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Asterion Moloc

2020-02-28T17:25:54Z

2600:1002:B02C:391D:8C42:F8DE:9DE5:B2A1: /* 8th Edition */

[[File:Moloc.JPG|350px|thumb|right|Lord Asterion Moloc, the Chapter Master of the Minotaurs. Not to be confused with [[Bane]].]]
[[File:99590101231 AsterionMolocIvanusEnkomi06.jpg|350px|thumb|right|His Forgeworld Model]]
'''Asterion Moloc''' is the [[Chapter Master]] of the [[Minotaurs]] and one hardass motherfucker.

Lord Asterion Moloc (how he wishes to be called) takes an almost perverse glee in [[/d/|stabbing dudes in the face with the Black Spear]], a weapon that may or may not be based on an [[Adeptus Custodes]] halberd. And instead of having a [[bolter]] strapped to the underside it has a built-in laser to vaporize dudes. Lord Moloc himself is a huge dude riddled with cybernetic augmentation that allows him to ignore even more wounds than he already could with his simmering rage. Despite him often being on the battlefield alongside his [[Terminators]] stabbing dudes in the face, he has a ruthless mind for warfare, siegecraft, logistics and strategy. Lord Moloc's preferred enemy is fellow Space Marines, and he has become frighteningly efficient at fighting them. The large amount of high-end equipment used by the Minotaurs combined with them almost always deploying at full Chapter strength means that the Minotaurs have a good shot at kicking heretic ass, as the [[Lamenters]] and [[Inceptors]] can attest. Because of the full deployment Lord Moloc is always in charge of the Chapter in entirety, meaning that in battle his [[Brother-Captain|captains]] are little more than his seconds.

There seems to be something strange going on with Lord Moloc. During the Orphean War he fought against [[Maynarkh Dynasty‎|Kutlakh the World-Killer]] in a [[Necron]] vessel. Moloc was spaced during the battle when the Imperial Navy blew open the ship he was on. His body was recovered and he was nursed back to health, which is not abnormal for a Space Marine who is merely spaced, but marks at least the seventh time that Lord Moloc was critically injured in battle yet lived to fight another day in five centuries.

Some of the possible explanations for this (barring "Forge World gave him lots of [[plot armor]]", obviously) are as follows:
*[[Phoenix Lord|His name and equipment are inherited by the next Chapter Master, alongside his personality through way of engrammatically-enforced memories and personality]]. Brought up by the IA books (specifically on Moloc's character page) and supported by Eadwin Brown, who helped developed Moloc's character.
*He kept himself from dying through sheer force of will, because he's just that much of a spiteful cunt. This is the explanation favored by IA itself.
*He is embedded with a nonsensically [[Colonel_"Iron_Hand"_Straken|large amount of cybernetics]] [[Iron Hands|to the point]] [[Adeptus Mechanicus|where there isn't enough fleshy bits left for him to "die."]]
*His gene-seed was somehow modified to grant him greater regenerative capabilities.
*He is secretly another [[Perpetual]], in that he literally will come [[Yarrick|back from the dead]] if killed.
*He's a Custodes in disguise (see talk page for the full original theory)

He possibly parallels [[Khorne]] himself, symbolically or otherwise, as his description says his name is a byword for slaughter, he rules over a chapter of raging berserkers that seek out worthy opponents, he comes back after allegedly dying which makes him more an undying concept than an individual (just as Khorne is the undying concept of hate, slaughter, and rage itself), and he's described as spending his off-battle time sitting on his "brazen throne" measuring the drops of blood that his chapter spilt. He is named after the eponymous [[Minotaur]] (a being which Khorne himself appears similar to in some depictions as well).

Likewise, he has many parallels with a certain [[Perturabo|Entitled Man-Child]] such as an extreme penchant for siege-warfare, logistics, obsessive data-analysis, being a brooding cunt, and a preference for starting shit just so he can show up his opponent. His 6th Edition Rules also made him play like a mini-Perturabo, to go along with the 5th/6th Edition [[Minotaurs]] rules playing like loyalist (Horus Heresy-era) [[Iron Warriors]].

