Scions of Guilliman Emissaries

In the lead up to his betrayal at Isstvan III, Guilliman sent retinues to his brother's legions in an attempt to sway them to his cause.  Each Legionnaire was utterly loyal to the Warmaster and his vision of the future.  These retinues were not tasked to sway the Primarchs but the legionnaires.  Assigned to fight alongside their brother legionnaires they would bring the Warmaster's ideals to the Legions so that the legionnaires would bring the ideals to their Primarchs.

Any player can take the following squad in a Legion primary detachment:


 Scions of Guilliman Emissary Squad
Rules: they are a Veteran Tactical squad as per the rules in Betrayal, but have a base cost of 110pts
For the Warmaster!: this unit has the Objective Secured command benefit.
Veteran Tactics: Replace this Special Rule with Stubborn
Emissaries of the Warmaster: This unit is bought as part of the armies parent list but has the Legiones Astares(Scions of Guilliman) special rule instead of the lists normal Legiones Astartes rule. The unit is treated as an ally for how they interact with other Legions per the Allies Matrix. This unit may be purchased even if Allies are not normally allowed.
Shadows of Isstvan III: The emissary squad must be listed as a Restricted unit in any games the are taken in.

 Scions of Guilliman Emissary Squad "Thiel" - Steelesamurai

Rite of War: Thunderous Strike

Due to the White Scars having such a prominent place in the Secession and proper rules for them probably being a few years away we have a new Rite of War to represent armies that are mostly if not entirely bike mounted.

Rite of War: Thunderous Strike
-Effects
*Legion Outrider Squads may be chosen as Troops or Fast Attack
*Legion Attack Bike Squads may be chosen as Heavy Support or Fast Attack
*Legion Jetbike Sky Hunter Squads may be chosen as Elites or Fast Attack

-Limitations
*Only models able to move 12" in the movement phase or start the game mounted in a transport capable of moving 12" in the movement phase may be selected.
*no fortifications may be selected.

not sure to whom the credits for this pic go, but I'm pretty sure it is from the cover of "The Hunt for Voldorius" novel by Black Library

Warzones of the Betrayal (Deliverance Lost)

The Betrayal era sees the Legions the beginnings of the Secession proper.  With several major warzones being fought over between the Secessionists and Imperialists at the dawn of Guilliman's Imperium Secundus.


Shortly before the events of Isstvan III the White Scars were sent to destroy the Raven Guard Legion.  Having taken it upon themselves to censure the ever erratic actions of the White Scars, the Raven Guard found themselves cast adrift, no longer a part of the mighty Imperium.  Whilst determining what course of action to take now Corax withdrew the majority of the Raven Guard back to Deliverance, this one of the Raven Guard's most tragic mistakes during the Secession.  Unbeknownst to Corax the White Scars had been sent to attack his Legion, to punish them further and to rid the Imperium of their newest enemy.  The White Scars attack was sudden and brutal. The White Scars came out of warp mid system, a freakishly dangerous action at the best of times and one that caused considerable damage to the White Scars fleet, they unleashed a terrible devastation on the Raven Guard forces which scrambled to counter attack.
 
Deliverance Lost Rules
The Legions fighting over Deliverance are:
Imperialists
White Scars
Secessionists
Raven Guard

Being one of the longer lasting fights during the Secession, Deliverance Lost will occur over several eras.

There are 3 main theaters involved in the battles of Deliverance Lost.  Players should use these theaters to help them theme mission selection, game size and terrain types.  The three theaters are:
The Desolate Moon

The moon Deliverance is a desolate and blasted wasteland punctuated by the moons defence systems and the few habdomes needed above the surface of Deliverance.  This theater would be good for larger battles and is the only theater where large numbers of tanks and larger vehicles could easily be used.  Rocky outcrops, craters, defensive weapon emplacements and limited buildings would be perfect terrain for the moon.  Planet Strike would be perfect to represent the initial landings on the moon.
The Labyrinths of Deliverance
Beneath the surface of Deliverance lies the vast network of cavernous tunnels of the old Lycaen mines.  Those mines with richer seams or further from the Raven Spire are still used as mines.  The tunnels closer in serve as armouries, storage, training and housing areas for the Legion and its serfs.  Extremely close in fighting, with limited long ranged or aerospace support would make this theater ideal for City Fights or Zone Mortalis battles.  Although larger, more open areas abound Deepstriking, Fliers, and Barrage weapons should be very heavily restricted.
Naval Battles and Kiavahr's Hives
This theater is a mix of battles fought in and amongst the Hives of Kiavahr and the various battles that took place in space between the White Scar and Raven Guard fleets.  Broadly speaking similar terrain and rules could be used for each.  Zone Mortalis and City Fights would be ideal, as would a densely clustered terrain set.  Planet Strike would work for the initial boarding actions in the space battles and the Void War rules (coming soon to a Secession blog near you!) could also be used.

