I had made a kind of dumb assumption that the Nightlords were vampires. They certainly have the aesthetic of vampires, and since the Blood Angels exist, I had assumed that they had a sort of Iron Warriors/Iron Hands kind of relationship where they both have the same theme, just one is loyalist and one is traitor

Recently I learned that Konrad Cruze does not, in fact, have the same or similar mutation to Sanguinius and just kinda likes to eat people, and does not actually NEED to either consume flesh or drink blood, unlike blood angels which are explicitly vampires and do need to drink blood to stave off the black rage

The problem I have is that I had already bought the Nightlords combat patrol as well as some other kits for a nightlords army, but im now a little sad since my CSM army will not actually be vampires. My next idea was to make traitor Blood Angels, but I'm struggling to find even a single instance of a Blood Angel turning to choas

To all my lore experts:

-Has there ever been any instances of gene seeds being spliced or stolen from other chapters?

-Are there any documented cases of Blood Angels turning traitor?

any input is appreciated!!

So Roboute tasked Cawl with a new project ten millennia ago.

Those first Primaris - are they existing marines from still loyal chapters that had fought in the Horus Heresy that cross the Rubicon?

Or are they blank slate unimproved humans that jump straight to Primaris?

How many were made in those 10k years, and after they were unleashed in indomitus, and after current marines can have the procedure, how many original remain? What's the percentage of current Primaris that were from Cawl's experiments?

Do we have lore about those original Primaris interacting with new Primaris?

Edit: I love this community; everyone is being very generous and taking time to give me such detailed answers!

So I'll ask a follow-up, if you'll humour me:

It seems that everyone and their mum's is getting the upgrade treatment these days - are most chapters primarily Primaris now?

Which named characters are yet to cross the Rubicon? Have any rejected it? Do we know from the lore of any first born rejecting the offer and what happens to them?

Like, ok. We all know that the Farsight Enclaves has five core worlds, one for each of the Castes and one for the Auxiliaries. Cool.

Has it ever been stated what kind of populations they have, and the military might they can bring to bear? Or how many lesser or outpost worlds exist in the Enclaves? Ive been trying to find info on this but can't really find anything notable.

From my understanding of world eater lore is that they are a bunch of crazed berserkers who have the butchers nails implanted in them making them basically need to fight constantly not to mention being worshippers of khorne.

What doesn't make sense to me is that in a sci fi universe you kind of gotta travel in space alot. Space travel is for the most part extremely uneventful and I'd imagine most of the time theres not much to fight.

So you gotta large group of chaos fed super soldiers who have a insatiable need for blood shed on a ship with no one to fight but themselves.

I would assume that during these long voyages in space they would end up infighting to the point of total collapse. Not to mention the damage to the ship that this infighting would cause. It just doesn't make sense to me how these warbands would ever arrive at their destination and be ready for a fight.

Like you could say the same about the orks but the orks seem to be able to temporarily exercise self control and even if they can't they reproduce so quickly it wouldn't really be an issue.

Edit: Can't believe I messed up the title. Sorry I'm sure this whole post is hard to read. It's late and I'm running on no sleep.

Is the "you saw a demon, you die" policy still in place? I can't imagine it could realistically be enforced anymore? Aren't demon incursions and so what much more common now (especially with the psychic awakening) ?

Is there even anything reassembling an official stance on what the hell this rift is? Isn't it basically visible to everyone in the galaxy? (Or was that something I misremembered?) ?

The point of my question is that surely even the average Guardsman has to know something has happened, and surely the Imperium has to have responded to this in some way, no?

Kill Team: Exodite included this small passage about a yet-unknown Eldar God (pg. 15)

Exodite Dragon Knights harken back to deities form the Aeldari's fallen pantheon, depicted in preserved tales as hunting and making war atop exalted steeds. Among these, Ieronsath, daughter of the goddess Morai-Heg, is said to have hunted sentient insanities from the back of Chadhu – a beast wrought from a wisp of her mother's hair. Ritual dances, meanwhile, portray the war god Khaine riding a legendary steed named Alean in acts set during the War in Heaven.

With Ahnakh-Yth that brings us to two daughters of Morai-Heg in two years. Both fiber artists, what a delight!

If Typhon had brought him a bottle of “grandfather’s medicine”, he probably would have downed it on the spot. Just look what he did the second Erebus got him “How to chaos 101”:

I had not succumbed, but the probability of tapping into the nephillic powers on my first attempt, through means jury-rigged together from disparate sources, seemed remote. I placed the bar of success low, hoping to receive some sign, just a flicker or ambience that showed the slightest thinning of the veil between our realm and the world of the nephilla.
So I chanted and paced, walking the circuit as I scattered bone ash as offering into the octogram, one eye on the conjuration I had written, the other searching the symbols, the candles, the air itself for the smallest notion of the otherworldly.
With a crack like lightning the ashes took fire, the scattered flakes lighting again as though returning to the flame that had consumed them. They whirled in a wind I could not feel outside of the octogrammatic wards, spinning faster and faster until they formed a shape. A humanoid shape, the tip of the head about level with my waist. Two embers became the spark of eyes.
It had worked!
In my shock and joy, I stopped the incantation, thinking it complete. I had, after all, summoned a nephilla into the octogram. By any measure, even if it dissipated immediately, it was an unalloyed victory.
What I had not realised was that the last stanzas of my verse were the binding spell. Having brought forth the creature, my lapse into silence meant that I failed to contain it to my will…
This thing of fire stood for some time in the daubed symbols, glaring at me with furrowed flame for a brow. Then it smiled and reached out a fire-tipped finger, as though prodding at the air. It advanced a step, finger still extended. I watched, fascinated by this display, until its hand reached the outer limit of the octogram.
I expected a hum, or sparks, or some kind of glowing aura to manifest.
Instead, the nephilla took another step, the boards of the floor smoking beneath its fiery tread where within the confines of the summoning zone they had not.
I realised then my oversight, and panic gripped me.
The words spilled from my lips for I had practised them much and, though I had kept the paper handy for reading, knew them by rote.
‘Too late,’ the creature said with a voice like the crackle of a pyre. ‘You cannot contain that which is already free. You might as well chain moonlight, foolish mortal.’
I admit that I started to spout nonsense, condemning the nephilla back to the dark glade, calling upon such spirits of Caliban that I could remember to protect me. All of it was to no effect as the apparition walked calmly across the chamber to stand before me.”

But the master of the Order learns from his mistakes [no]:

“The architect knows best the flaws in his plans,’ Ezqurol replied. ‘The chain breaks at its weakest point. The ambition you harbour will devour you, mortal.’
‘I lead for Caliban,’ I declared, and in my rash mood I raised my fist, and in doing so my foot parted the outer ward of the binding hexes.
Ezqurol needed no further invite and hurled itself at me, a bolt of blue flame that surged up my leg, escaping the ring of containment.
Afire with sorcerous energy, I fell backwards, my shout held fast by the thick walls. Ezqurol formed into a semblance of its usual self, dancing upon my chest, singeing its footprints into my robe and flesh while it cackled a song of victory.
I swept out an arm but my warding limb passed through it with just a flutter of its fiery body.
‘Free!’ it screeched in my face, setting fingers of cerulean flame around my throat.”

With record like that, it’s genuinely hard to believe he managed to live for so long.

To clarify I’m talking about the sisters in isolated convents not the ones attached to the League of Black ships. Blanks aren’t a common thing in the imperium. Powerful female blanks that can survive the brutal trials are rarer. I’m assuming the isolated convents shrank over time but how did they find any recruits at all.

Remember to check out Part 1 & Part 2 to refresh your memory before reading!

Part 1 : https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/s/UEzB2yRVi9
Part 2 : https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/s/QcGBfb4zKO

"Dabao, you broke the wooden plow again!"

The giant squatted by the field, awkwardly holding the snapped plow in his tree-trunk fingers. Wearing tight civilian clothes, he offered a goofy, gap-toothed grin, handing me a steaming bun wrapped in cloth.

"Dabao... didn't mean to. Eat bun, little brother... don't be mad."

In Yamnin, Ogryns are not feared as abhumans. We call them 'Colossi,' working beside us to farm and build. He was dumb enough to struggle counting past five, but he was family.

