Ok, so i've decided I want to run a long-term marine campaign. I'd like to start with the characters as children on Terra during the Age of Strife. They will be recruited and turned into some of the first Astartes, and take part in the unification of Terra wearing Mk I Thunder Armour.

After that, they'll fight on Luna, then travel to Mars, and the campaign will finish with the compliance of the Jovian forges and the Saturnine shipyards.

If this goes well, i'll forward the game 50 years, so that the players have to deal with the discovery of the Primarchs and the influx of non-terran marines into their Legion.

Now, I know this will require some work to shoehorn it into the rules framework that Deathwatch provide; i'm not concerned about that. What I AM worried about is the lack of detail for Pre-Unification Terra, and not even a vague idea of the timeline or major players involved. Can anyone help with a few suggestions, please? I'd be very grateful for any help that is offered. Even fan conjecture is absolutely fine!

Other than what little is covered in bits of the Horus Heresy series, there's pretty much zero solid info on that time period.

I've actually found quite a lot of info here and there, and it's canon too.

I'll post up the bare bones I have for a campaign if you're interested. There's certainly enough to run a good length story after the Primarchs are taken away, and before they are rediscovered.

Hy Brasil (South America)

Ruled by Dalmoth Kyn, from the capital city of Planalto, a vast hive with buried geo-thermal reactors. The reactors drain so much heat from the earth that they create semi-permanent glaciers above known as the 'winter fields', near the city of Sao Pal. Hy Brasil's soldiers are referred to as 'Dracos'.

The Pan-Pacific Empire (The Pacific Rim)

Ruled by Narthan Dume, the half-mad/half-genius dictator.

The Yndonesian Bloc (The Indonesian Islands)

Ruled by Cardinal Tang, an ethnarch. He has instituted a forced-breeding program to weed out the 'impure', and encourages the use of death-camps, and genetic pogroms. He has burned all scientists, mathematicians and philosophers who disagree with his religiously-motivated genocide. The Yndonesians invented Stormbirds.

Ursh (Russia, Siberia and Mongolia)

Ruled by Kalagann of Ursh, a techno-barbarian warlord. His armies include the Tupelov Lancers (berserkers led by General Anult Keyser), the Wraithsingers (sorcerers, led by Mafeo Orde), the Oneirocriticks (warp seers, advising General Sheng Khal), and sundry other forces under the command of Generals Lurtois and Quallodon. The Ursh are known to use corrupt, warp-based technology.

The Nordafrik Conclaves (North Africa)

Currently at war with Ursh, they are also known to use warp-based weaponry.

The Achaemenid Empire (Most of the Middle East and part of North Africa, including Egypt)

Ruled by King Dhul-Qarnayn, the Achaemenids have few genetic flaws and a low mutation rate. They have allied themselves with the Emperor, and as a result have avoided atomic strikes and attacks by Thunder Warriors, leaving them with a mostly intact infrastructure. Many new Astartes are recruited from here.

Franc (France)

Nominally under Imperial control, local rebels recently assassinated the Imperial governor in Alverol, and began massing troops at Gadvare.

Other Factions

The Roma - Mercenary pilots, highly skilled and will work for whoever pays best.

The Geno Five-Two Chiliad - An army regiment made up of selectively bred, genetically engineering soldiers. Many of their techniques were adapted to create the first Astartes.

The Lucifer Blacks - An elite army regiment loyal to the Emperor. They have suffered tremendous losses.

Migou - Genetically-engineered subhuman brutes used for labour and heavu construction. They often dose up on Qash, a drug which they use to dull their minds and kill the pain caused by their work.

Caucasian Levvies - A large army group loyal to the Emperor.

Legio Custodes - The Emperor's personal guard; the precursor to the Astartes. Difficult and expensive to create, unlike the mass-produced Astartes.

Sounds really cool. How do you plan to deal with the somewhat more limited number of Specialties (no Librarians and Techmarines)?

Not to mention integrate multiple Legions (or choose one single one)?

We can use all of the specialties, apart from Techmarines. Librarians exist, it's just that they don't have a formal name. It's also technically ok for them to use Sorcery at this stage, too!

As for the choice of Legion, that I haven't decided yet. The game will be set after the disappearance of the Primarchs, and the character's training will be part of the pacification of the last few rebellious warlords. I'm thinking that they're probably going to have to be part of the same Legion to make things simpler - alternatively I could just skip the training and surgery, and have them form a 'special' unit from different Legions.

I'll post up the over-arching plot later on.

Unification Wars Story Arc

Campaign 1: A United Terra

Session 1 (802.M30): The characters are children living in an orphanage in the Achaemenid capital of Achaemenia. Newscasts state that King Dhul-Qarnayn has made an alliance with the True Emperor, to secure the Achaemenid Empire. Moments later the hive comes under aerial bombardment, as Urshan aircraft drop power-armoured troops into the city. The characters witness the arrival of Imperial Thunder Warriors as they come to assist their allies.

Session 2 (803.M30): The characters are moved to a refugee camp, as Imperial troops hand out supplies. Equipment is high quality, and everyone is helpful. All children are put through a battery of medical tests, and then the characters are shipped off on the back of crawlers to join the Imperial army. What follows several days of intense blood-letting and violence desensitization, as they are forced to fight wild boars, hungry dogs, slaves and each other. The scant few survivors are congratulated, and informed that they are to be trained as Thunder Warriors.

