Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Would the emporer been the one who went into hiding. And how would the rest of the galaxy do? Its been bugging me...

If he had been killed, he couldn't have gone into hiding....

Well, I think you mean defeated not killed or?

Either way, if Horus would have won and Chaos being Chaos, he wouldn't have been able to build anything stable and consistant. My interpretation of the horus heresy is that the rebel primarchs and other big players revolted more to gain personal freedom and in hatred towards the Emperor more then due to any fanatical loyalty towards Horus.
Without the hatred towards the emperor and the imperium to unite them the new reign of chaos would just implode into insanely brutal civil war. I mean how exactly would Horus be able to control Konrad Curze for example? And I guess Corax would end up almost sadisticly enjoying a near eternal guerilla war of revenge and hatred.

For one thing, Terra would likely have been overrun by daemons. The spell Magnus cast to warn the Emperor of Horus's treachery interfered with the Emperor's experiments with the Golden Throne to access the Webway. Daemons invaded the Imperial Palace through this damaged portion of the Webway and could only be stopped by the psychic might of the Emperor using the Golden Throne. When the Emperor teleported to the Vengeful Spirit, Malcador had to take over for him. This apparently killed Malacador but luckily the Emperor was still alive and could be enthroned/entombed in the Golden Throne to stabilize or otherwise stave off the daemonic incursion. So if the Emperor died, and Malcador died, and Magnus turned to Chaos, and Mephiston was not yet being born, no one would be able to control the Golden Throne.

Chaos would've used the Golden Throne to invade the Webway, probably with Magnus at its head (since the Emperor stated he fully intended Magnus to take the helm of the Golden Throne someday, before he accidentally broke it)

At least that's my guess.

Wait, are you asking what would happen if Horus won the war?

As explained in the Horus Heresy novel Legion, Horus and the other Traitor Legions would have swept through Terra, growing in power as they absorbed other Legions and the Imperial Army/Guard. Horus, secretly hating himself for what happened, would lead an extermination campaign and begin to destroy anyone and everything. Eventually it becomes less of 'take over the galaxy' and more of 'take out my eternal anger', causing everyone to turn against one another and in the course of a few decades utterly destroy humanity and cause Chaos to burn itself out.

The Cabal would get what they wanted: Humanity and Chaos destroyed. TBH, I have always had the belief that a complete Imperial victory over Chaos was possible, but only if Alpharius Omegon and their legion had sided with the Emperor. But while that might have defeated Chaos, it would also have ensured complete Human domination over the galaxy. Something that the Cabal sought at all costs to avoid.

That assumes the Cabal (1) is not just a trick and (2) knew what it was talking about.

 Manchu wrote:
That assumes the Cabal (1) is not just a trick and (2) knew what it was talking about.

Both, IMO. Regardless of the outcome of the Horus Heresy, its obvious and expected the elder races would fear Humanity's growing power and the potential of such an 'upstart species'. So they tried to manipulate Alpharius Omegon in order to destroy both Humanity and Chaos at the same time...wishful thinking. Given the nature of the Warp, it is very likely that destroying Mankind and the existing Chaos Powers might just create an even worse set of deities in the Warp. And their actions might have backfired: the Golden Throne's failure might resurrect the Emperor or really turn him into a god, finally ensuring Human domination...or he really will die and Chaos would burn the galaxy to ashes...or worse. In any case, nice job, xenos.

The real blame lies on the Alpha Legion. What kind of idiots listen to aliens? I prefer to think of the Alpha Legion as having some kind of super-secret double-cross in mind when they decided to help the Cabal.

 Manchu wrote:
The real blame lies on the Alpha Legion. What kind of idiots listen to aliens?

I agree. As Primarchs, Alpharius Omegon should have known better. Never trust aliens. Especially Eldar or anything and anyone related to them.

I prefer to think of the Alpha Legion as having some kind of super-secret double-cross in mind when they decided to help the Cabal.

Only to lose their objectivity because of Chaos' influence...or some kind Istvaanite belief that the Emperor and the Imperium should be reforged in millenia of steel, fire, and blood before they can finally and truly claim the galaxy...or something else entirely.

My theory is the Alpha Legion are so mired in secrecy and conspiracy, they themselves don't know the difference between truth and lies any more.