Generic Betrayal Warzone Rules
Although the various Legions are assigned to various Warzones this doesn't mean that elements for their forces aren't active elsewhere in the galaxy.  As such (and so no one gets left out; and we can have some big games)  players may bring their Legions to any Warzone.  There will however be a benefit given for fighting in the correct warzone (more details in a future post).

Warzones of the Betrayal (The Battle for Mars)

The Betrayal era sees the Legions the beginnings of the Secession proper.  With several major warzones being fought over between the Secessionists and Imperialists at the dawn of Guilliman's Imperium Secundus.


Mars is without a doubt the most important forgeworld in the galaxy.  Supplying the vast majority of the Crusade fleets' materiel.  When the Emperor lifted the bans on forbidden technology, the hiccup in supplies was barely noticed.  As what would later be called the Martian Rebellions rolled on disruptions became more common.  Many Legions sent small teams to investigate and secure materiel for their respective Legions.  Before long full blown war broke out on Mars, with the Imperialists backing the Dark Mechanicum and Secessionists backing the Sundered Mechanicum.  The Iron Warriors and Scions of Guilliman knew the loss of Mars would cut the Secession off from vital supplies and an major strategic position.  The Thousand Sons and Alpha Legion sought to preserve the vast knowledge of the Mechanicum and hold the powerful forgeworld. The Thousand Sons were also desperate to prove the worth of the Librarius and over turn the Edict of Nikaea.  The Battle for Mars would prove to be one of the longest running and most vital warzones in the entire Secession.
 
Battle for Mars Rules
The Legions that are fighting on Mars are:
Imperialists
Thousand Sons
Alpha Legion
Secessionists
Iron Warriors
Scions of Guilliman

Being one of the longer lasting fights during the Secession, the Battle for Mars will occur over several eras.

There are 3 main theaters involved in the battle for mars.  Players should use these theaters to help them theme mission selection, game size and terrain types.  The three theaters are:
The Great Forges
 Dotted all over the landscape of Mars are the vast Forges and Manufactorum.  Within these Labyrinthine complexes the tech priests labour to supply the Imperium with their war material.  Cities of death battles would be perfect to represent battles fought withing the vast forges of Mars.  otherwise dense urban terrain would be most suitable.
The Plains of Mars
The vast surface of mars is dotted with ruins and wreckage of wars long past. Smaller supply stations, launching platforms, vast roadways and the few smaller forges that are on the surface of Mars litter this rocky wasteland.  This theater would be ideally suited to larger games especially ones involving lots of vehicles.  Roads, craters, rocky out crops and smaller clusters of buildings to represent supply depos or small installations are ideas for terrain.
The Orbital Platforms 
Space dockyards and supply stations this theater gives some great opportunities for odd battles.  From using the rules for Void battles (which I'll add in an upcoming post) to using corridor sets (like Space Hulk or the many available from various online sellers) to city fights or planet strikes.



Generic Betrayal Warzone Rules
Although the various Legions are assigned to various Warzones this doesn't mean that elements for their forces aren't active elsewhere in the galaxy.  As such (and so no one gets left out; and we can have some big games)  players may bring their Legions to any Warzone.  There will however be a benefit given for fighting in the correct warzone (more details in a future post).

Warzones of the Betrayal (Isstvan III)

The Betrayal era sees the Legions the beginnings of the Secession proper.  With several major warzones being fought over between the Secessionists and Imperialists at the dawn of Guilliman's Imperium Secundus.


Guilliman gathers his closest allies above the blighted world of Isstvan III.  It is here Guilliman, Horus, Fulgrim, Sanguinius and Angron openly plot against the rule of the Emperor.  Their first move to cleanse their Legions of those who show greater loyalty to the throne than to their Warmaster and Primarchs.  It is Guilliman's intention to simply strand their Legionnaires upon the world on which they now fight.  Sanguinius and Fulgrim are quick to point out that leaving an army of that size at their backs is too great a threat.  Guilliman does not hear the plans of his brothers, nor their bickering, his heart is heavy with the knowledge of what he must do.  The orders to begin the bombardment are given, soon the Imperialists in their ranks will be purged in the most ignominious way possible.  Guilliman wears a wry smile as the order spreads from his brothers to their Legions, as he alone hears Angron give the order that the Imperialists be warned of their fate.  Perhaps the Legionnaires will get an honourable death after all, a chance to stand against this Betrayal.