Fun fact: Asterion is the true name of the original [[Minotaur]] from [[Mythology]].
==On the Tabletop==
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Asterion Moloc:''' || 235 || 6 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 10 || 2+/3++
|}

On the battlefield he is incredibly expensive to field: Just as much as [[Lugft Huron]] and just under [[Marneus Calgar|The M.A.C. Daddy's]] point cost. In return you get a beast in Terminator armor with 4 wounds, a Storm Shield, an S6 AP2 weapon that strikes in Initiative order, Frag Grenades and all the goodies you'd expect from a Chapter Master. He also gives his squad Fearless and Frag Grenades through his special rule, meaning that [[Awesome|somehow he wills fragmentation grenades into being through nothing but his sheer]] [[RAGE]], which is something that even the [[Angry Marines]] have to respect. He also has the ability to give the really shitty Minotaur Chapter Tactic an upgrade, giving every model who has it Preferred Enemy (Space Marines) in addition (yes this does mean any and all Loyalist marines, regardless of Codex), which by itself is almost worth taking him considering how many Marines are around now.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
Asterion Moloc is also a grade A++ character hunter able to kill Lysander, Calgar, Draigo, and Mephiston easily, and have a fair crack at Abbadon and the Swarmlord. In other words just about anyone short of a Black Mace Daemon Prince or [[Chapter Master Smashfucker|Smashfucker]] had better get on their knees and start sucking when Moloc start rolling in. Don't think you can win a challenge against him, he will rip off any balls of adamantium you think you have and force feed them to you, and get victory points for doing it. If you're running a Minotaurs army and ''do not'' take Moloc as your Warlord consider yourself an official retard in the eyes of [[/tg/]]. Enclosed in this section is how Asterion Moloc fares against all other named Chapter Masters (or their closest equivalents), since he's basically tailor made to kill them. [https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Asterion-Moloc-and-Ivanus-Enkomi-of-the-Minotaurs His model is also fucking awesome]

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* Asterion Moloc VS Papa Smurf
**Marneus Calgar, wearing the Armour of Antilochus attacks 5 times, hitting 2.5 times, wounding 2.083 times, causing 0.694 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.134 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**Asterion Moloc starts off strong, dealing nearly twice the damage Papa Smurf can deal back, even though he has fewer attacks. Note that Marneus Calgar could choose Iron Resolve for his warlord trait, in which case he'll get a mutual KO against Moloc thanks to the fact that his fists aren't Unwieldy.

* Asterion Moloc VS Shrike
**Shrike attacks 4 times, hitting 2.2 times (because master-crafted), wounding 1.65 times, causing 0.321 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.134 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**A bit of an unfair fight, after all Shrike is armed with just an AP3 weapon and he just became a Chapter Master very recently, he hasn't even received a normal Chapter Master's statline yet.

* Asterion Moloc VS Captain Lysander
**Lysander attacks 3 times, hitting 1.875 times (because master-crafted), wounding 1.563 times, causing 0.521 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 0.503 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**While not a Chapter Master, Lysander might as well be one as he certainly has the statline and special rules to be one, and puts up the hardest fight yet. Unfortunately the end result comes down to one factor, Lysander has the Unwieldy rule, and Moloc does not, allowing him to kill Lysander just before he dies. Even including Concussive, Lysander just cannot put out enough damage to keep Moloc Concussed throughout the fight (not to mention Moloc isn't concussed in the turn he finishes off Lysander).

* Asterion Moloc VS Pedro Kantor
**Pedro Kantor attacks 4 times, hitting 2 times, wounding 1.666 times, causing 0.555 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 0.756 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**Putting out the third toughest fight so far is Pedro thanks to Iron Resolve, unfortunately just like Lysander he loses the damage race.

* Asterion Moloc VS High Marshal Helbrecht
**Helbrecht attacks 4 times, hitting 2.2 times (MC), wounding 1.1 times, causing 0.183 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.134 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**Rounding off the sons of Dorn, this fight is more of a joke thanks to Helbrecht lacking an AP2 weapon, as such he's crushed just as he normally is whenever he'd up against an opponent wearing terminator armour.

* Asterion Moloc VS Lugft Huron
**Huron attacks 4 times, hitting 2 times, wounding 1.5 times, causing 0.833 wounds after saves (thanks to Ghost Razor).
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.134 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**While Huron puts out a very impressive amount of damage, he simply cannot kill Moloc fast enough.

