that the fortitude of this man, his true father, was absolute.
"What must i do, my father?" The Emperor motioned to a button on the console that was glowing red.
"With but the press of a button, all life will end on thy world. The Plaguefather will lose one of his most prized possessions, I will gain absolutely nothing, and you... Time will tell." The aura of godhood surrounding the golden man penetrated all that surrounded him, as if he radiated the purest of all compassion. Without another word, Ovid pushed the button. The ships surrounding the planet bombarded it, destroying absolutely everything on the surface. Reducing the once lush planet to a hellish wasteland of fire and death.
Ovid was brought to the Emperor's armory and was fitted with a special suit of Power Armour, including a helmet that couldn't be removed, per his own request, before being taken to his legion. Previously under the command of Praetor Leonin and known as "Sons of Helas" With the arrival of the Primarch, he gave them a new name. "Grand Reapers."
With him set up as the leader of the Grand Reapers, he set himself and his men up directly under the Emperor's command, their specialist job to fight Daemons. He set about snuffing out every world that he so much as sniffed the presence of a Daemon on, the rest that he found were subjugated and their children drafted to his legions ranks. During his campaign in the Argenis Cluster, he came into contact with Nurgle once again. The Plaguefather told him that he did not blame him for his actions, that he had been seduced by another chaos god. The Plaguefather was forgiving, and to show this, he gifted the man with another mutation, against his will. A huge pair of wings burst from his back, he forced the vision of Nurgle back into the warp, but was now stuck as even more of a misshapen monstrosity. He folded his wings back and now hides them as a cape for his armour. Many successful campaigns and the deaths of millions at his hands, he has earned the nickname "The Emperor's Headsman."
Ideology: Ovid is known for his brutality and staunch, unwavering loyalty to The Emperor, teaching all around him that the Emperor is infallible. Anyone that questions The Emperor in his presence is quickly shouted down by him. He seemingly has no particular love, nor disdain for Aliens, seeing them as inconsequential, although he does love their unique, anti-daemon technologies. His views on Psykers are, however, rather positive. Those touched by The Warp have a unique ability to search it out, as well as battle it and he see's his Psykers as one of his most valuable resources. He does criticize his brothers for not using more of them. His father has a saying "Knowledge is power, hide it well" and Ovid takes this to heart. Despite looking like a giant brute, he is actually immensely intelligent, having surrounded himself with learning, even from a young age.
Wargear:
The Armour of Purity: An immense suit of Bronze Terminator-like armour with a large Helmet covering his face. The armour is hermetically sealed and grafted perfectly onto his body, it only ever comes off in the most dire of circumstances. It is made of heavy ceramite, making immensely resilient to heat and cold. It also has Digital Weapons built into eye-sockets, as well as the guantlets.
Shield of the Just: An absolutely immense Stormshield, even by Space Marine standards, measuring 7 foot in diameter. It is covered in battle scars and symbols.
Hammer of Terra: The Hammer of Terra is a Halberd, created by the Emperor's finest blacksmiths and awarded by The Emperor himself to his first son. The Axe is almost a polearm, even in his hands. His combat skills lie in defensive dueling, this allows him to exploit his opponents weaknesses from a distance.
Other: Anything that doesn't fit into a specific section, but bare's talking about.
Grand Reapers
Legion Number: III
Legion Strength:
Space Marines: 35,000 (approximately)
Solar Auxillia: 10,000,000
Special Agents: ????
Favoured Legion Tactics: The Grand Reapers have a Shock & Awe battle-plan, where, upon arrival on a planet, their first targets are the highest members of leadership, orbital bombardments, aircraft carpet bombings and drop pod assaults quickly taking every strategic point. This form of attack is brutal and devastating, because they will have spent months gathering information.
Before an assault on a planet begins, they will send their special agents to kidnap and indoctrinate members of population to relay information to them. These sleeper agents are subjected to immense gene-altering to make them far physically faster and stronger, no match for a Space Marine, but easily able to overcome an unaltered human.