Isstvan III Rules
The Legions that are battling on Isstvan III are:
Scions of Guilliman
Emperor's Children
Luna Wolves
World Eaters
Blood Angels

Isstvan III will follow all the rules found in Betrayal and players are strongly recommended to use the scenarios found therein.  I will be running 3 of the Legendary battles as multiplayer events in the 3rd week, middle of the campaign and as a finale game, more details will be provided closer to the events.

When any of the above Legions fight a battle on Isstvan III their player should decide if they are playing as Secessionists or Imperialists.  It does not matter which side their opponents choose.  When players post their game results (to be detailed in a future post) they will need to add which side they played as. 

Generic Betrayal Warzone Rules
Although the various Legions are assigned to various Warzones this doesn't mean that elements for their forces aren't active elsewhere in the galaxy.  As such (and so no one gets left out; and we can have some big games)  players may bring their Legions to any Warzone.  There will however be a benefit given for fighting in the correct warzone (more details in a future post).

Notable Events of the Great Crusade (part 3)

At the end of the Great Crusade we saw the Chaos Gods claiming the legions that would descend into madness.  The campaign had a pretty simple system in place to track a players overall Loyalty and their victories.  This system was used to determine which of the Chaos Gods would favour which Legions.  In the cases of Khorne, Nurgle and Slaanesh this went pretty smoothly.  For Tzeentch though we had a tie between Salamanders and Thousand Sons.  In the case of a tie it would come down to a roll off between the tied Legions and any Legion that wasn't being played.

The tl:dr at the end will give a quicker overview and say where the differences with the canon occur.
On with the final events.

The Emperor's Children were forever attempting to attain perfection.  This served them well during most of the Great Crusade.  It served to make them an exemplar of tactical acumen lauded by their brother Primarchs.  Towards the end of the Great Crusade their attempts to attain perfection took a darker note.  They would forewarn their enemies of impending attack or even, on one occasion deliberately broadcast their assault plans to the enemy, all in an attempt to attain perfection.  This along with the spreading rumours of the Legion's Apothecaries attempting to perfect the Astartes form, saw the Legion fall out of the Emperor's favour.

The Emperor reveals that he is stepping down from the mantle of supreme war leader of the Imperium to pursue his Great Work.  In his place a new leader will take control of the Imperial war machine, the greatest of the Primarchs and the one that stood closest to his vision of the Imperium, Robute Guilliman!  Where the other Primarchs had turned on each other or devolved to their own petty ideals or squabbles, Guilliman had lead a continuous series of crushing defeats against the Xenos.  To honour Guilliman's achievement the Ultramarines were renamed the Scions of Guilliman.

After the shambles of the battle of One-five-four-four the Iron Hands began to make sure that such weakness would never again seep into the core of the Iron Hands.  This process began slowly but in the true fashion of the Legion it escalated very quickly.  It began with a review of tactical and strategic planning, then they began utilizing the forbidden tech that the techpriests had been given access to on Mars.  This was then quickly followed by them unlocking their own vaults of formerly forbidden technology.  As this technoarcana flooded into the Legion so to did the plan in more and more clandestine fashion.  From the outside their tactics still looked as complex as a brick to the face, each was structured so that foes would be manipulated into stumbling into the path of that brick. 

Masters of psychological warfare the Night Lords kept pushing the boundaries of acceptable warfare by most standards.  Towards the end of the Great Crusade they had taken to focusing heavily on cutting supply lines, stealing, destroying or befouling food, water and ammo dumps and supplies.  Now were populations not just scared to their wits end but they were also falling prey to famine and disease.  It seemed an almost natural next step for the Legion and allowed them to choke worlds dry or back into compliance with startlingly little resources.

The bloody rampage the White Scars were leaving across the galaxy could be seen by all.  Ferociously slaughtering anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in their path.  Their own tactics of being a mobile hit and run guerrilla force began to shift.  They were still the fastest force on the battlefield but now they would just plow straight into an enemy, and tear out the other side.  Once clear they would simply turn back and repeat the process until they had claimed the heads of all their foes.

The Iron Hands are approached by their closest allies, Warmaster Guilliman and Fulgrim who attempt to use their close ties to Ferrus Manus to bring him into the fold of the Imperium Secundus.  Infuriated that his two closest brothers would consider their father's empire to be falling into darkness Manus turned his back on the two, foreswearing his oaths of friendship and informing them that the next time they meet he will kill them.

Tl:dr
-The Emperor's Children become increasingly interested in fighting the perfect war so their compliance rates significantly lower as does their favor with the Emperor.This is one of a number of similar events.
-Guilliman is named warmaster, the Ultramarines become the Scions of Guilliman
-The Iron Hands become corrupted by Tzeentch.  In the canon it is the Thousand Sons 
-The Night Lords become followers of Nurgle.  In canon this is the Death Guard
-The White Scars turn to Khorne.  In canon this is the World Eaters
-The Emperor's Children and Scions of Guilliman try to get the Iron hands to turn to their cause but the Iron Hands stay loyal to their Emperor. 