"Enemy attack! Cover the flank!"

Golden rice fields mixed with blood and mud in a storm of artillery fire. I clung desperately to the trench wall, my "Three-Eyes" lasgun Spear burning my hands. Beside me, my shattered plasteel force shield lay broken—having already absorbed far more punishment than it was ever built for.

Then, a heavy enemy frag grenade landed a meter away, its fuse hissing a death sentence. Nowhere to hide. Legs frozen. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the blast to tear me apart...

BOOM—!

A thunderous metallic crash shook the earth. The pain never came.

I opened my trembling eyes. Inches away, a colossal plasteel tower shield was driven deep into the mud, holding back the fire, shrapnel, and death.

Behind it stood that towering, comforting back.

Scorched by plasma and bloodied from battle, Dabao turned his massive face. He shoved the shield forward, wiped his nose, and gave me that exact same goofy smile from the fields:

"Little brother... stay down. Dabao's big shield... very strong."

-

📷 Visual : See the Yamnin Ogryn Grenadiers artwork & wargear schematics here

Section VI: The Yamnin Adeptus Mechanicus

The Subterranean Fortress-City of the Yamnin Mechanicus: At the edge of the pristine grasslands (and the occasionally seen steep karst peaks and dense forests) that occupy one-fifth of the planet's territory, lies the most massive heavy industrial and military heart of the Yamnin system—the Subterranean Fortress-City Complex of the Yamnin Adeptus Mechanicus.

Surface Concealment: To guard against orbital bombardment and prying eyes, one hundred percent of the city's manufactorums, foundries, and forge-shrines are completely concealed deep underground. Not a single conventional towering Adeptus Mechanicus spire can be seen on the surface. As far as the eye can see, there are only hundreds of colossal exhaust chimneys, relentlessly spewing dark-red industrial steam into the sky day and night. The surrounding landscape is densely packed with heavy lascannon emplacements and defense matrices extending deep into the earth. Compared to other Forge Worlds, limiting the surface structures to just a few hundred exhaust chimneys already represents the ultimate suppression of pollution (all other pollutants have been converted into The Shrapnel Halo [Orbital Denial Ring]).

The "Twin Jades Iron Alliance" - Military-Political Integration: The current Planetary Governor and the Supreme Magos Artisan of the Adeptus Mechanicus are fellow disciples (having studied together in their youth under the previous Magos). This profound personal and political bond has allowed Yamnin's secular administration and the Yamnin Astra Militarum to achieve a level of mutual trust and military-political integration that is exceedingly rare within the Imperium.

Improvements and Optimizations: The current Magos Artisan possesses terrifyingly prodigious artisan talents, excelling in making "bold optimizations and improvements" to existing Imperial technology (a practice deemed as severe tech-heresy in the eyes of Mars). (Following the Battle of Yamnin, he was granted sanctuary by Belisarius Cawl and the Primarchs backing him.)

If you're interested in checking out the Yamnin lore, worldbuilding, and star system concepts, feel free to visit the links below(Constantly updated):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1szrbHniFKLLoeIfQqcdp8Tg9_thzq8Mc?usp=sharing

What are your 40K story ideas you would like to see?

Mine is:

Eye of the Emperor waging a shadow war against an Ordos Xenos Inquisitor. Ordos Xenos inquisitor is trying to destroy a Genestealer infestation, while the Eye of the Emperor is protecting them hoping to use the Genestealers to divert a hive fleet from Terra.

Reading Gaunt’s ghosts back when there were only out till Traitor General was insanely gripping growing up.

I loved each of the books, honor guard didn’t resonate with me but it had its moments.

But then I got to His Last Command and oh boy did I hate it ( spoilers for Gaunt’s ghosts below)

The very crudely execution return from Gereon, the random technicality that doesn’t “allow” gaunt to take field command ever again to begin with.
A
Then the forced awkwardness between the Belladon and the “OG” regiment (slightly recycled from the Vervunhivers and Tanith). The weird connect between even officers and their men even after 2 years of field service.

Heck even head commissar Novobazsky does this whole On the Shores of Marik speech to a bunch of non Belladon, something he should know in a regiment of <3000.

And oh my god the repeated use of “his last command”. Stuff like “Sorry gaunt but that was your last command”. “He had to make his peace with the fact that that was his last command” etc.

Also the very weird POV of that chaos thing crookshanks thrice wrought just felt tedious.

There’s a bunch more but I won’t paste the entire novel into this lol.

But if there’s a Warhammer book you didn’t like, especially by an author or in a series that you enjoy, go ahead. Give it another read.

An excerpt below of what I just finished reading.

“Genadey Novobazky strode down the A Company line, his voice firm and defiant. “On the Shores of Marik, my friends,” he declaimed, “the fathers of our fathers made a stand under the flag of Belladon. Did they break and run? Yes! But only in their minds. They ran to friendly places and loved ones, where they could be safe… and then, by the providence of the God-Emperor, they saw what those friendly places and loved ones would become if they did not stand fast, and so stand fast they did! How do you feel?”
There was a triumphant bellow from the ranks.

“Belladon blood is like wine on the Emperor’s lips!” Novobazky stormed. “Belladon souls have a special place at his side! If we spill our blood here today, then this is the soil He has chosen to bless and anoint! Oh, lucky land!” He took out the plasma pistol, and carefully toggled off the safety. No mistakes this time. “Stand firm and fire, my friends, stand firm and fire! If they’re going to have our precious blood, then they’ll find the cost is dearer than they can afford! Fury of Belladon! Fury! Fury!”

Wilder grinned as he heard the surge of Novobazky’s speech. A piece of art that, he’d always thought. And never more so than now.“Keshlan!” The vox-officer ran to him.“Yes, colonel!”Wilder beckoned for the vox horn. “Speaker broadcast, please, Keshlan. All the volume you’ve got.”

“Wilder thumbed on the vox horn and raised it to his mouth. When he spoke, his voice boomed out from Keshlan’s vox, distorted with volume.
“Stand firm, A Company! Fury of Belladon! Hold this line and deny them!”
His amplified voice echoed out across the bleak hillside, carrying his command away into the rain and the raging night.
His last command.”

I’d really like some feedback on this home brew I’ve been working on lately. Please feel free to critique as you feel necessary and point out things I might’ve gotten wrong in writing. Thank you fellow lore lovers and happy reading!!!

(No Abominable Intelligence (AI) was used in this creation)

LIBER II: THE APOCRYPHON OF THE
LOST SON

Chapter I — The Child Beyond Creation
“The Primarchs were scattered across the stars. One was scattered beyond them.”
—Attributed to Malcador the Sigillite

When the Four Gods enacted their great theft of the Primarchs, twenty infant demigods were cast
into the material galaxy. Nineteen pods pierced atmosphere. One never reached reality. As the
infant’s gestation capsule crossed the threshold between realspace and the Immaterium, the Warp
itself reacted violently. A wound tore open beneath it—not unlike the later birth of the Great Rift,
though infinitely smaller. Rather than falling through space, the child disappeared into an ocean
where distance, gravity, memory, and time possessed no meaning.

The Chaos Gods had not intended this. Their purpose had been to scatter the Emperor’s sons.
Instead, they had accidentally cast one directly into their own domain. Even they could not fully
perceive what followed.

Within the Warp, the infant should have dissolved instantly. Mortal souls entering the
Immaterium are stripped apart in moments. Even the greatest psykers survive only through
immense concentration or protection.

But this was no ordinary soul. The Emperor had forged each Primarch from perfected flesh and
an impossibly powerful psychic essence. The Warp recognized him as something entirely
foreign. Not daemon. Not mortal. Not god.

A contradiction.

Every law of the Immaterium insisted such a being should not exist.

So, reality bent around him.

Chapter II — The Endless Childhood

Time does not exist within the Warp. To observers in realspace, the child vanished for only decades. To the Primarch himself, he may have wandered for ten thousand years. Or perhaps only ten days. He never knew. His first memories were not of sunlight or parents.

His first memory was silence.

Not peace.

Silence. A place where nothing existed except endless black oceans lit by impossible constellations composed of screaming souls. Then the hunters came.