* Asterion Moloc VS Lias Issodon
**Lias attacks 3 times, hitting 1.5 times, wounding 0.75 times, causing 0.125 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 3.111 times, wounds 3.025 times, causing 3.025 wounds after saves since Lias has no listed invuln.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**A complete joke of a fight that's so pathetic it's not even funny, which it should be since Lias is not made for close combat. If Moloc charges and has hatred from a chaplain he can kill Lias in just one round.

* Asterion Moloc VS Tyberos The Red Wake
**Tyberos attacks 5 times, hitting 2.917 times, wounding 2.836 times, causing 0.945 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.512 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**A combat monster, Tyberos can certainly dish out the hurt, he just can't take it as he's stuck with only a 5+ invuln.

* Asterion Moloc VS Lord High Commander Carab Culln
**Culln attacks 2 times (smashing as AP2 is better than 4 attacks at AP3), hitting 1.167 times, wounding 0.973 times, causing 0.324 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.134 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**Culln is proud to live, proud to die, and not hard at all to kill in this fight.

* Asterion Moloc VS Malakim Phoros
**Malakim Round 1: Phoros attacks 4 times, hitting 3 times, wounding 2 times, causing 0.333 wounds after saves.
**Malakim Round 2 and on: Phoros attacks 5 times, hitting 2.708 times, wounding 1.805 times, causing 0.301 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.134 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**Malakim Phoros is another pretty good melee beatstick that is sadly unsuited for this fight thanks to his AP3 power glaive.

* Asterion Moloc VS Commander Dante
**Dante attacks 5 times, hitting 2.708 times, wounding 2.257 times, causing 0.752 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.134 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**Dante puts up a good fight, and can attempt to close the gap a little with Hit and Run, unfortunately even if he manages to get perfect Hit and Run rolls, and getting the charge every single turn he still cannot cause even 1 wound per turn.

* Asterion Moloc VS Gabriel Seth
**Gabriel attacks 4 times, hitting 2 times, wounding 1.666 times, causing 0.323 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 1.134 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**Unfortunately Gabriel Seth would have a hard time dealing with a Captain if they wearing power armour, let alone a Chapter Master in terminator armour thanks to his AP4 weapon.

* Asterion Moloc VS Kaldor Draigo
**Draigo attacks 4 times, hitting 2.2 times, wounding 1.833 times, causing 0.611 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc attacks 4 times, hits 2.333 times, wounds 2.268 times, causing 0.756 wounds after saves.
**Asterion Moloc wins.
**While certainly an impressive fighter and very resilient, Draigo loses the damage race, dying one turn before he can kill Moloc.

*[[TL;DR]]: Moloc's built for wiping out Space Marines, and it's a job he does very well despite not having that impressive of a statline (it's the same as the generic Chapter Master), outdamaging everyone except Lysander, who he still manages to beat since he strikes first. The closest match in the entire list is Marneus Calgar, since Calgar can give himself Iron Resolve, in which case the fight ends in a draw.
**Note, Mephiston isn't included in this list both because he's not a Chapter Master and because he has no listed invuln, which means he'll be dead within two turns.
</div></div>

===8th Edition===
Lord Moloc is still a beast in 8th Edition. A beefy statline paired with the altered Black Spear (S+2 AP-3 D3, +1 Attack against characters) means that while he's less likely to cause individual wounds, once he hits something it STAYS hit. The Black Spear's shooting attack is now a 12" S8 AP-2 Dd3 trick that he can use as a regular attack, so make sure to get some zaps in. He also has some new auras: he gets the standard [[Chapter Master]] aura where all units (not just infantry) within 6" of him get to re-roll failed to hit rolls (this includes himself) and Minotaurs Infantry units get to re-roll failed Charge rolls (so the guy is fast as well), Moloc himself gets to make his attacks when he's slain in combat in case he dies before attacking and on top of all that he can teleport in like a a regular Terminator as well. All in all Moloc is less the death machine on legs that he used to be, but he still has a good shot at murdering dead anyone who gets in his way.
If you want some extra FUN give him The Imperium Sword warlord trait, so that when charging he can mulch through T7 targets. Then proclaim thyself as a White Scars successor (because Great White Bull ftw!)
And then slap another warlord trait ontop of it! Extra D3 attacks the turn he charges (Chogorian Storm) will surely make the enemy cower in fear.
Or you can go for Monster slayer, beacuse +1 to rolls against Monsters and Vehicles will let him RIP&TEAR through tanks.

