MidHammer 40,000
[BY ORDER OF THE EMPEROR: THIS PAGE IS CURRENTLY A WORK IN PROGRESS.]
There is no true peace amongst the stars, yet it is not all carnage and slaughter. Thirsting gods laugh as they send their minions to work evil, but their laughter is drowned out by the defiant battle cry of the loyal - for the Emperor! His Will be done!
MidHammer 40,000 is a /tg/ rewrite of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, trying to strike a balance between the grimdark original and BrightHammer. It aims for a grimbright or 'grimlight' feeling; barring the Emperor and the Primarchs, plus maybe a lucky few exceptional people, a single individual is unlikely to alter the state of the galaxy meaningfully, being but a single drop on the platter of history. Yet together, the people of the Imperium stand, each doing their part, pooling their single drops into an unstoppable tide that washes away the darkness. Many die, and they shall sadly not be remembered, but their deeds shall forever be honoured.
Thread links:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/59185788/
http://boards.4chan.org/tg/thread/59242934 (current thread)
Assorted Lore Bits
Intro Spiel
It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the might of His will, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is as near as death as any man has right to be and then some, his body writhing invisibly with power from the Silver Age of Technology as it ever so slowly recovers from the grievous blow dealt to him by his traitorous son. He is the Lord of the Imperium for whom a million times a million soldiers fight and die, knowing He will soon lead them once more.
Yet even in his horrendous state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. For all the multitudes of the alien, the mutant, and the heretic, they stand as the indomitable bulwark of Mankind - battered, beaten, but unbroken.
To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the hardiest and most resolute regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Remember the power of technology and science, for though so much has been forgotten, yet more shall be learned and re-learned. Hold close to your heart the promise of progress and understanding, for in the twinkling dawn of the future there is still hope. There is no true peace amongst the stars, yet it is not all carnage and slaughter. Thirsting gods laugh as they send their minions to work evil, but their laughter is drowned out by the defiant battle cry of the loyal - for the Emperor! His Will be done!
Chapters, Legions, and the Codex Astartes
The Codex Astartes still exists in this universe, but, mostly because the LL wasn't as much devastating as the HH and there were more primarchs that could oppose Guilliman, it's not universally adopted as in the original 40k. Basically, after the LL, a fight breaks up between Horus and Guilliman on how to handle the remaining legions, Guilliman of course stands for his chapters style, Horus instead wants to keep the legions as they were during the Great Crusade. This conflict between the two primarchs doesn't spark another civil war because Big E, though very weakened by his recent injuries, steps down to save the day and find a compromise. Currently in the Imperium Codex Astartes and Legio Astartes coexist with the first ones more suited for planetary scale operations and the second ones for sector-wide offense and defense.
Loyalist marines are "split" into these two different mideologies depending on which idea their primarchs supported.
Primarchs
I would suggest a sort of 'Council of Regents', in which they spend a lot of time on Terra, making sure governance is actually competent. They might be Primarchs, but there are only eight of them, and the Imperium is the size of a galaxy. Sure, on occasion they'll venture out to kick ass or inspect the Imperium, but there are so many threats and only so many Primarchs - even they can't be in multiple places at once. Alternatively, they could be ruling over Segmentums, taking up about as much time - sure, it's a smaller area of space, but now there's only one Primarch.
Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim are BROS FOR LIFE and go on BRO TRIPS OF PURGING TRAITORS AND HIGH ADVENTURE together.
Fulgrim is A GOOD BOY. Horus is THE GOODEST BOY.
Black Crusades
I'd say that with Lorgar as Heresiarch and probable Arch-Priest, Black Crusades could be a hella lot more organised to compensate for the increased power of the IoM?
Yeah.The reason why Black Crusades are kinda disorganised in 40k is cause all the daemon Primarchs fucked off somewhere else and abandonned their Legions,till Abby forcefully knocks some sense into every ody.Lorgar would be a nice catalyst to focus the wrath of the Chaos Legions on a single objective instead of mindlessly tearing each other apart.With the participation of at least one or two other daemon primarchs.