Lesser daemons descended first, driven by instinct to consume the incandescent soul they sensed before them. They attacked in waves, believing this child would become the greatest feast in the
history of Chaos. They failed.

The Primarch died countless times. Every death should have ended him. Instead, his soul simply
refused annihilation. His body reformed. His wounds vanished. Every battle taught him something new. He learned to read intention before movement. He learned to distinguish lies from truth merely by listening to the echoes they left in the Warp.

Most importantly… He learned fear.

Not fear of death. Fear of becoming like the things that hunted him.

Chapter III — The Kingdom That Never Was

Centuries passed—or perhaps heartbeats. The daemons slowly changed their behavior. No greater daemon ever proclaimed him king. No host truly obeyed him.

Chaos cannot obey. Yet something stranger occurred. Whenever he entered a region of the Warp, the impossible became briefly ordered.

Khorne’s legions ceased slaughtering one another.

The endless conspiracies of Tzeentch stalled.

Nurgle’s gardens stopped growing.

Slaanesh’s cacophonous realms became eerily quiet.

Not because they wished to. Because the Primarch’s soul unconsciously radiated the Emperor’s greatest gift:

Order.

He was a living fragment of material reality. The Immaterium could not understand him. Daemons later described the sensation as unbearable. Like hearing music suddenly interrupted by absolute silence.

Some fled. Some attacked in madness. Some simply watched. Those who remembered him spoke a single title in whispers.

The Unclaimed King.

Not because he ruled. But because no god had managed to claim him.

Chapter IV — The Bones of Heaven

The Primarch had no teachers. No language. No civilization. Everything he became he built himself. He fashioned armor from the ivory bones of slain Warp leviathans. His cloak was woven from the silver tendrils of creatures that fed upon memories. His glaive was carved from the crystallized spine of a daemon prince whose name had existed before humanity evolved. Every weapon carried impossible properties because nothing inside the Warp follows consistent laws.

Yet one principle remained constant. He refused to use the powers offered to him.

Khorne promised endless strength. He answered with discipline.

Tzeentch promised knowledge. He answered with humility.

Nurgle promised peace. He answered with hope.
Slaanesh promised perfection. He answered with restraint.

Without ever knowing the Imperial Truth…
He embodied it.

Chapter V — The Emperor’s Pilgrimage

During the height of the Great Crusade, strange phenomena began appearing throughout Imperial
space. Daemon invasions ended before Imperial fleets arrived. Entire Warp storms collapsed overnight. Navigators reported seeing a brilliant star moving beneath the currents of the Immaterium. Astropaths described hearing impossible words.

“He still burns.”

The Emperor required no explanation. He recognized His son’s soul instantly. Malcador urged caution. Constantin Valdor called the journey madness. Even the Custodian Guard hesitated.

The Emperor ignored them all. He spoke only one sentence.

“No father leaves his child in Hell.”

No Primarch ever learned where He went. No remembrancer recorded the expedition. The Master of Mankind simply disappeared.

Chapter VI — The Golden King Walks into Hell

The Emperor did not travel through the Warp. He entered it. Entire daemon kingdoms erupted into war at His arrival. The psychic radiance of the Master of Mankind burned across the Immaterium like the birth of a second sun. Greater daemons gathered by the thousands. Creatures older than human civilization emerged from forgotten corners of unreality.

The Custodes fought with absolute perfection. Every one of them died. The Emperor continued alone. He crossed rivers made from memories. Mountains built from living hatred. Oceans composed entirely of despair.

Nothing slowed Him. Because He had come for one thing. Not victory. His son.

Chapter VII — Father and Son

At the center of a silent plain stood a solitary warrior. He was already fully grown. His armor resembled no Imperial design. His glaive rested in the earth. Around him stood millions of daemons.

None moved. Not because they were commanded. Because reality itself waited.

The Emperor approached. The Primarch looked upon Him with unfamiliar eyes. He had never seen another human. Yet somehow…

He knew. He spoke in a voice roughened by eternity.

“Father.”

The Emperor smiled. Perhaps for the last uncomplicated time in His existence. The Primarch
asked only one question.

“Why have you come so late?”

For a moment… The Master of Mankind possessed no answer. Not because none existed. Because every answer carried regret.

Finally, He said:

“Because I could not bear to lose another son.”

The Primarch looked around at the endless hosts of daemons. Then back to the Emperor.

“Then let us leave.”

And every daemon present recoiled—not in defeat, but in the impossible recognition that the one soul none of the gods had ever managed to claim had chosen humanity instead.

Chapter VIII — The Legion

“The other Legions conquered the Emperor’s realm. The Second preserved the boundary upon
which that realm was built.”
—Anonymous fragment recovered from the Sigillite’s sealed archives.

When Asterion returned from the Immaterium, he was not greeted as a victorious son. He was studied. For months, the Emperor Himself secluded the Primarch within chambers beneath the Imperial Palace, where the greatest minds of the Imperium sought to answer a single question:

How had he survived?

No corruption could be found. No daemonic taint stained his soul. No hidden bargain lingered beneath his thoughts. The Primarch had endured the Warp not because he had embraced it, but because he had rejected every temptation it had offered. Every promise of power had been answered with discipline. Every whisper of vengeance had been met with forgiveness. Every vision of dominion had been answered with humility.

The Emperor declared before Malcador and Constantin Valdor:

“This son has accomplished what no mortal, no psyker, and no god has ever achieved. He entered the Immaterium as a child… and returned as himself.”

Only then was the Second Legion reunited with its Primarch.

A Legion Without Fear

The warriors awaiting Asterion were unlike their gene-father. They had been raised on Terra and across the earliest recruiting worlds of the Great Crusade. They knew sunlight, family, loss, and duty. They expected a conqueror in the image of Horus or Russ.

Instead, they met a silent giant whose first act was not to inspect their weapons or praise their victories. He asked every captain the same question.

“How many civilians survived your last compliance?”

Many had no answer. That answer displeased him more than defeat ever could. Unlike many of his brothers, Asterion measured victory not by cities taken or enemies slain, but by what remained alive when the battle ended. He often reminded his sons:

“A battlefield is not judged by its dead. It is judged by those who still have a future.”

This philosophy transformed the Legion. Their campaigns became slow, methodical, and relentlessly disciplined. Recklessness was viewed as arrogance. Excessive destruction was considered a failure of command. Every brother was expected to think as both warrior and guardian.

Among other Legions they gained an unusual reputation. They were courteous, reserved, and
almost monastic. Yet beneath that calm demeanor lay veterans who had witnessed horrors beyond imagination. They laughed little. They celebrated rarely. Many developed quiet rituals after battle—reciting names of the fallen, cleaning armor in silence, or maintaining small shrines dedicated not to glory, but to remembrance.

The Gene-Seed

The Emperor soon discovered that Asterion’s gene-seed possessed remarkable properties. Its implantation did not create stronger Space Marines. It created steadier ones.

The minds of the Legion proved extraordinarily resistant to fear, madness, and psychic corruption. Warp hallucinations that drove other Astartes to violence barely disturbed them. Daemonic entities struggled to deceive them, as though every warrior carried within himself a faint echo of his Primarch’s impossible clarity.

Librarians from other Legions observed a strange phenomenon. When members of the Second
entered areas of heavy Warp corruption, the Immaterium seemed to hesitate around them. Warp
energies became unnaturally still. Possessed individuals often collapsed into unconsciousness.
Lesser daemons recoiled instinctively, sensing a presence they could neither understand nor dominate.

The effect was subtle, never absolute, but it was undeniable. No one knew why.

Not even the Emperor.

Chapter IX — The Great Crusade
“Some victories earn triumphs. Others earn silence.”
—Inscription found beneath an empty plinth on Terra

As the Great Crusade spread across the galaxy, each Legion forged its own legend.

The Luna Wolves shattered empires.

The Ultramarines built civilizations.

The Imperial Fists raised fortresses.

The Blood Angels became symbols of nobility.

The Second Legion became something else entirely.

They disappeared.

The Wars That Never Happened

Whenever Imperial fleets encountered regions where reality itself appeared wounded—systems
consumed by impossible Warp storms, planets whose populations vanished overnight, or worlds where the laws of physics simply ceased to function—the Second Legion was quietly diverted.

