As some may recall, this isn't the first time I took a stand at this concept of writing an alternative heresy. In fact I posted a story like this a long time ago, but I feel as though I have learned enough from that experience to give the idea another go. I figured that this time I would go ahead and make a post like this to lay out the story in a direct and more easy to understand fashion.
What is the "Augustine Apostasy"?
The Augustine Apostasy is something that I have been working and thinking through for years now, it is a total reimagining of Warhammer 30k. It features 20 brand new legions (2 of which were still lost) and Primarchs. The birth of the Imperium is similar, yet different, better in some ways and worse in others in comparison to canon. From the great crusade, different legions and personalities at play will lead to a dramatically different civil war and a different galaxy by the time of 40k.
The core idea I wanted to develop is to take the story in a different direction. I really enjoyed works like the Dornian Heresy, RH, and more, but I always felt like we could go further and really do something unique and different from Canon. I wanted to explore different ideas, themes, and motifs other stories were doing.
What is the point of divergence between this timeline and the original?
The main point of divergence occurs during the Emperor's journey to Molech. There he sees visions of all the possibilities that could arise with current plans. He sees that a terrible civil war is inevitable, he sees the horrible fates which await many of his sons and the galaxy as a whole. So instead of abandoning the project in his entirety, he rejects those futures and the more or less canon identities of sons to forge them anew. This choice will have dramatic consequences, including potentially throughout the entire timeline due to warp shenanigans.
The Emperor in this timeline is well aware of the coming civil war, but since these are new Primarchs, with different roles, personalities, and destinies, he can't be certain which ones would turn on him. Therefore, he manipulated events as much as he could to "stack the deck in his favor". First, he prevented two Primarchs from scattering with the rest. Their positioning was deliberate, as they were to be molded for two specific reasons.
With two Primarchs retained, the unification of Terra and Solar expansion went faster than canon. Other minor deviations occurred, but the end result of the crusade was the same. The biggest differences being Imperial politics and the relationship with the Mechanicius as well as the origins of the Imperial creed. The Imperial creed in this story being started by one of the Primarchs, something which will have ramifications.
Who were the loyalists and who were the traitors, and what were the sizes of the legions before the civil war?
I will post a summary for all the legions in the next chapter. Also the numbers are rounded up for the ease of presentation, these are just in universe estimates anyway.
Loyalists:
Solar knights: 130,000.
Forge Hammers: 175,000.
Centaurs: 100,000.
Astra Primursa: 70,000.
Golden Caliphate: 100,000.
Eagle Warriors: 60,000.
Sons of Liberty: 200,000.
Illuminators: 40,000.
Fear Mongers: 80,000.
Shadow warriors: 50,000.
Traitors:
Sacred Band: 150,000.
Silver swords: 100,000.
Ice giants: 60,000.
Iron drakes: 300,000.
Iconoclasts: 100,000.
Executioners: 100,000.
Rising suns: 80,000.
Void Specters: 120,000.
What can I expect/ how will this story progress?
After the first few posts like this, which act as a reference point, I will post the prologue which features the Emperor on Molech. Next I will post a massive overview of the great crusade and the civil war, and finally an overview of the scouring and a brief snapshot of the state of the galaxy as M40. From there expect individual indexes which go into much further details about the individual legions, their philosophy, heroes and characters.
I might post short stories or narrations on specific events in-between indexes.
How will xenos factor into this story?
I plan factoring them in heavily once we reach M40/M41. I have always been bothered by the lack of xenos in fics like this, and I love the Orks, so expect them to show up quite a bit.