In cases that these tactics cannot be employed, such as fortress worlds with no chances of infiltration, the Reapers are able to fall back on their specialist form of combat as they used as "Sons of Helas" which is Trench Warfare, marching forward in massive shield-wall formations. Their Shock & Awe tactics are used to secure a landing site, before they dig in and fortify, allowing their enemies to expend resources trying (And failing) to remove them, before beginning small, incremental pushes to spread like an infection across the planet's surface. Whilst they are dug in, they will send infiltration teams to kidnap enemy soldiers for indoctrination, much as they do with their regular tactics, who sow chaos and confusion among the ranks, allowing the Reapers to swoop in for the killing blow.
Legion Leadership:
The Legion has multiple different chains of command, but all feed into the centeral command.
The first chain is of the 3 catagories of members:
1) Spartiates - All Marines possess this rank. They are considered the "Proper" members of the Legion.
2) Perioeci - "Nearby Dwellers" These are the non-Astartes that are still very much important to the running of the Legion. The Technopriests that serve under the Techmarines, the humans that crew their vast fleet and others of that ilk.
3) Helots - The Helots are the Special Agents that, as far as everyone outside of the Legion are concerned, do not exist. They are considered to be the lowest of the low in the Legions.
As far as Leadership goes, Squads are separated into squads of 12. These squads are always grouped together in 3's, called a Enomotia, with each Enomotia is lead by a Enomotarches, who is a Corporal equivalent. 2 Enomotiai form a Pentekostys, under a Pentekonter, a Sergeant equivalent. 2 of these Pentekostys become a Iochos under a Iochagos, Major equivalent. 4 of these Iochagos form a Mora, under a Polemarchos, Lieutenant equivalent. 6 Mora's form into Megali-Etaireia, under a Kapetanios, or Captain. There are 10 Megali-Etaireia.
The last form of leadership is a the Special Agents, known as the "Tribunius" The Tribunius are a order of Psykers inside of the Grand Reapers that are tasked with bringing Helots into the fold, they specialize in telepathy and mind control abilities, as well as Biomancy to give their Helots temporary physical boosts.
Specialist Marines known simply as "The 10" These are 10 marines that have shown a specific aptitude for infiltration and indoctrination. The 10 are nameless, faceless and psykers. They go where they please and are answerable only to The Primarch. The 10 are armed with special Chameleon Cloaks, which are special devices, captured from an alien planet. They allow the wearer to change his physical appearance to any that they will. Of course, these are crude knock-offs, as such, they can only assume a form physically similar to the users. The 10 use these to disguise themselves as Marines of different Megali-Etaireia, or of different Legions altogether, when infiltrating planets under the jurisdiction of other Legions, or even to keep tabs on them.
Notable Legion Members:
The 10: 10 nameless, faceless Marines that infiltrate, indoctrinate and secure knowledge and sleeper-soldiers for the Imperium.
Cleomenes Ansarx: Ansarx is the Grand Praetor and leader of the former Sons of Helas. He is an honour-bound warrior and, notably, a detractor of their underhanded tactics. But he still serves his Primarch unwaveringly. His weapons of choice are a Power Lance and Stormshield.
Ferdinand Castellius: Chief Librarian, born on Terra and head of the Tribunus. His body, from the neck down, is covered in tattooes. He wields a Force Sword and Stormbolter.
Areus Cimmratus: Kapetanios of the first Megali-Etaireia and formerly the Second in Command of the Sons of Helas. Areus is Cleomenes' closest aid and his most trusted man. He wears a suit of Cataphractii Terminator armour, with a Power Fist and Twin-linked Autocannon.
Inspirations: NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPARTAN INQUISITION!!!
Assigned Armies:
197th Stathen Homeguard: In the Strathen System, they found a militant human civilization. They put up a good fight, but they fell, like all others do. After the subjugation of the Strathen System, they brought the Strathens into their fold as an Army. The Strathens are Mechanized specialists, making heavy use of Walkers and Super-Heavy tanks.
1st and Only Ironguard: Cybornetically enhanced humans. The Ironguard are specialist shocktroopers, who probe the battle-lines for weaknesses, before attacking in force. The Ironguard are notoriously difficult to kill.
Other: Due to Ovid's homeworld being subjected to Exterminatus, the Grand Reapers have taken Ganymede, the Moon of Jupiter in the Terran System as their homeworld, terraforming it into a fortress planet and Hiveworld. They recruit heavily from Terra and the surrounding planets to ensure maximum purity.