Session 3 (805.M30): The characters receive half of their implants, some healthy stat/skill/talent bonuses, and are outfitted as scouts. They join a spearhead force moving into Ursh territory, and help to sabotage an airfield. They fight genetically modified brutes, techno-barbarians and a sorcerer with a pet daemonhost.

Session 4 (807.M30): The characters receive the rest of their implants, Thunder Armour and the full bonuses for their specialty. They are assigned to the XII Legion, 1st Chapter, 2nd Battle Company, 4th Squad. They assault Ursh anti-aircraft positions on the outskirts of the capital Moskov via drop pod, and then push into the city. They are present when the Emperor himself attacks Kalagann’s palace with a force of Custodes, and they fight and kill General Sheng Khal, with his Oneirocriticks. They survive Kalagann detonating an atomic warhead as a final act of defiance.

Campaign 2: The Sol System

Summary (812.M30): Veterans of quelling uprisings on Luna and the colony on Ceres, the characters are issued with Mk. 2 Crusade Armour, and charged with retaking the Saturnine shipyards. They stop off briefly at the Jovian Forges collecting a large Mechanicus contingent, then travel onto Saturn. They must fight in vacuum, across the hulls of partially completed starships, and into massive space stations. After killing a number of psykers possessed by Enslavers, the rest of the Saturnine forces surrender. The campaign ends with the characters being shipped out to Alpha Centauri on a fast sub-light warship.

Campaign 3: Cthonia

Summary (818.M30): After a long campaign subduing the colonies and Ohnyl cylinders around Alpha Centauri, the XII Legion (now called the War Hounds), travels via warp translation for the first time. They arrive in the Sirius system, and are given a course of drugs to take, activating their mucranoid to protect against harmful radiation. Imperial troops have been recruiting from the barren mining worlds of this system for several years now, using them to garrison the surrounding systems. However, they are meeting stiff resistance on the world of Cthonia, where mine gangs have been carrying out hit-and-run attacks against Imperial forces. Apparently, they have assassinated several Army generals, and Thunder Warriors are needed to secure the system so that the local cluster can be pacified. They are later ordered to find and kill the leader of the resistance, a boy-man named Horus…

So, what do you guys think? Comments? Suggestions?

Anyone? Even criticism is welcome.

It sounds cool, to be honest. It's far removed from 'normal' 40k though, and I think that you should run it past your players as a concept first, because they might be hankering for something more 'traditional'.

This may be heresy, but for some reason the imagery is evocative of almost Conan-style Hybernion-age roleplaying in 'a time before' the 'known' history. I can't help thinking that if I were running the game, I'd actually be looking at using a different system.

I know I'd be interested in playing a game like this.

Though I don't think I'd put too much emphasis on the parts before where they're recruited to become Thunder Warriors. Lay the foundations of course, but don't take too long to get the players in to being Space Marines-in-training.

Looks pretty interesting in my opinion, definitely outside-the-box thinking.

I know that one of the Horus Heresy novels was actually multiple short stories. One of the stories involved the last remaining church and the interaction between the last priest of some religion and a very interesting Thunder Warrior.

It gave a good insight as to how the normal populace looked at the warriors and how the warriors acted as a whole.

Tales of Heresy

Story was called The Last Church by Graham McNeill

It may help you a little.

A minor point, but as far as I'm aware, the Astartes didn't exist during the Reunification of Terra - the Emperor started work on the Primarchs once Terra was conquered (because at that point he could stop and concentrate on so important a project), meaning that the Astartes came after that. Instead, the Thunder Warriors were pre-Astartes genetically-engineered warriors (who were succeeded first by the Custodian Guard, and then by the Primarchs and Astartes).

Obviously, whatever works for your own game takes precedence, but this just caught me as a little divergent from my understanding of the era.

But some of these original warriors did become actual space marines. Iacton Qruze (the Half-Heard). Captain of the 3rd company.

As long as you put a timeline difference between the story arcs you could do it I think.

Lucrosium Malice said:

Qruze did mention that he was involved at the very end of the Reunification Wars and he was one of the last Astartes that actually fought as a Thunder Warrior.

I thought the Thunder Warriors were the first Astartes and that the Primarch project was going on before and during the Reunification of Terra. That the Thunder Warriors were produced based on the Primarchs genetics while they were still growing in dishes and tubes and the Custodes predated the Primarchs and Thunder Warriors.

The impression that I got was that 'unification' was a very loose term, and there were still rebels, freedom fighters and the occasional uprising all through the Great Crusade.

Is there anything that - as a player - you personally would like to see in such a game? I mean, would you want to meet the Emperor, or do you feel that no GM could ever do him justice?

Maybe not meet the emperor per sé. If the emperor was giving a grand speech in a coliseum sized court with thousands of other Thunder Warriors maybe.

I go back to the Heresy novel for the Alpha Legion where the Enclave talked about trying to recruit him. "A bloodthirsty bastard" I believe was the quote. Or something to the effect.

I would think this is before any real psycho indoctrination has taken place, which is one of the reasons I suggest reading The Last Church. The interplay with the mysterious visitor and priest may give you a good insight on how to portray a certain individual.

it's something i'd be intereted in playing and if yuor players are up for ti go ahead! It'll be interesting when they meet their Primarch... in fact there's a short story all about the 12th legion encountering their 'father'.....

funkwit81 said:

Now, see, I was planning on having them be part of the XII Legion, and I know how Angron reacts to his gene-sons when he first meets them.

As an aside, I wanted to have the players meet and befreind Kharn and Ahriman (+ twin brother) whilst on Terra.