Podcast Transcript
Grimdark future and no sense of defense for humanity? Let’s remedy that. I’m Connor with Shortwave Sci-Fi, and welcome to part 2 of my Warhammer 40k breakdown. In the first episode, I talked about the Emperor and his battle to defy the Gods of Chaos. However, he needs the force to do so. Today, we’ll cover the creation of the Space Marines.
On my desk this week, there aren’t any new miniatures. But I received a core rulebook as a gift for Kill Team, a shorter and more fast-paced tabletop game that uses Warhammer 40k miniatures. So I have a few projects planned, but I’m not doing much right now.
To put things in simpler terms, the Emperor didn’t reproduce in a conventional way- he extracted his genes and split his most powerful traits across twenty demigods, men anywhere from looking like a human to hulking maniacs. These 20 are the “primarchs” of each Space Marine chapter. However, only 18 of them are known. Two of the chapters and their primarchs have been scrubbed from Imperial history, leaving the community with no information. Some of the most iconic legions are the Ultramarines, Blood Angels, and Imperial Fists because of their distinct color schemes. These primarchs then created less powerful versions of themselves, essentially creating giant fleets of eight foot tall men with three hearts, nearly impenetrable armor, and punches with the force of a shotgun. These are the Space Marines, and each unique group sports thousands of troops.
Some of the chapters operate in very different ways. On one end of the spectrum, we have the Salamanders, my personal favorites, who focus on evacuating civilians and prioritize safety of the innocent. On the complete opposite end, there are the Night Lords. They are psychotic forces of nature that rip their opponents to shreds. They also have the unique power to kill an average human simply by intimidation. Now, take a wild guess at what kind of chapter ended up being consumed by the power of Chaos gods. After Horus, the most beloved and charismatic primarch, struck a deal with the Chaos gods so he could overthrow the Emperor, his entire chapter was consumed alongside him. They turned from organized warriors into demonic versions of themselves controlled by multi-dimensional gods that feed off of suffering and general bad things. Nine of the chapters eventually turned, leaving the Imperium’s Space Marine reserve split in half. Of course, the Night Lords were among them. Other notable Chaos Space Marine chapters include the Death Guard, Thousand Sons, Emperor’s Children, and World Eaters.
Because of this divide, the Horus Heresy begins. It is thought to have lasted around nine years, and is widely considered one of the most brutal fictional conflicts of all time. To truly know every story of the Heresy, there are 64 novels that detail many different events. The series begins with “Horus Rising” and ends with the large-scale, multi-part “Siege of Terra” saga. Obviously, this is not what I’m covering at the moment; I just wanted to give a basic explanation of how Warhammer’s most marketable army came to be. I want to thank you all for listening! Please share the podcast if you enjoyed it, and follow along as I continue my explanation of the complex lore. I’m Connor, and thank you for listening to Shortwave Sci-Fi.
Music: ‘Dark Cyberpunk’ by FreeMusicLab, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Link to Source. (Note: trimmed for length).