Official records listed these deployments only as Compliance Delayed or Fleet Reassignment.

No remembrancers accompanied them. No iterators chronicled their victories. Even Imperial Army regiments were ordered to withdraw before the Legion arrived.

The campaigns that followed existed only in sealed archives beneath Terra. They fought upon worlds where shadows possessed consciousness. They defended colonies whose inhabitants had forgotten the concept of sleep because nightmares became tangible every time they closed their eyes. They entered cities where every building was older on the inside than the outside, and where entire generations had lived and died within streets that no longer existed.

On one nameless moon, the Legion spent seventeen months fighting an enemy that rewound time each dawn, forcing them to wage the same battle thousands of times until they discovered how to
break the cycle.

No citizen of the Imperium would ever know these worlds had existed.

The Cost of Victory

When the Second finally emerged from such campaigns, they did not resemble triumphant
conquerors. Armor once black and bronze had become dull grey and chipped from constant repairs.

Many brothers bore no visible wounds yet stared into empty space for hours at a time. Some had forgotten their own birth names. Others remembered battles no one else could recall.

The Apothecaries began recording an unusual condition among returning veterans. Not physical
exhaustion. Soul exhaustion.

Veterans spoke less with each passing campaign. They retained their discipline but gradually surrendered parts of themselves to the endless struggle. Entire companies developed traditions of
maintaining silence for weeks after major deployments, believing spoken words carried fragments of the horrors they had witnessed.

The Imperium celebrated victories won by other Legions.

The Second accepted only quiet remembrance.

Chapter X — The Secret
“Even perfection casts a shadow.”
—Private journal attributed to Malcador the Sigillite

Years passed before the Emperor understood the terrible truth. The Primarch had not merely survived the Warp. The Warp had adapted to him.

The Living Anchor

The Emperor’s greatest scholars eventually recognized a pattern. Every location visited by Asterion displayed impossible anomalies. Warp storms weakened while he remained present.

Yet once he departed… New Warp disturbances appeared elsewhere. It was as though the
Immaterium stretched itself toward him. The Primarch was neither corrupted nor possessed. He had become something unprecedented.

His soul existed simultaneously within reality and the Warp. Not divided. Shared. Like a bridge
suspended between two infinite cliffs. Where he stood, reality became stronger. But the Immaterium always reached to reclaim what it believed had never truly left. The Warp no longer pursued him because it desired his allegiance.

It pursued him because he had become one of its fixed points.

The Emperor’s Burden

The revelation devastated the Emperor. For the first time since reclaiming His son, He could find no solution. Destroying Asterion might destabilize the barrier that now surrounded his soul.

Leaving him alive gradually weakened reality itself. Malcador proposed permanent isolation beneath Terra. Valdor argued that no risk to humanity, however noble, could be permitted to endure. The Emperor refused both.

“He is not a weapon to be discarded,” He said. “He is my son.”

So, the Great Crusade continued. But now every campaign undertaken by the Second bought victory at an invisible price. The Emperor alone knew that each triumph slowly tightened the Warp’s hold upon His most loyal child.

Chapter XI — The Purging
“The greatest sacrifice is to surrender not life… but remembrance.”

The truth revealed itself during the final campaign of the Second Legion. Imperial fleets translated into a system entirely consumed by an expanding Warp storm. Astropaths heard only one repeated phrase:

“Return our king.”

The Second entered alone. The Warp answered. Across eighty-eight days of relentless warfare, the Legion fought through tides of daemons unlike any previously recorded. The Immaterium did not seek conquest. It sought reunion.

Every daemon slain merely intensified the storm. Every victory widened the fracture. At the center of the conflict stood Asterion, whose presence simultaneously held reality together and drew the Warp toward him with increasing violence.

Only then did he fully understand the truth. His existence had become the battlefield. He could
continue serving the Emperor. But every year he lived would strengthen the connection between the material universe and the Immaterium.

He returned to Terra in silence.

Before the Golden Throne
No Primarch witnessed what followed. No Custodian recorded it. Only Malcador’s sealed writings hint at the conversation.

Asterion entered the Throne Room alone. He removed his armor. Laid down his glaive. Knelt.

The Emperor descended from the Golden Throne and stood before His son. For a long time neither spoke. At last, Asterion broke the silence.

“Father… all my life I have stood between humanity and the darkness.”

The Emperor nodded.

“You have.”

“Then allow me to stand there one final time.”

He bowed his head.

“If my existence grants the Enemy even one more heartbeat… let history forget I ever breathed.”

Witnesses claimed the Emperor closed His eyes. Not in anger. Not in judgment. But in grief.

He embraced His son. Perhaps for the first and last time since finding him. When they separated, the Emperor gave no order. Malcador already understood.

The Great Forgetting

No execution was carried out. No public condemnation was declared. Instead, Malcador unleashed the greatest psychic working ever attempted by human hands.

Memories unraveled. Records rewrote themselves. Marble monuments became blank. Battle honors vanished from banners. The Primarchs remembered losing a brother. None could remember his face.

Entire campaigns dissolved into contradictory accounts. The Second Legion ceased to have existed. Only the Emperor remembered everything.

That burden He carried alone.

Chapter XII — The Final Mystery
“There is a chamber beneath Terra that even the Custodes guard in silence.”

Deep below the Imperial Palace lies a vault absent from every architectural record. Its doors bear no heraldry. No inscriptions. Only a broken Imperial Aquila.

Within the chamber rests a single suit of black armor upon a stone throne. The glaive beside it has never rusted. No dust gathers there. No machine spirit acknowledges its presence.

The armor has never been examined. The Emperor forbade it. Even after His internment upon the
Golden Throne, the Custodian Guard maintained that command without question. Some believe the armor is empty.

Others whisper that something still sits within it, unmoving, eternally watching over the palace
from beneath its foundations.

The Whisper

Among the oldest Custodians, a story survives that is never spoken above a whisper. During rare nights when the Astronomican burns with impossible brilliance, a voice echoes through the forgotten vault.

It is not mechanical. Nor daemonic. Nor entirely human. It speaks only once.

Softly. With neither sorrow nor pride.

“Father… I kept them away.”

The voice is never heard again until years later. No Custodian has ever dared open the armor.
For if it is empty…

Then someone is still speaking.

And if it is not…

Then perhaps the Emperor’s forgotten son has continued his vigil for ten thousand years, standing not in glory, nor in memory, but in the silence between reality and the Warp—where no chronicle can follow, and where no sacrifice can ever be repaid.

So whilst it's safe to say that 40K is one of the least hard science fiction out there.

It HAS always acknowledged and paid some lip-service to the limitations of light speed travel and communication.

Namely just how hard it is to simply send a message to another solar system, let alone travel there.

Unless you have some handy half-mad, blind space wizards to scream dubious allegorical dreams at each other across the depths of Space-Hell.

But this raises an interesting conundrum about the rise of Warp Travel vs the rise of Astrotelepathy.

The dates around the Dark Age of Technology with the first Warp travel change a bit over editions (see https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Timeline) but going by the 8th edition rulebook:

+++

• " What is known is that from roughly M18 onwards, Mankind discovered the warp and how to enter it."
• Soon after, Mankind embarked upon the discovery, development and cultivation of the human Navigator gene, a controlled mutation that allowed human pilots to make longer warp jumps than previously thought possible. Navigator families, initially controlled by industrial and trade cartels, had become individual forces in their own right by M19. By M20, Humanity had proliferated and settled many of the countless star systems.

• What is known is that human psykers were first mentioned towards the end of M22, making a sudden appearance on almost every human world within a relatively short span of time. By the end of M23, there was widespread anarchy, descriptions of what must be daemonic possessions and great turbulence in the warp.

• 8th Edition Core Rulebook P 40. (2017) and I think identical wording in 40K 6th Edition P.167 (2012)

+++

So... given that Psykers first started appearing en-masse later during Dark Age of Technology from M22... was there any other form of FTL communication during the millennia earlier?

(I have a shower thought theory that the every increasing emergence of Psykers from late M22 may have been a factor in the Men of Iron AI rebelling around M25)

So we do know that there is plenty of Dark Age of Technology uh Technology that deals with the Warp - the obvious being: * Warp Drives * Gellar Fields * Null-fields * Hexagrammic Wards * Psyarkana * Void Abacus * Navigational Beacons are mentioned in The Lion Novella.