 Manchu wrote:
My theory is the Alpha Legion are so mired in secrecy and conspiracy, they themselves don't know the difference between truth and lies any more.

In other words, they lost themselves in their own paranoia. Now that's just sad.

 Manchu wrote:
The real blame lies on the Alpha Legion. What kind of idiots listen to aliens? I prefer to think of the Alpha Legion as having some kind of super-secret double-cross in mind when they decided to help the Cabal.

HERESY!

Well, no one understands what the Alpha Legion's true goals are, but there are several ideas. One of which is that they want to finish the Emperor's life so that he can be reborn into a demigod and lead a purge against Chaos.
In the same vein, it's never explained exactly what the Cabal showed them, only that it caused the Legion to side with Horus.

 xSPYXEx wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
The real blame lies on the Alpha Legion. What kind of idiots listen to aliens? I prefer to think of the Alpha Legion as having some kind of super-secret double-cross in mind when they decided to help the Cabal.

HERESY!

Well, no one understands what the Alpha Legion's true goals are, but there are several ideas. One of which is that they want to finish the Emperor's life so that he can be reborn into a demigod and lead a purge against Chaos.
In the same vein, it's never explained exactly what the Cabal showed them, only that it caused the Legion to side with Horus.

Basically they were shown the same vision as the Chaos Powers showed Horus, and that it would happen should the Emperor win, and that to avoid it they should side with Horus...which they did. And now where are we?

Or you could just ignore the new Alpha Legion fluff and instead use the old fluff which is much better.

2nd Ed Chaos codex:
"When Horus made his pact with Chaos the martial pride of the Alpha Legion was their downfall. The Warmaster was a mighty warrior himself, he commanded armies and fleets and fought at the forefront of the Emperor's wars. By comparison he made the distant Emperor on Terra seem a weak and cowardly individual. The Warmaster was a leader worthy of their respect, the Emperor sought only to exploit Horus's conquests and crush the liberated humans of the galaxy beneath his stifling regime. So the lies were insinuated into the hearts and minds of the Alpha Legion, and if any lie is repeated often enough it begins to be accepted, and once accepted it becomes true."

And has apparently been superseded by the new fluff.

I don't know if that is better. It boils down to the Alpha Legion lying to themselves about Horus being more powerful than the Emperor. It's kind of too blunt for my taste. I have no doubt that Alpha Legion tells itself many lies but they need to be at least believable lies to be interesting. I don't think Alpharius was foolish enough to believe Horus could ever be stronger than the Emperor. After all, who made who? I do think Alpharius could have been foolish enough to think he could get the drop on Chaos. A lot of smart guys have made that mistake, especially the ones that end up serving Tzeentch. And one thing I have realized about the Alpha Legion over the years is that they are trult Tzeentchian, whether they acknowledge it or not.

 Manchu wrote:
I don't know if that is better. It boils down to the Alpha Legion lying to themselves about Horus being more powerful than the Emperor. It's kind of too blunt for my taste. I have no doubt that Alpha Legion tells itself many lies but they need to be at least believable lies to be interesting. I don't think Alpharius was foolish enough to believe Horus could ever be stronger than the Emperor. After all, who made who? I do think Alpharius could have been foolish enough to think he could get the drop on Chaos. A lot of smart guys have made that mistake, especially the ones that end up serving Tzeentch. And one thing I have realized about the Alpha Legion over the years is that they are trult Tzeentchian, whether they acknowledge it or not.

If not more so than Magnus and his Thousand Sons. Though they still remain the most tragic among the Primarchs and legions, IMHO.

Again, no one really knows what the Alpha Legion's goals are. As for what they're doing now, I think they're trying to finish what Horus started, since Failbaddon can't seem to get his nurglinghole in gear.

And Manchu, I'm sure they knew Horus could never be more powerful than the Emperor, but a warp fueled angry Warmaster and 8 legions, most of which pumped up with warpdust, could probably overtake Terra.

Well, that is the bet they took and they were wrong.

So Alpha Legion fans, including myself, prefer to say that's only what it seems like ...

Alpharius was one of those kids who fell down in front of the class and then stood back up and said "I meant to do that."

Or was he the kid that would casually stick out his foot at the lunch table and cause them to trip?