Would the Drop Site Massacre still happen? Would it be that extreme?
Being outnumbered, pulling off something like Isstvan would simultaneously be far more difficult and a practical requirement to even have a chance. Fulgrim obviously doesn't kill Ferrus Manus here, though. Anyone got any ideas for the Drop Site Massacre?
Maybe they got a shit load of Deamons to help them a bit more. I mean with Lorgar being so devoted to the gods it would be a decent reward for purging the traitor legions of loyalists. Maybe they sacrificed a few planets on the way.
That sounds good! Enough to score a devastating tactical victory, but not enough to put him on par with Horus' tantrum!
The "shitload of Daemons" idea for Isstvan makes sense; having never faced this kind of threat en masse before,Imperials get fucked up.
Blood Angels
First, I believe Dante wouldn't suffer half as much, since the "golden warrior" Sanguinius talked about is probably himself, if the prophecy even exists in this version of the story. Another thing is the black rage wouldn't exist, since the psychic imprint of Sanguinius wouldn't have gotten beaten half to death. Red thirst would still be a thing, but it wouldn't lead to assholes like the flesh tearers. Also, no Sanguinalia, so the average imperial worker gets worked to death even on space christmas. Baal would probably not have been fucked up so badly either so there's that.
Space Wolves
Maybe they are sent to Prospero to arrest Magnus as per HH, but the Legion falls to Khorne due to their hatred for psykers and the sheer prominence of psychic energy, with Russ looking on in desperation as his Legion goes berserk and burns everything his Brother built? ---
The average Space Wolf is somewhere around eight to nine feet tall. The Canis Helix has mutated so extensively that they now resemble upright wolves more than men, with various Chaos-derived scars, body damage, and injured skin, nearly completely coated over by a deep, often heavily manged and matted coat of fur genetically similar to human hair.
Their power armor is fused into their bodies in a varying fashion, having basically grown in (see pic related for a general idea). It is also a living part of them; the canine jaws and lengthy claws of the Space Wolf are lined with ceramite, contributing to their ability to effectively gore enemies to death. Inside, some of their organs- including Astartes implants- have duplicated further, enabling them to sustain lengthy fire from even bolters when combined with their ingrown armor.
The Space Wolf is close to non-sentient. It's lost the ability to speak or otherwise create intelligent vocalization, and is belligerent and hostile in nearly all occasions, but is just intelligent enough to dimly understand and resent how far it has fallen, as well as obey the orders of its dark masters. Their gait is usually quadrupedal, but they may rear up on their human legs much like a bear would.
While the Space Wolves are monstrously powerful, being effectively power armor-lined and Warp-enhanced, they are also rare. Only the original legionaries who fell are left; the Canis Helix, unless somehow integrated into another human, is the key to their specific brand of mutation and corruption, and as such a Lord trying to produce more Wolves will be met with no success. For this reason, the Wolves are highly prized; beaten into compliance, these war-beasts trade hands, only loyal to those they fear or their patron Gods. It is considered quite an accomplishment to have enough to send into battle, but they are well worth it, tearing and ripping through enemy lines while shrugging off ordnance that would bisect a Chaos Marine.
Eldar
As for the trader, yes I was thinking Ulthwé... But with a twist. Every trades happen on the neutral ground of Commoragh, after the Dark Eldar had been eradicated/exiled. Such attacks against their kind but before anything make looks the Druchari bad in the eyes of their cousins made Biel'Tan fuckin angry. As such, Vect managed to introduce the way of Commorragh into Craftworld... Before, Dark Eldar were killing and raiding for fun and necessity. Now, they do for fun and vengeance, seeking to take back their homes and made the humanity crawls at their feet.