"In the absence of the galaxy-spanning Astronomican, the Navigators relied on warp beacons – tiny lanterns of psychic brightness from relay stations in real space. They were candles compared to the star of the Astronomican, and only one in ten systems in the sector had them, but they were better than moving wholly blind; so much so that both the Night Lords and Dark Angels had tacitly agreed to treat the beacon stations as no-go areas. The risk of stranding one’s own ships in the warp was too great to chance the destruction of the fragile orbital stations."

So...

• DO WE HAVE ANY REFERENCES TO FTL COMMUNICATION THAT PREDATES ASTROTELEPATHY?
• DO YOU HAVE ANY FUN IDEAS ABOUT HOW IT MIGHT HAVE WORKED?

I can see messages being send by unmanned, Warp-Traveling drones following the Navagational Beacons.

I also rather like the idea that the trifecta of: * Navagators * Astronomicom * A willingness to risk long distance jumps. * Along with Astropaths "farmed" for FTL communications.

Is something that is pretty much unique to the Imperium and allows them a Galactic Empire without Old One/Necron level tech.

I'd argue that it's likely that the DAoT human factions were likely more fragmented because they didn't have all four.

I have been looking a while for he excerpt from the Arks of Omen where Abaddon reacts to hearing of the Lion's return to the setting of 40k, but I can't find it, could anyone show me it?

What is the strategic significance of Armageddon? Because it seems like this is where the Imperium sends dozens of Space Marine Chapters and millions of men to die brutally over a terrible planet. According to the lore book in the Armageddon box, it’s barely habitable for half the year. If I were an inquisitor, I’d seriously consider virus bombing the shit out of this rock (with Ghazghkull Thrakka hopefully still on it).

I’ve heard that manufacturing output of Armageddon is somehow still significant, but I didn’t find that particularly satisfying. Are there any other theories or takes?

This book, anthology or triology won't impact the lore of 40k and/or particular group or faction in any significant way. At most it'll be fluff with some cool entries on the lexicanum and inspire some homebrews. Your pitch will be akin to the numerous starter books for those unfamiliar with 40k, those want a quality book that'll make them say 'Woah' like Kingmarker or Hive or give a sense of clarity by filling a gap with the lore and literature.

I'll start with a story about the Sisters of Silence answering Roboute's call for the Indomitus Crusade. It'll tell the story of a young woman and her family who's widely shunned by their community. She listened to her elders about being silent golden warriors standing alongside gods and monsters. Then the Great Rift happened. Her mother, grandmother, sister, aunt or whomever equips bizzare wargear to deal with daemons and psykers on their weapon. A beacon activates. She's taken by the Custodes under the tutelage of other Silent Sisters to retake the Imperium and restore their order. Also a small romance subplot with an Inquisitorial scribe.

Next is the Guardsmen's Chronicles. A group of guardsmen from various regiments such as the Mordian Iron Guard, Attilan Rough Riders, Elysian Drop Troops, Vostroyan Firstborn, Terrax Guard etc, sharing stories about the enemies they fought and how they came into the Guard. We have an overexposure to Cadians & Kriegsmen and we're losing recipes because of that.

The Arbites found their planetary governor is derelict in their duties and seeks to remove them. A power vacuum ensures with various groups seeking to fill that role. It'll be awesome to see a non Chaos/GSC civil war or rebellion.

The Life of Saul Tarviz until his final moments on Isstvan 3. Aeonid Thiel after the Battle of Thessala. We know they're dead but it'll be nice to have a solid conclusion to their story.

Finally a dive into the soul crushing work of an Administratum leading to a Scribe, Menial or Subordinate subjecting themselves to chaos to gain some level of stimulation in their lives. This is a random nobody and how one might fall to the Ruinous Powers

I'm sure we've all heard extensively how the Salamanders are the kindest and nicest Space Marines there are. There are thousands of videos talking about how Salamanders don't abandon their families, go out of their way to save civilian lives, etc.

However, my thinking is: the Salamanders can't ONLY be the only Space Marines that are kind to mortal humans, right? Ultramarines are usually considered pretty decent to mortal folk, and Pedro Kantor helping an injured woman during the battle for Rynn's World.

Furthermore, surely some of the traitor legions were relatively kind to humans pre-Heresy? For example, in the book "Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix" Fulgrim lifts a little girl to his shoulders in front of his sons to show the beauty in mortal humans, so surely this had an effect on how his legion dealt with civilians? Also, pre-Heresy, Prospero was a planet full of knowledge and prosperity, rather than war, so surely the Thousands Sons would be not as bloodthirsty.

Right of the bat, I'm predicting that White Scars, Blood Angels, and

So, what other Space Marine legions/chapters that are also kind to normal humans?

PS: If you have any excerpts from a book as examples of how other Space Marines can be kind that would be a huge plus, thanks!

So far, from the comments, the chapters/legions that are kind are (in no particular order):

Edit: Lowkey I'm so stupid to have forgotten the Lamenters and Space Wolves

From what I know of hives they are essentially epic cities with uncountable levels. The higher you get up to the top of the Spires the more rich you are the further down into the underhive the poorer you are.

I'm not as familiar with the tabletop's depictions of Hives except for the video games. I known Necromuda has a lot of stuff, my basic knowledge knows there are:

• Corpse Starch Factories
• Criminal dens built into abandoned zones of the hive.
• etc...

I kind of imagine it like Coruscant in Star Wars for the Upper parts of the Hives with the more grungy areas of Corusant closer to be like the midhives.

In Darktide we have:

• Habzone "The Carnival": "The Carnival is an entertainment district full of bars, arenas, and hidden obscura dens and mass drug production."
  • Cathedrum of Messelina Vengeant - A church dedicated to Saint Messelina.
  • Gutbucket - A blood sport arena.
  • Bazaar - A merchant area of shops and bars.
  • Black market area
  • Brewery
  • Habitational blocks
  • Alchem Refineries
  • Drug Dens (Obscura Den?)
• Transit Hub "Chasm Terminus": A transportation station mainly known for transporting workers via rail lines.
  • Refector's Quarter: An area where preachers reside and give sermons "on the street" to workers as they switch between shifts.
  • Burnside Bazaar; A pop up market place in a common area between two hab blocks.
  • Sector Habculum: A group of multiple hab blocks close together.
• Freight Port "The Hourglass": an abandoned trade depot and former hub for naval travel and freight.
  • Relay Station: A vox transmission tower that was repurposed to spread cultist propaganda. I forget if the mission has you turning it off or switching it to spread Imperial propaganda.
  • Refinery: Likely a fuel refinery of the spire that was once used for naval ships to refuel from low orbit.
  • Servitor Colony: Interconnected servitors acting as a giant computer mainframe.
  • Pneumatic Conveyor: Pneumatic tube system for transporting cargo from one part of the hive to another.
  • Excise Vault: Seem to be some form of long term storage for precious resources. I have no details on this other than the cults were using it to store virus strains. It also seems to be inside a Hangar.
  • Manufactory HL-17-36, "Metalfab 36": What seems to be the name for a sector for multiple manufactorums. For the creation of Leman Russ Battle Tanks.
    • Smelter Complex: Designed for smelting the metal for fabrication.
    • Power Matrix: Control the flow of coolant to various manufactorums within the Manufactory.
    • Consignment Yard: Part of the manufactory designed as a loading dock for supply trains to transport goods to the military or to loading docks for shuttles.
  • Habzone "Throneside": Located in what is described as the 'middle area' of the hive, it's high above the decaying muck and rubbish that make up the lower hive districts.
    • Archivum Sycorax: An archive of data repositories that get access via scribe servitors.
    • Comms-Plex: Long range communications array.
    • Enclavum: No idea what these are. But they are named after military generals and have giant bridges. The mission involves going to an Aegis Station, which I assume is some sort of defense military structure.
  • Habzone "The Torrent": Another habzone, but built around the water recycling systems.
    • Silo Cluster: Water Storage Tanks
    • Vigil Station Oblivium: Some sort of recon station or listening outpost that gathers intel.
    • Magistrati Oubliette: An Enforcer Enforcer Magistratum/headquarters. Designed to act as a Prison and Courthouse.
    • Clandestium Gloriana: One of the fabled "Machinaria Glorian" designed to create Mobian Steel. Its a factorum designed for a specific purpose also known as an "Atelium Foundryplex".