{{Marines-Characters}}

[[Category:Space Marines Chapter Masters]]

The Cabal

2020-02-28T17:11:52Z

2600:1002:B02C:391D:8C42:F8DE:9DE5:B2A1: /* Assassinating Vulkan */

The '''Cabal''' was a group of xenos races determined to fight Chaos, mentioned in a number of the [[Horus Heresy]] novels, primarily ''Legion''. At least one [[Eldar]] [[Autarch]], at least two [[Kroot]] ("Spavined avian creatures"), two humans (and [[Perpetual]]s to boot), and possibly the [[Watchers in the Dark]] were included, as well as nearly-extinct, intelligent atmospheric layers and a small, not-dickish omniglot insectoid. ''Legion'' also makes references to the "Old Kind," but it seems that the Perpetual saying that was merely calling the Eldar et. al. "older than humanity," not referring to a literal race. They would have invited the Emperor, but <s>he would rather kill all xenos than work with any of them, as he really ''is'' that much of a bloodthirsty bastard.</s> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!* He was wise enough to realise their plan was deeply flawed and would never bear fruit!'''}}

==The Alpharius Gambit==
They are the group responsible for Alpharius' (and Omegon's) treachery (or LOYALTY?). Using the Acuity, a form of divination based on Eldar [[Farseer|farseeing]], they told them that they had two options:
* 1: The Emperor wins and the galaxy is plunged into 10,000 years of stagnation, during which time Chaos will grow steadily more powerful, eventually consuming the galaxy and all living things in it.
**This option suggests that the Emperor's victory would have resulted in it playing out as it did in canon, when it only went that way partly due to the Cabal's interference. If they had helped or done nothing at all, things almost assuredly would have gone a different way and we probably wouldn't have gotten the grimdark galaxy we have today. This lie is partly justified in that despite their claims to the contrary, the Cabal are ignorant of the nature of Chaos, and the majority of the Cabal considered humanity under the Emperor's rule a threat to themselves (and their races). They may have chosen not to aid humanity outright due to distrusting their plans for what would happen after Chaos was dealt with, after all it's unlikely any of them were willing to have their races reduced to slave states (assuming the Emperor did not decide they would be better off exterminated).
* 2: The Emperor dies, Horus wins, and the galaxy is plunged into Chaos. However, Horus's guilt over having killed the Emperor would lead him to self-destructively trying to destroy the human race, and the [[Chaos Gods]], having gorged themselves on human emotions, would collapse along with them; non-human life in the galaxy would survive, however.

Later events imply that neither Alpharius nor Omegon fully believed these, although they disagreed with what ''would'' happen. Either regarding these visions as false or at least trying to find another option, the twins have started working against each other, and therefore the Cabal consider this endeavor to have been a failed Gambit on their part and move towards other options.

==Assassinating Vulkan==
The Cabal's next move was to arrange for [[Perpetual#John Grammaticus|John Grammaticus]] to kill Vulkan using divine cast-off energy from the Emperor. According to the Cabal, only a Primarch was capable of using the fulgurite cast-off, so John was ''supposed'' to pass the artefact off to [[Konrad Curze]] and let him do it, but [[Eldrad]] co-opted Grammaticus and got him to do the stabbing instead. The end result being that Vulkan ''was'' slain after being stabbed by the weapon, but it doesn't kill him permanently as the Cabal had anticipated.

The reason for this is because [[Eldrad|the dick]] had started trying to undermine the Cabal and was attempting to save [[Vulkan]]. Eldrad believes that an actual victory for the Emperor would be bad for the Chaos Gods, and if Vulkan is at the Siege of Terra, he would affect the outcome of the Heresy in a way that would be beneficial to the overall Galaxy. Eldrad later appeared at Mount Deathfire on [[Nocturne]] in the guise of an old man, and met a newly resurrected [[Vulkan]], who had just forged an artefact called the ''Talisman of Seven Hammers''. Eldrad directed Vulkan to the [[Webway]] so that he could reach Terra and fulfill his destiny. Apparently Vulkan gave Eldrad a drake tooth as a mark of trust between them.

