"Huron Blackheart turned his back on the Imperium because it was weak. If Blackheart loses his grip on the mighty force he now commands, is he not weak himself? This is the Maelstrom, after all, where the most the weak can hope for is a swift death."
One of the reasons I was so keen to get my hands on
The Maelstrom: Lair of the Tyrant was because for the better part of a decade I have had a question. In Gathering Storm III: Rise of the Primarch, the Red Corsairs managed to steal Roboute Guilliman's flagship,
Macragge's Honour. By the time 8th Edition rolled around (3 months later!), Guilliman was back aboard
Macragge's Honour freshly refit and cleansed of the Red Corsairs' taint. I have long wanted to know how the Ultramarines got their starship back.
So imagine my disappointment when in Lair of the Tyrant, the story of
Macragge's Honour is missing. There's a reference or two to them capturing Guilliman, but nothing on
Macragge's Honour. I was disappointed, and my initial draft of the Lair of the Tyrant review had a complaint about the whole thing.
Then when the preorders for The Maelstrom and Huron and the Red Corsairs were announced by Warhammer Community, I noticed they were also releasing the paperback version of Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom. So I asked our Lorehunter Jay if anyone had reviewed the book. Turns out the answer was "No." So I picked up the book and much to my surprise it turns out this book managed to answer my exact complaint and tell not only the plot that I was looking for, but Mike Brooks manages to flesh out the character of Huron Blackheart, the Red Corsairs, and offers them as a comparison and contrast between the Imperium.
Following the launch of the Indomitus Crusade, Huron Blackheart has options. Abaddon the Despoiler would like Huron's assistance in trying to conquer Terra and finish off his Black Crusades. Huron's lieutenants, the Masters of the Maelstrom, all want to hit different planets. Verngar the Apostle, a former Battle Brother of the Angels Encarmine, successfully joined with Kairos Fateweaver to capture Roboute Guilliman and his flagship,
Macragge's Honour. Having managed to capture a
Gloriana Class Battle Barge, Verngar is angling for a promotion within the Red Corsairs. And there's only one additional job higher in the Corsairs
"I am a practical man and I abhor waste." - Huron Blackheart
Huron, meanwhile, successfully raided an Adeptus Mechanicus outpost. While many Skitarii paid the ultimate price for the Omnissiah, Huron's Traitor Guard were unable to fully capture the outpost. One last section was defended by a Mechanicus Datasmith and her Kastellan Robots. Huron makes her a deal: If she stops firing at him and his troops, she can join the Red Corsairs because who doesn't want a unit of Kastellan Robots as part of their army when you don't have point limits. Cybernetica Datasmith Griza Dallax is no fantatic, even if she is a loyal Imperial. So she takes Huron up on his offer. These two are our main viewpoint characters.
Cybernetica Datasmith. Credit: Pendulin
Upon returning to New Badab, Huron is listening to the various quests that his lieutenants wish to pursue. Verngar has a lead on a mysterious artifact called the Ebon Talon. This artifact (conveniently located in the Maelstrom) could conceivably activate the dormant Blackstone Fortress that Abaddon had given Huron. He offers to go get the Talon with the Honour, and orders Dallax to go with him because again, Kastellan Robots.
"In his past, Huron has commanded forces where he could rely on his officers to obey his orders, secure in he knowledge that they are part of the greater whole. Here, every captain knows that their reward for this battle will be only what they can carve out of [the planet's] hide."
Huron is our main viewpoint character, and you can see how the leadup to the Badab War still haunts and controls Huron. In Imperial Armour Vol. 9, Alan Bligh narrated the cause of the Badab War: Huron had been leading an alliance of Space Marine Chapters and Imperial Guard regiments around the Maelstrom and keeping the whole region of space as safe as possible. This required him to be both a strong and aggressive leader trying to make do with the resources he had. The immediate cause of the secession was that Huron sought additional resources and help from Terra, but the High Lords of Terra denied that request. Meanwhile, the merchant houses that controlled the distribution of resources in and around the Maelstrom demanded from the High Lords that Huron's charges be forced to turn over those resources to the merchants. It was these merchants getting over their skis with the warrant given to them by the High Lords that eventually started the shooting war between Huron and the rest of the Imperium, and ultimately lead to the Badab War. Huron had given everything he had to the Imperium and it's people, and they ignored what he needed and demanded everything else.
After losing the Badab War, Huron fled into the Maelstrom and became a pirate king. He has amassed a fighting force of Space Marines to rival the Legiones Astartes of old and armies upon armies of mortal soldiery. He is a galactic power on par with Roboute Guilliman, Abaddon the Despoiiler, or Ghazkull Mag Uruk Thraka.
But.
Huron is also keenly aware as to how precarious his position is. While he survived the Badab War, it was by mere inches. I was going to say "the skin of his teeth", but looking at Rob and Keewa's paintjobs I don't think Huron managed to escape the Badab War with even that. Huron is a Space Marine. He does not have the pedigree of being the First Captain of the Sixteenth Legion for ten thousand years, and he is not a living Avenging Son of the Emperor of Mankind, and he is not a Prophet of the WAAAAGH!!! He is constantly having to look over his shoulder for the next knife or power claw or plasma pistol aimed at his back. Huron is also deeply, deeply resentful of the Imperium and resentful of Abaddon and resentful of everything else. While Huron may tell himself that he needs to be able to hand out gifts in order to maintain power, the resentment Huron feels at every single other character in the setting is his overriding character trait. And lastly, Huron is scared. While he tries to call it other things, Huron is constantly struggling to avoid being consumed by the entreaties and temptations of the Ruinous Powers. Huron is a very compelling character with Power-Laced and Ornately Tooled Armour, but he is still a villain who has been brought low by his own hubris and knows it.
Griza Dallax provides a compelling foil to Huron. She is more than a mere human, true, but her power lies within the 5 Robots that she controls. By how the Red Corsairs view things, that's the only source of power and authority that Dallax has. But Dallax herself still believes in the Imperium and Roboute Guilliman, and that offers her strength and purpose even while being corrupted by the Maelstrom and her association with the Red Corsairs. She's damned, but she is not lost.
Ultramarines vs. Red Corsairs. Credit: Kevin Stillman
Final Thoughts
For a piece of tie-in fiction, I found Master of the Maelstrom to be a quick, fun read. The overall plot was pretty simple, which gave Brooks ample time to focus on building Huron's character. In addition to this book answering the single biggest missing thread from the 7th Edition to 8th Edition transition, we get a complement to the Lair of the Tyrant in showing the character of Huron and the Red Corsairs. The Red Corsairs are numerous, but they are riven by in-fighting and competition in a way that weakens them vis a vis the Imperium's unity. If you were looking for a good audiobook to play as background noise while you build and paint your Huron Blackheart and the Masters of the Maelstrom set, this novel is absolutely worth picking up. If you're not planning on painting up Huron right this minute, it's a good novel to read on the plane flight to Adepticon. I recommend it!
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