Alternatively, about the Dark Eldars: I feel like a way to make them less edgy would be taking away their need to torture people to survive, make the Dark Eldar just the biggest galactic raiders, smugglers and all-kinds-of-black-market-stuff sellers/buyers. They raid to steal shit and people just because they're really greedy and selfish fucks. Some sadist Dark Eldar still exist but they do that shit for fun.
I just pictured grimbright Comorragh as the biggest black market ever with scum from all over the galaxy.
Grimbright Comorragh is a metropolis-sized black market: Radical Inquisitors browsing xenotech to hunt traitors with initiating a market chase scene when they spot some heretek trying to buy archeotech.
What would these "new" dark eldar do to save their souls from Slaanesh? Soulstones also for them is too banal?
They may try to catalyse their thirst to vengeance and the pain they inflict to create a new eldar god like Ynnead ? Grimbright, because, yes, God of pain and vengeance... But also it deprive Slaneesh from a good chunk of his power, ensuring a more of equal fight between the two divinity later ?
So what's different?
Whereas OriginalHammer is grimdark - shit's fucked and it's not going to get better - and BrightHammer is noblebright - shit's grand and it's only gonna get better - MidHammer takes a different approach. We aim for a grimbright or 'grimlight' feeling; sure, it looks like we're fairly boned now, but we all know that if we hold on a little longer, a brighter tomorrow shall be our fate.
Lore-Wise, the Lorgar Letdown wasn't as succesful as the OriginalHammer Horus Heresy. Whereas some things went better than in OH, with the Space Wolves Legion (though not Russ, who is now a *ahem* lone wolf, crusading through the IoM) falling to Chaos and the Alpha Legion driven to Tzeentch by their obsession with plots within plots, these victories are outweighed by the increased loyalist sentiments in the Primarchs and their Legions; Fulgrim, BROS FOR LIFE with Ferrus Manus, Horus, THE GOODEST BOY, and Magnus, RED MAGIC SPACE MAN, staying loyal, with Lorgar taking over as Heresiarch. This leads to the Lorgar Letdown being far less damaging than the Horus Heresy, with the most important distinction being that Big E, while still receiving a devastating wound that binds him to the Golden Throne, it is not so bad that he has been slowly dying for the past ten millenia. Instead, he has ever-so-slowly been recovering, communicating more and more frequently with his people and his surviving sons as he regains his strength. Though the threats from without and within are manifold, the people of the Imperium stand resolute, knowing that their Emperor shall soon lead them again.
Primarchs
Loyalists
Lion El'Johnson
What's his function? If we go with the suggestion that Alpharius fucked his Legion over and caused the split, he might devote himself to counter-intelligence ops, stopping revolts, rooting out turncloaks, etc.
Fulgrim
A GOOD BOY. With the obvious candidate for Propaganda Minister leading the Heresy, I'd say Fulgrim could do that job? Keeping the masses loyal through flawless works of Imperial art, spreading the Imperial Truth (or maybe something halfway between the Imperial Truth and worship of Big E) to new worlds, etc.
Jagathai Khan
Maybe the Emperor's Messenger? While Big E can of course psyker a messenger to everyone in the galaxy, if he's still capable of speech that might be a less painful alternative. Ferrying rapidly back and forth between Terra, as well as protecting messengers and shipping lanse and acting as rapid response troops, the White Scars are a welcome sight throughout the Imperium
Leman Russ
Russ is also known as the Lone Primarch. His legion abandoned him. They took refuge in bestial rage, the abandonment of high culture and values for the brutal existence of battle. Slowly they became less than their fellow Marines, then less than humans. Corrupted by the touch of the Gods, the Wolves fell, despite the farthest efforts of Russ to avert such a fate for his sons. Twisted and contorted, until all that was left of them was mutated, horrific creatures, the Canis Helix having overtaken them. Their power armor fused into their bodies, lining their snapping jaws and unholy, blood-slaked claws. Little left of their minds save the thirst for blood and battle. There is nothing left of the Space Wolves that once were, save Russ. His sons, long since lost to the Warp, are nothing more than a pack of baying hounds, little more than war-beasts to the Chaos lords they serve.
