Even as an act of wanton brutality and mindless treachery, the opening stages of Horus Lupercal’s rebellion against the Emperor were fastidiously planned. The goal? To cripple those Space Marine Legions which could not be turned against the Imperium, and leave the way clear to Terra and victory.
What did that mean for the Loyalists? Legions were vast and often spread widely throughout the galaxy, and it’s impossible to account for the entirety of their strength, but we do have a decent idea of where they mostly were at the time of the Dropsite Massacre.
The Dark Angels
Even before he made his first treacherous move, Horus knew the Lion would have no part of his schemes. Rather than face the Dark Angels from the onset, he simply used his position as Warmaster to order the First Legion far from Terra and far from Isstvan. In a stroke, one of his main foes was removed from the board. Once they learned of the Isstvan massacre, the Dark Angels would spend much of the Horus Heresy attempting to battle their way through to Terra and vengeance.
The White Scars
Deployed to Chondax to cleanse it of an Ork infestation, the White Scars found themselves battling against an unexpected and mysterious foe. This was later revealed to be elements of the Alpha Legion, acting under orders from the warmaster. The Khan’s response was to break free of their blockade, and race for Terra – where they would ultimately fight as an integral part of the defence of the Emperor’s Palace.
The Space Wolves
Sent to bring Magnus the Red to justice for his wanton disregard of the Edict of Nikaea, Leman Russ and his Space Wolves were manipulated by the Warmaster. Instead of bringing Magnus back to Terra to face justice, Russ unleashed the fury of his Censure Host and devastated the Thousand Sons’ homeworld. Magnus escaped, effectively driven into the Warmaster’s treacherous designs. Upon learning of Horus’ betrayal, Russ and his sons swore oaths to hunt down the traitor Warmaster and his allies.
The Imperial Fists
When the Emperor withdrew to Terra to accomplish his great work, he took Dorn and the Imperial Fists with him. As the Warmaster fomented his schemes, Rogal Dorn and his Legion fortified Terra and transformed the Emperor’s Palace into an impregnable stronghold.
When word reached Terra of the treachery on Isstvan III, Dorn organised the reprisal mission – sending the mighty Imperial Fists fleet to join his brothers. The fleet would never arrive at its intended destination, instead emerging from the Warp in the Phall system… and into the jaws of an Iron Warriors ambush of epic proportions! Even so, Dorn and his Imperial Fists would form the lynchpin of the Imperial defence in the approaching Solar War.
The Blood Angels
As the Horus Heresy broke out, the IX Legion were already in a terrible position. Horus had ordered the Blood Angels and their Primarch Sanguinius to Signus Prime, where they faced the horrors of the Warp. A calculated move on the part of Horus, who sought to remove one of the mightiest of the Emperor’s sons.
The battle between the Sanguinius and the Khornate Daemon Kha’bandha left scars on the psyche of the Legion and its Primarch that would haunt them forever more. Battered and bloodied, the Blood Angels learned of Horus’s rebellion and set off on the long road to Terra.
The Iron Hands
Driven to insensate rage by Horus’ treachery and personally aggrieved that his beloved brother Fulgrim had turned against him, Ferrus Manus led the Iron Tenth to Isstvan, committing many thousands, including his elite veteran companies.
The Iron Hands were a respected and formidable Legion, but Horus manipulated their drive for vengeance – and so they charged headlong into the Traitor’s trap. Ferrus died and his legion was broken. The remnant scattered, rallying in disparate groups and launching a campaign of vengeance that would last the remainder of the war.
The Ultramarines
The most numerous of the Space Marine Legions, the Ultramarines posed a terrible threat to traitor schemes. To neutralise them, Horus turned to Lorgar and the pretence of a rapprochement for a former feud between the two. On the planet of Calth, the two Legions came together, but the veneer of friendship was shattered as the Word Bearers perpetrated a massacre.
The system was devastated and its star killed, in an act of terrible ritual significance – the catalyst for a galaxy-wide Warp Storm that prevented effective communication and travel for the loyalists. Cut off from Terra by this Ruinstorm, Guilliman and his sons rallied, rebuilt and fought to secure the 500 Worlds of Ultramar.
The Salamanders
Readily joining the reprisal fleet sent to Isstvan V, the Salamanders were part of the first wave into the dropsite. The result was a disaster, the Legion’s backbone was broken and its Primarch, Vulkan appeared slain. Blooded and beaten, the Salamanders were not quite out of the fight. Surviving elements would regroup and battle on, often alongside other survivors of the Isstvan massacre. As for Vulkan, he became key to the Imperial defences upon Terra.
The Raven Guard
The third of the loyalist Legions crushed in the Dropsite Massacre, the Raven Guard were haunted by their failure. Among the smallest of the Legions, they were nonetheless well-suited to fighting in unorthodox ways – and they put these skills to good use terrorising the traitors at every turn. As his Legion fought a brutal guerilla war against the Warmaster’s forces, Corvus Corax sought a way to replace his Legion’s tragic losses…
The cruel genius of the Warmaster’s plans was how he isolated so many of the major threats before the war had even truly begun. Ferrus Manus, renowned as one of the greatest battlefield commanders in the Imperium, was baited into a brutal, one-sided fight. Guilliman, with all the might of his vast Legion, was kept isolated from the main Imperial effort and the Wolf of Fenris was manipulated into spending much of his Legion’s might breaking the Thousand Sons.
Next time we’ll take a look at where the Traitor Legions were at the outbreak of the war, and how the Warmaster planned for almost every eventuality.
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