Secession Allies Matrix

During the Great Crusade it was pretty common for various Legions to play multiplayer games with and against each other.  So I figured it would be fun for us to modify the allies chart based on who the players actually fought against or allied with.

This Allies Matrix replaces the one found in "Horus Heresy Book I: Betrayal".

Notable events of the Great Crusade (part 2)

During the Great Crusade there was a set of rules that helped track a Legions loyalty to the Emperor.  Thus if a Legion fought in a fashion the Emperor approved of, or towards the Emperors goals they became more loyal.  This included fighting of evil Xenos hordes and being heroically outnumbered.  Whilst those that used more unorthodox tactics or were more inclined to follow thier own goals had their loyalty drop.  This included political and actual infighting (represented by games) or going into a fight with a ridiculous amount of resources. 

This system is why some Legions, despite having events that negatively affected their loyalty still came out as very loyal.  The White Scars are a perfect example.  Their loyalty shot all over the place until right at the end of the campaign they managed to drag themselves through as loyal.

The tl:dr at the end will give a quicker overview and say where the differences with the canon occur. Back to the Events of the Great Crusade:

Ever indulgent to the heights of brutal carnage and bloodshed the World Eaters were reknown for their ferocity and the devastation their attacks caused.  During the Great Crusade the came to enjoy their slaughter more than they previously had.  The World Eaters began to take prisoner their stronger opponents, dragging them back to arenas on their mighty warships.  Where once they would wreak their bloody toll as quickly as possible, they have taken to what on the surface would appear to be a greater tactical acumen. Outflanking their foes, dividing held positions and raids; all uncharacteristic of the Legion.  Taking a closer look at the legionnaires it is noticeable that they are building up their anticipation for the final strike, where they glorify in the horror of the slaughter they inflict.

Willing to do whatever was needed to bring worlds to heel before the might of the Imperium the Space Wolves found themselves falling out of favour.  Whilst the likes of World Eaters or White Scars would slaughter any living thing within arms reach the infrastructure of a world was largely left intact.  Not so for the Space Wolves.  Their willingness to use incredible collateral damage as a weapon often meant more time was spent rebuilding the shattered worlds left in their wake, than even a lengthy campaign would have cost from any other Legion.

During the Great Crusade it became known to progressively more Legions that the Blood Angels harbored some secret.  Eventually it was revealed that the IXth had a flaw in their geneseed, that caused them to loose all self control and enter a dark rage and thirst for blood.  The Blood Angels no longer able to contain this secret, were commanded to purge the Legion of all signs of genetaint and to cease all recruitment immediately.  Knowing that this would mean certain death for the IXth Sanguinius refused the order.  The Emperor's response was swift, the Blood Angels would hence forth be removed from active duty, any action counter manning this would see Imperial retribution.

Despite or possibly because of the events on Chogoris the White Scars continue to grow in favour with the Emperor.  Whilst this seems to temper their combat doctrine slightly from the total slaughter that had recently become their new favoured way of war it caused a select few Legions to really focus together.  Calling themselves the True Legions the White Scars, Alpha Legion, Salamanders and Dark Angels saw themselves as being above their brother Legions, an inevitable sign of the trouble that was soon to occur.

After being given some crucial intelligence by Robute Guilliman the White Scars learn that the Raven Guard have been repeatedly attacking isolated White Scars forces and disrupting their communications networks.  The Raven Guard are suspected of instigating the rebellion on Chogoris as well.  The Emperor, furious that one of his Primarchs would take the liberty to censure another Legion, let alone the highly favoured White Scars, declared the Raven Guard to be enemies of the Imperium and gave the White Scars the honour of ridding the Imperium of such a clearly treacherous enemy as the XIXth.

Tl:dr
(summary with some added details)
-The World Eaters are the first Legion to start the path to following a Chaos God,  in their case Slaanesh.  In the cannon they obviously turned to Khorne.
-Like the Thousand Sons the Space Wolves have lost favour with the Emperor and or the other Primarchs
-The Blood Angels are ordered to purge their legion of tainted geneseed, Sanguinius refuses and his Legion is stood down, on threat of being attacked by Imperial forces.  This is broadly analogous to the Word Bearer's being rebuked by the Emperor in the canon.
- The White Scars once again prove the firmness of their loyalty.  This causes the most loyal Legions to band together.
-The Raven Guard are cast out of the Imperium for daring to censure the White Scars.  The White Scars are then sent to destroy the wayward Legion.  This is the equivalent to the events involving the Thousand Sons and Space Wolves in the cannon.