Russ has since abandoned his lost homeworld and legion. Casting off his old regalia and armor, he has taken up a simple, unpainted set of power armor. Though his true location is known only to the Emperor, it is said by Guardsmen on campaign that he travels through the Imperium, ranging from battlefield to battlefield to annihilate the enemies of man.
Dorn
Probably still the Emperor's Praetor and Architect. Anyone got fun ideas for the boys in yellow? Maybe he reigns in the Black Templars a bit once they become a thing.
Sanguinius
Known by his honorific, "The Emperor's Fury", Sanguinius travels the length and breadth of the Imperium, enacting His will. Despite his title, most of his duties are explicitly non-violent in nature; resolving diplomatic crises that could see entire sectors embroiled in civil war or heretical uprisings, planning the overall strategy of a Crusade, or spreading the word of the Emperor to worlds led astray. Few know why the Primarch of the Blood Angels, one of the finest warriors in the galaxy, avoids conflict so. Some theorize he has been horribly injured by Lorgar during his duel with the Arch-Traitor, no longer able to lift a blade, but those who have seen the Primarch's graceful movements know this to be false. Only the most trusted of Sanguinius' inner circle know the truth of the matter: the Primarch is constantly battling an affliction known as the Red Thirst, a berserker rage that leaves him in a frenzy if it is unleashed. Rare are the times when the Angel of Baal risks entering combat, and then only in the darkest of hours. He deploys alone, with long-ranged fire support, to avoid collateral damage, and once fighting, does not stop until the last foe has been butchered.
Ferrus Manus
Goes on bro-for-life HIGH ADVENTURE trips with Fulgrim, the Good Boy. He’d probably be the Emperor’s Artificer, innovating a lot in the department of things that help you stop other creatures from breathing. He might have good ties to the AdMech, with the living metal on his hands being seen as a blessing from the Omnissiah?
Guilliman
His administrative skills would definitely mean he’d have a role in governance and administration at the highest level. He might just straight-up be the Imperial Regent if we don't go with the 'Council of Regents' idea.
Magnus
Loyalist. Takes over part of Big E’s burden as to the Astronomicon from time to time. If he’s not doing that, he’s probably overseeing the Scholastica, the Black Ships, and hunting down rogue Psykers. I could see him spearheading educational campaigns too, especially about psykers.
Horus
The Goodest Boy. Probably still the Warmaster, conquering new worlds for the Imperium. Does he retain his shtick of making sure all worlds he conquers are fully integrated, or does he leave that to Guilliman (if Papa Smurf doesn’t fuck off to do his own thing) or Vulkan? I’d love to see him plan against the Tyranids at some point.
Vulkan
With the Salamanders’ thing for helping out civilians, I could see Vulkan acting as a pacifier of worlds. Whereas Sanguinius mostly deals with the diplomatic side of things, keeping powerful individuals loyal, Vulkan would go out to the masses and rouse their support for the Imperium. Bro of everyone.
Corvus Corax
With the Emperor’s Executioner and Terror Weapon both falling to Chaos, Corax might take over both roles, becoming the dagger in the dark that removes those Sanguinius cannot placate and terrifying into submission those Vulkan cannot convince. Obviously doesn’t take it to Curze’s extreme, though. Probably causes a lot fewer body parts of loved ones to be found in mailboxes.
Traitors
Perturabo
Slaaneshi. His natural perfectionism developed into obsession and Slaanesh worship. Essentially replaces Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children as the Slaaneshi Legion.
Curze
Chaos Undivided. Unchanged? Any suggestions for our terror tactics lad?
Angron
Khorne. Unchanged? Maybe we could do something fun with the Butcher’s Nails.
Mortarion
Nurgle. Any ideas? Don’t have much.