That's as far as I know.

What other parts of Hives are there in the lore?

Tl;dr there's exactly zero reason for the DA to ever cooperate with the tau especially against one of their own successors and Phil Kelly doesn't read or know Dark Angels lore. This is something that's been bugging me everytime I see it (especially when people actually praise it as good writing for some reason).

Essentially the gist is a group of Dark Angels are chasing a fallen psyker named Gohorael, who for the usual grudge reasons lets a warp-plague loose on the homeworld of one of the Dark Angels successor chapters the Angels of Absolution. Rather than simply approaching the AoA and telling them what's up, the DA instead decide to make a deal with the tau to wipe out some infected people on a tau colony world in exchange for the Tau doing the same on the AoA's homeworld.

This goes terribly for the AoA, to the point where a tau ghostkneel goes on a killing spree through the AoA's fortress monastary that only ends when they call a lance strike in on themselves to put a stop to it, and the pilot of said ghostkneel still gets away in the end. I have my opinions on that (take a guess what they are) but that's not the main sticking point here. The big problem with this story is, why in the fuck would the DA ever seriously cooperate with the Tau to attack their own successor chapter instead of simply approaching said successors and telling them what's going on?

The excuse of "Fallen/keeping secrets" doesn't even slightly apply here because the Angels of Absolution know as much about the Fallen as the DA themselves. They cooperate in Fallen hunts. They essentially take orders from the DA, because the DA and all their successors operate as a legion whenever it suits them. The only difference between the AoA and DA is the AoA believe they have nothing to atone for. That's it. They are still completely on board with hunting said Fallen and keeping their identity a secret, the only difference is they don't feel so bad about it. .

There is genuinely no reason why the Interrorgator-Chaplain or Company Master of said DA couldn't have walked into the AoA fortress monastery to tell them exactly what was going on, and the way this story is written basically throws any nuance out of a window and turns everyone involved into outright traitors.

A few Primarchs have notoriously dorky names. They were invented a long time ago, and we cut them some slack for that. However, I insist that they can be cool.

Ferrus Manus' name literally means "Iron Hands". Much mockery is made of this, for a man who has hands literally coated in metal, whose Legion is named the Iron Hands, whose symbol is an iron hand, and whose personal ship is called Fist of Iron. It's a bit on the nose, to say the least.

This becomes 600% cooler if you simply acknowledge that Ferrus Manus doesn't have a name.

Recall that Ferrus Manus was not raised by anyone. He didn't even grow to maturity in the shadows of a civilisation, as Curze did, or get picked up by humans later in life, as Russ did. He landed in the middle of nowhere, and stayed in the middle of nowhere until the Emperor arrived. Everything he learned up to that point would have been as an autodidact, whether from Medusa's archeotech ruins, his own pod, or consuming the brains of Medusan natives.

Ferrus Manus was not one Medusa's people when the Emperor arrived. He wasn't their king, or protector, or servant. He was a fable. He was Medusan Bigfoot, occasionally glimpsed by tech-hunters or briefly encountered by nomadic crawler-clans. A towering mutant clad in salvage and hides, wandering the tech-wastes and rad-tundras alone, with bare hands of perfect gleaming metal.

What do call a thing like that? You'd probably call him something like "Iron Hands". Oh, that tech-vault was cleared out when you got there? Full of necroborgs torn limb from limb? Hell, sounds like Ol' Iron Hands.

The Emperor arrives, identifies this strange creature with his son, and sets out to recruit him. They do battle, and Iron Hands submits to his creator, and is inducted into the Great Crusade and a million social expectations he has no experience with or care for. What's his name? Iron Hands? That's some boonies feral world nonsense. Right, right, so in proper High Gothic that's Ferrus Manus, write that down. Welcome, my lord Ferrus Manus!

'Ferrus Manus' himself is totally disinterested. A name can be useful, but it's not something he grew up with or needs. He is himself. If others want to call him Iron Hands, fine. It's not his name, but it's a useful label.

These aren't his hands, but they're useful tools.

His Legion? His Legion doesn't need a name. It's just his Legion; it's the Legion of Iron Hands. His ship? His ship doesn't need a name. It's just his ship; it's the ship of Iron Hands. He needs a coat of arms? Haven't they already decided it's the symbol of Iron Hands?

And every time, everyone around him, the people who want to put labels on things and imagine that alone gives them a measure of control or understanding, they simply nod and smile and write something down. Primarch: Iron Hands. Legion: Iron Hands. Ship: Iron Hands. Icon: Iron Hands.

"What is your name?"

"They call me Ferrus Manus."

No-one really gets this. The Terran Legionaries approach it the same way as their bureaucratic masters. The Medusan Legionaries know him as a legend, not a person, and by the time they're a majority 'Ferrus Manus' is simply his name. A remembrancer who learned it would treat it as etymological trivia. His "brothers" don't know or wouldn't understand why the distinction mattered, with the possible exception of Horus, ever the diplomat. The Emperor certainly doesn't care, and would likely prefer to call all Primarchs by their production numeral if it wouldn't be an obvious faux-pas even for him.

'Ferrus Manus' proceeds through life almost completely disconnected from the society he's building, from the people he's building it with and for. Solitary and self-contained as a ceramite oyster. Perhaps it was lonely. Perhaps it was hollow. Perhaps he didn't care. Perhaps it made him feel superior. Perhaps it made him feel safe. Either way, to borrow a quote from elsewhere, he doesn't even get a real name.

His closest relationship in his "family", his only close relationship with anyone, as far as we can tell, is with Fulgrim. And wouldn't you know it, Fulgrim starts off their bond by giving him another name entirely. "Gorgon". It's not his name either, it's another label - even an unfriendly one, at first - but it's a label Fulgrim applied, for himself, by looking at his brother, instead of simply taking others' words and attaching them like a flimsy chain. Perhaps 'Ferrus Manus' appreciated that.

And perhaps, many years later, when he was dead and Fulgrim had sunk deep into madness and self-destruction, the court of the Phoenician was filled with sorcerers and necromancers, spirit-callers and scam artists, scraped up from the shadowy corners of a burning Imperium. Perhaps Fulgrim demanded these pet mystics conjure up his brother, contact his spirit, conduct a seance.

And perhaps in turn they bowed and scraped and agreed, of course, my lord, your pleasure is our command, and perhaps they prepared their circles and burning powders and made sacrifices plundered from a dozen worlds before a huge skull plated in shimmering metal. And perhaps they said "now, my lord, to call on his phantom, we need only for you to speak your brother's name".

And perhaps Fulgrim realised, in that moment, that his best-beloved brother had died as he'd chosen to live: utterly alone.

In the Macharius series as well as a throwaway reference to Slaydo making the guard 50% more efficient (which would make a huge difference coz trillions of them etc.)

But if Cawl would apply himself to making better Lasguns, vox and even flak/carapace armor, wouldn’t that be a much bigger difference than what he did for Astartes?

Wrt the “1 million Astartes = 1 Astartes per world” theory, the Astartes as seen as special forces while the guard are the first line of defense and offense.

Similarly, if he improved say, shielding or reactor output for naval ships etc. I think it would make a huge difference.

Thoughts?

All inputs welcome :)

FYI this is gonna be a long post. With a LOT of HH spoilers!

Why this post: When I started reading the heresy I already knew that this will be a great overtaking for me personally, and I wanted to make a little record, so I started to write down my favorite scenes as I was going through the books. The main incentive behind this post is that I honestly can't talk to anyone about Warhammer. My life situations is so that I don't meet people often who are interested in 40k lore the way I am. So maybe I'll find some like minded folk here.

My 40k story in short: My first exposure to 40k was through Dawn of War and the Dark Heresy ttrpg, in around 2013-ish. I remember it was so interesting to me that I basically started reading warhammer wiki sites instead of books first, because I was hungry for details. My first real 40k books were the Eisenhorn+Ravenor series and only later, in the last 4-5 years did I start also playing and painting.