Yeah, he'd do both. He was kind of a butthole.

And then confuse the teacher by blaming it on Omegon.

See this fanfiction to sum up what the Imperium would be like (albeit 10,000 years earlier).

If Horus had won the way the Mankind would be no more in less than 1000 years ( probably ), and together with Mankind Chaos would disappear too ( this is actually false assumption, Slaanesh would still be there as only Chaos God in existence. At least until all Eldar die out ). The galaxy would be a lot emptier than usual, and in the end in 41'st millenium Tau would also go extinct because there will be none to stop Tyranid Hive Fleets Behemoth and Kraken from assaulting them. In the very end it wil lbe a battle for the galaxy dominance between Orks, Necrons and Tyranids that would be probably so brutal that it would probably gave birth to Khorne, Tzenetch and Nurgle all over again.

 Gargantuan wrote:
Or you could just ignore the new Alpha Legion fluff and instead use the old fluff which is much better.

2nd Ed Chaos codex:
"When Horus made his pact with Chaos the martial pride of the Alpha Legion was their downfall. The Warmaster was a mighty warrior himself, he commanded armies and fleets and fought at the forefront of the Emperor's wars. By comparison he made the distant Emperor on Terra seem a weak and cowardly individual. The Warmaster was a leader worthy of their respect, the Emperor sought only to exploit Horus's conquests and crush the liberated humans of the galaxy beneath his stifling regime. So the lies were insinuated into the hearts and minds of the Alpha Legion, and if any lie is repeated often enough it begins to be accepted, and once accepted it becomes true."

That is too similar to the World Eaters IMHO. The whole following the guy who actually was out in the frontlines and despising the weak, distant Emperor.

 xSPYXEx wrote:
Wait, are you asking what would happen if Horus won the war?

As explained in the Horus Heresy novel Legion, Horus and the other Traitor Legions would have swept through Terra, growing in power as they absorbed other Legions and the Imperial Army/Guard. Horus, secretly hating himself for what happened, would lead an extermination campaign and begin to destroy anyone and everything. Eventually it becomes less of 'take over the galaxy' and more of 'take out my eternal anger', causing everyone to turn against one another and in the course of a few decades utterly destroy humanity and cause Chaos to burn itself out.

That story is bs.


Its far more likely the Xenos were saying that to convince the Alpha Legion to betray them Emperor because the xenos hate humaity/siding with chaos/ who knows why.

The idea that the Chaos gods are so stupid that they would actually destroy themselves if the won it just baffeling how dumb of a plot point it is. Especially when, if the Horus Heresy had never occured or had the Emperor survived without any major injuries the encounter, he would have defeated Chaos on his own. Hence Chaos performing the radical HH idea of theirs, because if it was one thing the 4 chaos gods were more afraid of more than each other, it was the Emperor.


I completely ignore legion because its just massive ammounts of stupidity. Ill accept the 2nd Edition of the explanation for the Alpha Legion's fall instead.


How would the galaxy look? I dont know, the way the Eye of Terror looks now? I dont began to understand the will of the Chaos Gods lol

 xSPYXEx wrote:
Wait, are you asking what would happen if Horus won the war?

As explained in the Horus Heresy novel Legion, Horus and the other Traitor Legions would have swept through Terra, growing in power as they absorbed other Legions and the Imperial Army/Guard. Horus, secretly hating himself for what happened, would lead an extermination campaign and begin to destroy anyone and everything. Eventually it becomes less of 'take over the galaxy' and more of 'take out my eternal anger', causing everyone to turn against one another and in the course of a few decades utterly destroy humanity and cause Chaos to burn itself out.

I really liked that book... until that point. There is no reason the Alpha Legion would have believed anything the Cabal showed them because they would know it was complete and utter rubbish.

Now, if you consider that
1. The Emperor was trying to unify the galaxy;
2. Up to that point the Emperor did not condone usage of spies (another book) or sabateurs; and,
3. Alpharius most likely knew of the problems between Lorgar and the Emperor

Then you can almost see that Alpharius/Omegon would think their head would be on a chopping block shortly after complete pacification and decide to jump on a chance to continue their scheming ways.

Orkz would have taken advantange of the continued conflict an' bang eads from both sides, helping to wear both parties out.