After a short stop off with the Shattered Legions and destroying the remnants of his brother [[Ferrus Manus]], Vulkan eventually made it through the webway to the Terran portion of it, which was being assailed by countless daemons. Vulkan used the last remnant of the fulgurite's power to destroy the army and make it to the Imperial Palace, where he discovered the Talisman of Seven Hammers acted as a kill-switch for the Golden Throne. In the event that Chaos won, the planet would be destroyed in a fiery inferno.

Considering that the Cabal wanted Terra to fall and for Horus to win; it can be understood why the installation of the kill-switch would be an outcome they wished to avoid. Plus having a [[Perpetual|regenerating]] [[Primarch|demigod]] standing in defense of the Eternity Gate against the daemonic hordes in the Webway would probably make it a lot more difficult for the Emperor to lose too.

==Eventual Fates==
According to ''The Beast Arises'', the Cabal were wiped out during the Heresy. Because shortly after sending Vulkan on his way, Eldrad killed them all with help from Barthusa Narek, a member of the [[Word Bearers]] who despised the direction his legion had taken and wanted [[Lorgar]] dead. It also reveals that the Cabal had considered the Eldar's destruction an acceptable loss, meaning that the master manipulators had been manipulated despite the aforementioned Autarch insisting that it was Eldrad who was the race traitor.

Even in death, they still maintained that the Acuity was more accurate than Eldrad could ever hope to be. He finds this sentiment amusing, especially since it didn't let them foresee their own destruction. Not to mention the dumb fucks made the colossal mistake of thinking they could out-predict a group of practically omniscient entities, including the one known for both its interest in precognition and for its being ''the'' greatest schemer in the galaxy. Ultimately, it can be said that their attempts at fighting Chaos ultimately made the Ruinous Powers stronger instead (and knowing Tzeentch, that was all part of one of its plans).

TLDR; the Cabal tried to play dice with the gods. It went about as well as you'd expect.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Long War

2020-02-28T17:03:54Z

2600:1002:B02C:391D:8C42:F8DE:9DE5:B2A1:

{{Topquote|We were made to conquer the galaxy, not to rot here in Hell and die upon our brothers' blades.|Ezekyle Abaddon}}

It's called the Long War because it truly is loooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggg. That is not taking the mickey either. It has been going on for 10,000 years and sees no signs of abating. Well, sort of anyway.

It is the ongoing conflict within [[Warhammer 40k]] between the forces of the [[Chaos]] [[Traitor Legions]] who turned to [[Chaos]] during the [[Horus Heresy]] and the mess of a super empire that is the [[Imperium]]. According to the traitors the war is still on going (hence ''long''), but as far as the Imperium is concerned they won when they killed the traitor leader, routed his forces and pushed them back to the Eye of Terror, though even before the opening of the [[Great Rift]] they had suffered significant losses to the Traitor Legions' forces.

It is a rather confusing term since no-one is quite clear who is and isn't part of the conflict, what battles are covered under it and various other details about it. For example: Do the [[Space Marines]] that have turned to Chaos since the heresy count as being part of the Long War? Do the [[Lost and the Damned]] and the [[Daemon]]s of Chaos count as taking part as well? Does every conflict fought between Chaos and the Imperium automatically count as part of the Long War? It tends to be one of those terms that people toss around casually without referencing it further. This could be GW's stubborn refusal to let too much fluff out of its forbidden depths. Then again, it's very much possible that, in universe, they aren't really sure what they mean when they use the term either. It's...well, the Chaos Marines buzzword for how much they hate the Imperium.

Actually there is likely a very good reason the Long War has gone on as long as it has, due to the leadership of a certain armless failure....

Another point is that the Chaos Gods are more interested in war itself as a process rather than it's final result. Especially given that according to the [[Cabal]] the ultimate Chaos victory would be their undoing. I mean eternal war spreads eternal [[Khorne|bloodshed and carnage]], [[Nurgle|massive death tolls and epidemics]], [[Tzeentch|struggles for power and epic level mind games between the leadership of opposing factions]] and [[Slaanesh|leads warriors involved into new peaks of sensual experience]]. So they subtly undermine their servants' plans if they come too close to ultimate victory. [[Just as Planned]].

{{Template:40k-Timeline}}

[[Category:Chaos]][[Category:Imperial]]