Wolf of Fenris — Strike Cruiser previously belonging to the Space Wolves, captured at the Battle of Parenxes [6b] In the depths of the Maelstrom, Huron began to gather power. The Maelstrom is a place of broken reality older than the Imperium. Within the folds of its gas and dust clouds, the Warp and reality blend and curdle together. It is a hybrid realm, with one foot in the physical world and one foot in the dream reality of the Immaterium. And, with the release of Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team in 2019, and a new Chaos Space Marine range released shortly afterwards, I finally started to fulfil this long-held goal.

Astral Claws all but wiped out, approx. 200 survivors flee into Maelstrom and become the Red Corsairs; the remaining Secessionists from the Executioners, Mantis Warriors and Lamenters undertake a 100-year Penitent Crusade to atone for their crimes; entire population of Badab Primaris is exterminated and the planet rendered a Dead World The Second Battle of Sagan was a major planetary assault undertaken in 908.M41 that drove the Secessionists from their fortresses in the Sagan Sub-sector. The assault was carried out by the largest combined Loyalist force fielded to that point during the Badab War. This offensive utilised the massed strength of the Fire Angels, Red Scorpions and Exorcists Chapters supported by assault-specialised forces drawn from the Salamanders, Raptors and Novamarines. Lufgt Huron and his fellows hid them within the Astral Claws' own ranks. He then further compounded this sin by seeking to expand his own forces far past the levels mandated by the Codex Astartes. For at least a hundred standard years before the outbreak of the conflict, the Astral Claws secretly attempted to transform their Chapter slowly into a force equal to a Space Marine Legion of old.

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In what is widely regarded as a strategically wasteful and vainglorious assault, the bitter Lazaerek used his surviving Chapter fleet led by the Raptorus Rex to conduct a retaliatory orbital assault on the frontier planet of Sacristan, a sovereign world on the edge of the Endymion Cluster. The Exorcists soon withdrew and redeployed their forces for the forthcoming assault on the Sagan System, leaving the Sons of Medusa to eliminate the Cynax threat as they saw fit. Taken from the battlefield by a cadre of his Veterans, he had clung to life through sheer force of will, despite being reduced to an unrecognizable heap of charred flesh and armour and missing most of the right side of his body. Bearing the broken body of their lord, the last of the Astral Claws fled.

Huron's limited forces easily overwhelmed the first pirate stronghold they found, slaughtering all the corsairs within. The survivors swore allegiance to the Tyrant of Badab and became his slaves, soon learning to fear his fury. On Renegade worlds Huron slew petty kings and forced mutant lords to kneel at his feet. When the other pirate lords of the Maelstrom refused his demands, he slew their followers, looted their holdings, and gave them to the Warp-twisted mutants infesting his ships for sport. The rebellion was eventually put down by the forces of the Inquisition and those Astartes Chapters who remained steadfast in their duty to the Emperor of Mankind, but its instigators, the Astral Claws, wholly given over to Chaos in the course of the conflict, turned Renegade and its survivors become the infamous piratical band of Chaos Space Marines known as the Red Corsairs. Since then, I’ve started to branch out into Warhammer 40,000, building the force up to play larger games. Recently, I painted my first vehicle, a classic Rhino , with more to come down the road. Entered into the official record would be sanitised and altered versions of the events of the Badab War for the protection of the Emperor's honour and the moral safety of Imperial citizens. Venomous Birthright — previously belonging to the Night Lords where it was known as the Echo of Damnation [8a]The scales began to tip in the Loyalists' favour as further reinforcements arrived almost solar month by solar month, with missives from the Adeptus Terra informing them that other Space Marine Chapters were en route. Lord High Commander Culln knew that he must press his advantage soon or risk the war devolving into a slow battle of attrition that would bleed his forces dry. The first move forwards would be the relief of the Fortress World of Surngraad that stubbornly held out against the Secessionist aggression by their heroic self-sacrifice and single bloody-minded faith in the God-Emperor. Given the chief role in this task, the Sons of Medusa led the determined and brutal campaign to scour out the Tyrant of Badab's forces, the conduct of which caused some discord between the two Chapters, with accusations that the Sons of Medusa were more interested in pursuing their own mysterious agenda instead of hunting down the enemy as expeditiously as possible.

To answer the continuing threats to the control of his domain, Lufgt Huron issued the infamous "Articles of Just Secession," which were also signed and ratified by the masters of the Lamenters and Mantis Warriors Chapters. These documents were designed to formally sever the Maelstrom Zone's direct tithes to its neighbouring sectors. In support of their cause, the document cited both the Imperial edict that founded the Maelstrom Warders and the ancient rights and titles of the Adeptus Astartes' prerogative in their defence, precedents that both weighed heavily in their favour. Master Sartaq of the Mantis Warriors was also present with Huron's party, who swiftly accused the Fire Hawks Chapter of perpetrating wanton crimes of genocide. For his part, Lord High Commander Verant Ortys stood firm, reiterating the Legatine write of authority and the unassailable right of summons. Soon an adjournment was called for, as the talks became heated, and both parties withdrew to separate compartments on the void station to confer with their fellows. Matters of record regarding the following incident becomes muddled and contradictory.

Chaos Space Marines lore

Despite the grievous losses dealt to them, the remainder of the Howling Griffons taskforce continued to doggedly fight on, refusing to shirk away from their responsibilities to the Loyalist cause until formally relieved from the war in 909.M41. The formation of the Tyrant's Legion was far from Huron's only deliberate move to concentrate all military power within the Badab Sector in his own hands and that of his Chapter, as through a system of patronage, charisma, might and political skill he also inveigled the noble houses and commercial interest of those worlds he protected under his direct control, and even suborned the local officers of the Imperial Navy's Maelstrom Fleet squadron under his personal authority.