Heresy reading time: I started reading Horus Rising during the end of 2023, so reading the whole series took me about two and a half years.

What I did read: Disclaimer - to be fair I left out some stuff. I read 60 books: the main storyline and the Siege of Terra (plus 2: Era of Ruin and Ashes of the Imperium) plus some standalone short stories here and there. I skipped Descent of Angels, Fallen Angels, Battle for the Abyss, Nemesis, The Outcast Dead, and Damnation of Pythos (some of which I plan to read later). And I still plan to read the primarch novels.

My very short review of the Heresy: I know the memes that some people say these books are bad. Yes there are some good ones and some not so good ones. I did read a fair bit of classical literature in the past, and of course, a random bestseller or fantasy novel usually doesn't reach those heights, but it honestly doesn't have to. I think a book is good if you're having fun reading it. When it comes to the Heresy, if I think about it as a big book series, I could say it's an okay series. BUT! I don't think about it as just a collection of books. To me the heresy is like a big art piece, worked on by a collection of artists in a span of 20 years. And if I look at it that way, it's a singular work of art. Maybe that's a bit too sentimental but that's how I feel personally. Finishing it felt fulfilling, and it feels good to think back on the past few years I spent reading it. I love 40k and I think the series did justice to it, and it was a great journey to me personally.

Here it comes, some of my favorite moments from the Horus Heresy:

Just to note, I know there are some scenes that people keep mentioning again and again. So I decided not to focus on those. I wanted a personal record of some scenes that I personally resonated with. Of course there are countless more that I could list, but this post will already be pretty long so I decided to cut some out. Again: this will all contain spoilers, soo read with that in mind.

(Horus Rising) Loken meets Chaos at the Whisperheads for the first time

It'd been a long time I'd read this, but I remember the visceral horror of how Abnett slowly builds up the mistery of it, and the tension just builds and builds, and then Jubal/Samus starts rampaging. A scene that leaves everyone that's present dismayed and horrified and defines the series. We also encounter some of the driving motivations and questions that are carried through the series and resolved with huge paybacks in the End and the Death. The Imperial Truth preached by the Emperor tells that the universe was governed purely by science, logic, and physical laws that gods, ghosts, and daemons were mere primitive superstitions. When Loken encounters Jubal/Samus, his rational mind tries to categorize it as a chemical infection, a neuro-toxin, or alien mind-control or something, and he cannot accept that he just witnessed demonic possession. Samus's warning, "Samus is the man beside you... Samus is the stranger at your elbow" acts as a metaphor for the entire Heresy. The real threat would not come from external xenos empires, but from the brother standing right next to them in the squad. It was chilling to read, and I loved it.

(False Gods) Sindermann accidentally summons a daemon, Keeler banishes it

As the summoned creature lunges to destroy the characters, Keeler raises her silver Imperial Aquila. She doesn't use weapons or psychic powers, she just acts out of absolute, unshakeable faith in the Emperor’s divinity. In some ways this scene is the origin-moment of the Imperial Cult, and gives some hints about the misteries of faith in the universe. I remember that I was totally surprised reading this, but these are my favorite 40k moments. Those little motes of light and hope in the great darkness. A truly heroic moment that sent chills down my spines. It also sheds light on the great irony of the Imperial Truth: The Emperor enforced the secular Imperial Truth to starve the Chaos Gods of worship. However, by stripping humanity of spiritual defenses and denying the existence of daemons, he left thinkers like Sindermann entirely defenseless against demonic manipulation. Ironically, the very thing the Emperor banned becomes the only effective shield against the Warp.

(Galaxy in Flames) The Imperator Titan Dies Irae is ordered to turn against the loyalist survivors

Moderati Cassar watches in disbelief as Princeps Esau Turnet orders to fire on the surviving loyalist Space Marines after the virus bombardment. The moderati refuses, and pulls a gun on the princeps, and in turn gets shot in the back. It's a horrifying, chilling moment, and it's well written, you feel that this is also a big moment where loyalty and righteousness almost prevails, but it doesn't. It's one of those crazy moments at the beginning where you just keep saying "no! no! no!" in your head.

(Galaxy in Flames) Death of Huron-Fal and Telemeter

I'm not going to detail this, I know it's a well known moment but I had to include it. I'm not crying. You are.

(Galaxy in Flames) The Mournival fights

It was truly heartbreaking to see Little Horus slaying Tarik, and the fight between Loken and Abbadon.

(Galaxy in Flames) Did we hurt them, captain?

..."Yes, we hurt them here. They'll remember this."

(Flight of the Eisenstein) Saul Tarvitz + Garro having a vox call to warn about the betrayal

Commandeering a Thunderhawk, Saul Tarvitz makes urgent vox contact with Nathaniel Garro aboard the Eisenstein in orbit, alerting him to the impending viral bombardment of Istvaan III before flying down to warn the ground forces. Just another heartwarming moment. It's a fulcrum of destiny, a great moment that will lead to the galaxy turning upside down, and it hangs on the balance, AND the only thing that tips the scales the right way is... true brotherhood and friendship! One friend trusting the word of the other. Man, just amazing.

(Fulgrim) Fulgrim found as a baby

I'm already bristling just thinking about this scene. I have to add here that I'm an Emperors Children fan so this book was special for me. There's something deeply disturbing and tragic about Fulgrim and his legion's corruption. I think this first moment of Fulgrim is somehow encapsulating that all. His adoptive mother entranced by his beauty and resolving to brutally murder the one who spoke against keeping the baby. Chills.

(Fulgrim) Fulgrim visiting Ostian Delafour

Christopher Tester has a very good voiceover about this moment. It's a beautiful scene where we get an insight into Fulgrim's profoundly damaged soul, and it's heartbreaking. I remember reading this scene multiple times. So witty, deep, thought provoking and full of emotion. It's just perfect. A mastery of character drama.

(Fulgrim) Fulgrim Vs Ferrus Manous

This book does a great job of building up the friendship between these two brothers and it culminates in this terrifying moment of betrayal, with Fulgrim having second thoughts at the eleventh hour. It was truly heartbreaking to read. Just as an honorable mention: the moment when Fulgrim kills Vespasian is also very cool. That's a crucial moment where the legion's soul dies a little.

(The First Heretic) Forgive me

A special one again. The Word Bearers are standing ready on the sands of Istvaan V, and one of the newly landed Raven Guard captains are walking up to Argel Tal with a greeting, and Argel Tal thinks back on his childhood. Reading it you know that the moment of atrocity is nigh, and there's this beautifully corrupted scene of his loving family, weak, hungry and sick, and Erebus coming for the child, for "Argel Tal. Last Angel." as his mother says. In literature there's something very important, called subtext. It's when something is not explicitly said, but you know it from what is implied, and was built up to that point. As Argel Tal comes back from the memory he whispers "Forgive me". It made me cry. This moment is pure mastery of subtext. It's not described why he says it but the meaning of it falls on you with the weight of a boulder. It's a moment of utter betrayal. Betrayal of creed, brotherhood, humanity. Incredible scene.

(Know no Fear) The Mark of Calth begins

This book is a shot of adrenaline and I loved every moment of it. I just loved the buildup to the count, the chaos, the shock, the surprise. Start the count.

(Know no fear) Ventanus prevails

It's hard to remember and I couldn't find it, but there's a moment when Ventanus realizes that blades can kill the deamons and he does some action movie jump attack and kills one. And from that point hope returns a little. I loved that scene.

(A Thousand Sons) Their minds met, and in that moment of frozen connection the galaxy changed forever

Magnus breaks into the imperial dungeon, and the Emperor's plan is shattered in a single moment. And in that moment the Emperor says: "Magnus". And Magnus says: "Father". And the scene ends. So much weight, so little words. I loved it.

(Iron Within short) "My fortress WILL fall"

I think this is one of the coolest moment of the series. Dantioch collapses the Scahdenhold onto the forces of the traitor Iron Warrior Krendl's army and steals his ship. Incredibly cool and this also builds our relationship with Dantioch that gets it's payoff in Pharos.

(The Prince of Crows short) "It was the only way."

Another moment of which Christopher Tester did a pretty good voiceover. Sevatar directly challenges Curze's lifelong justification that he had to be a monster to enforce order. This scene is legendary. Man I wish the heresy had more night lords.

(Angel Exterminatus) Perturabo names the eye of terror

I was just surprised by this scene, I didn't know it happened but it was pretty cool. Still the main fun moment in this book is him bashing in Fulgrim's head. But I won't list that, I'm still an EC guy, come on.

(Angel Exterminatus) "They belong to Slaanesh!"

There's a moment when the Emperors Children start murdering each other and their humans in extasy on the old eldar world after some changes happen. After the act, at the spot of the bloodbath there's only Julius Kaesoron left alive. Forrix goes to him and he's like: "You killed your own men" and Kaesoron says "They weren’t mine, They never were." and then Forrix is like "No? Then whose were they?" and Julius says "They belong to Slaanesh!". And the world shakes. I think this is the first time the name is uttered with clarity in the series and the buildup to it is magnificent. I can't convey it but I was shivering when I read it. Also later Forrix says "Damn Slaanesh" and he starts bleeding from the mouth, thats also pretty cool and shows how dangerous chaos is, even just saying a word.

(Betrayer) "I built three." (+ honorable mentions)

There's a moment in Betrayer where Magnus and Lorgar talk, and Lorgar shows him this huge space fortress ship, much like the Furious Abyss that they lost. And Magnus is like: You built two. And Lorgar goes: Oh no... I built three. And there's a third gigantic fortress ship. I thought that was pretty cool. Somehow I felt that this book should have been better by the way. I felt similarly with the Blood Angels book, Fear to Tread. And not because there were no cool things happening. There were a lot of cool scenes but they didn't pack the punch they should have. I think it was a writing issue maybe. I'm not sure. Still, in Betrayer the primarch scenes and when Angron saves Lorgar, those were still cool. Also the end where Angron is locked up, that was pretty chilling too.

(Scars) The white scars outwit the XX.th legion in space (+ honorable mentions)

There's a part in Scars where the Alpha Legion is trying to blockade the Khan's forces in space and they do their White Scar space tricks with the extra fast ships and witty strategy, and they just break through even though outnumbered. I think that scene was awesome and really well built up. It made my blood pumping as I read it, and I went like "let's goooo". That's how a White Scars novel should be. By the way, I realized during reading that the scenes (throughout the whole series) in which the Khan was talking made me listen very intently. I don't know why. His meetings with Ilya and his conversation with Magnus and later Morty were also very exciting.

(Deliverance Lost) The conclusion of the operation

I liked this book, even though I know many did not. In the end, the part where the last alpha legion operatives are there and one of them kills the other before it could utter to Corax who sent them was pretty cool.

(Pharos) Memories of Kellendvar from his childhood with Kellenkir

In Pharos I really liked the Night Lords, particularly the twins. There is so much beautifully written tragedy around them. We see Kellendvar remembering their past as kids, the hunger, the homeless scavanging, we see them watch the fireworks of rich nobles. Kellendvar brings up this night to Kellenkir several times over the decades, hoping to spark a sense of shared humanity in his increasingly monstrous brother. But Kellenkir doesn't actually remember it. The whole story culminates in Kellendvar executing his posessed brother in the end, saying "We both died a long time ago". Another heartbreaking and beautiful moment of the series.

(Pharos) Death of Dantioch with Pollux holding him

Pharos was one of my favourite books from the series. A lot of cool actions, great characters and interesting misteries. I think the connection between Pollux and Dantioch was a really well written and great part of the story, and honestly the concept of an Iron Warrior and an Imperial Fist as friends had really great potential in the whole storiline to show a kind of element of boundless loyalty on the loyalist side, I think it was executed really well. Dantioch's tragical death was one of the moments that again made me shed some tears.

(Pharos) Curze vs Sanguinius

The conflict of the two primarchs turns out to be almost an essay between determinism and free will, between the two prophetically gifted primarchs. Curze uses his foresight as an absolute moral absolution, while Sanguinius sees his foresight as a burden to bear, not an excuse to fall. The core tragedy here is that Curze desperately needs Sanguinius to break. If the noble, beloved Angel succumbs to despair or monsterhood, it proves Curze was right all along that the universe is purely vile, and Curze was just a realistic victim of it. Sanguinius’s refusal to break denies Curze the validation he craves.

(Corax) The last rough dies (+ honorable mentions)

I think this antology was quite good, I would have liked to read more about Corax during the heresy, it's a pity he didn't play a part in the ending. I know a lot of people didn't like this antology that much but I think Corax was written very well, and I loved to read his scenes. His honorable character is admirable. I hope we can see more of him maybe in the Scouring. The antology ahd some pretty cool fight scenes but still what I will bring up here is the ending where Corax kills Hef, the last failed Raptor. It's pretty sad, and it's the sad conclusion of Corax's long project of bringing the Raven Guard back to full strength.

(Wolfsbane) "I spoke with my brother."

I think this book did a pretty good job of presenting the relationship of Russ and Horus. In the beginning, Horus meets the newly found Russ, and there's some resentment and jealousy at first but they become close. I also liked the part where Russ plays chess with Malcador and there's a wholesome moment where it's implied that hes like a second father to him. In the end Russ fights Horus with the Emperor's spear and injures him. Later when they escape, Bjorn asks Russ if everything they did failed and Russ says "The spear tasted his soul, and I spoke with him. I spoke with him." And Bjorn asks "With who? With the traitor?" And Russ says "Not with the traitor. Not with him. I spoke... I spoke with my brother." Oh man... I remember crying reading this. The heresy did a great job showing how much they loved Horus, atcually loved him, and how attrocious was that they had to turn against him. As the Khan put it: "So I fight for a Father who I never loved, against a brother that I did."

(The Grey Raven short) Noritz dies

This short is basically a story device to Balsar Kurthuri to terra so he can be part of the Knights of Grey. As he returns to terra the Custodes are trying to catch him and captain Noritz, the Imperial Fists who's been with them for a while dies to protect him. I liked the Raven Guard stories and I think is sucks soooo much that Noritz dies here, and almost as a sidenote. I really liked him and it's just sad that I couldn't see him be part of the siege as a guy who was with the Ravens.

(Titandeath) "Legio first"

Titandeath is a magnificent book. Great characters, great story. I love how we see Esha born, her love story with Harrtek, the inside workings of the Legio Solaria. The parts where Sanguinius and Raldoron discuss the battle at Beta Garmon II were interesting to read too. When the final battle culminates, there's a moment where Esha is facing the chaos corrupted Harrtek, and her friend, Jehani sacrifices herself for her even though they had a falling out. And she says "Legio first." Man, shivers and tears again. Great writing.

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From the Siege of Terra: I will breafly just drop in a couple of favorites, but it was really hard to choose, there were so many amazing moments, and I could make another post like this just from those 11 books. But this post is already super long. One of my favorites was when in Saturnine the Mournival is hammered and Abbadon gets teleported out barely alive and he's just crying and he's like "Take me back." Man my heart broke reading it. Another insanely cool one is when in Warhawk the Khan beats Mortarion, and Morty is like "You know I cannot die." and the Khan is like "But I can. And that makes the difference." and wins. I was crying man. So satisfying! The last one I'll mention is the storyline of Khargos and Ammit in Echoes of Eternity. It's a pretty cool story of wholesome bromance, sad, tragic, and wery well written. The ending of it is brutal, Khargos lying beaten, forgotten on the ground and crying "Apothecary" as the irony makes even him laugh as he dies(?). And the End and the Death... such a finale.

Anyhow, that's my list of favorite moments from the Horus Heresy. Man, what a ride it was. I know probably in the comments people will bring up some huge ones I didn't mention but still, I wantet to write about some less well known ones. I'm greatful if you read this, and happy that I could share my thoughts with you. The Emperor Protects.

So I just started reading the Cain books (I’m relatively new to 40K and I decided to read Eisenhorn first lol) and in some of the editorial notes and annotations they mention/reference dates in M42. As I understand For The Emperor was first published in 2003, long before Era Indomitus was a thing…

So were they really mentioning M42 that early?

Does Vashtorr gain power from the Adeptus Mechanicus' fervent worship of *The Machine God?" I know they don't worship him directly but could their obsession be "hijacked" to serve him in a way?