Lugh Odinson’s planning was sound in every respect; the only issue was that it required a staggering amount of resources.
According to his projections, the average worker would require 10 to 20 kilograms of corpse starch and 3 units of vitamin supplements per day.
Since the project mainly involved relocating existing factories and installing salvaged equipment, the construction phase was relatively short, estimated to last about one year.
In other words, the Astral Claws Chapter would need to shell out one to two million tons of corpse starch and 300 million units of vitamin supplements every single day for an entire year.
The starch wasn’t much of a problem; they had seized plenty during the crackdowns on the nobility.
However, vitamins were a luxury.
The entire Chapter didn’t even have 100 million units in stock, let alone the 300 million required daily.
Vitamins occupied an awkward niche in the Imperium—too expensive for the masses, yet only used by nobles as rewards for their personal servants.
Even after raiding the local aristocrats, they had only scrounged up a little over a billion units.
It was a drop in the bucket for a project of this scale.
Without the System, Lugft Huron would have been at his wit’s end.
He would have been forced to invent excuses to squeeze more “donations” out of the nobility or simply scrap the bonus altogether.
But with the System, things were much simpler.
The “Consumer Goods” production function of the civilian factories solved the problem directly.
A single civilian factory could produce 1 billion units of vitamin supplements per day.
Once the plan was finalized, a new project appeared on the previously empty “Construction” interface of the System panel.
[Starch Factory Expansion.
Estimated Completion: 1 year.
Civilian Factories assigned: (0/10).
Maximum acceleration: 6 months.]
Huron didn’t hesitate.
He assigned all 10 civilian factories to the task, cutting the construction time in half.
Coupled with the factory dedicated to vitamin production, Huron had two idle civilian factories remaining.
He planned to use these last two to provide supplies for the Chapter Auxilia.
Within the “Consumer Goods” catalog, he had discovered universal physical enhancement drugs like “Imperial Guard Gene-Boosters” and “Human Augmentation Serums.”
Even if the first few waves of the Auxilia were designated as administrative staff, Huron didn’t mind giving them a little physical edge.
After all, the future candidates for the Astartes would be selected from their ranks.
With the logistics settled, Huron dispatched Odinson and the newly formed government staff to begin their duties.
He, meanwhile, turned his attention to military organization.
The army training interface was largely similar to the original game, containing all the standard features, though the units were distinctly flavored for Warhammer—including special formations like “Astartes Companies.”
Indeed, Huron could train Astartes directly through the System, rapidly increasing their proficiency.
This was the source of Huron’s confidence.
He could transplant gene-seed the moment it matured without needing to wait for the recruits to slowly absorb the experience of veterans.
While these special units didn’t train as quickly as regular troops—who could reach Level 2 “Trained” status in two to four months—it only took the Astartes a few months longer.
The formation for training administrative personnel was simple: just pack as many men as possible into a single unit.
Thus, a “Super-Infantry Division” consisting entirely of infantry battalions was born.
Now, he just needed to secure the manpower.
Once the ranks were filled, training would begin.
In just two months, they would reach the “Trained” level.
In terms of basic competence—ignoring weaponry—they would be on par with the average Imperial Guardsman.
Some might wonder if that level of training was enough for low-level civil servants.
The answer was an unequivocal yes.
Due to the Imperium’s abysmal administrative capabilities, 99% of the population was barely literate, having received little more than the most basic prenatal education.
The Imperial Guard, as a standing force capable of cross-planetary combat, maintained a cultural and educational standard several levels higher than the average hive worlder (excluding specialized cases).
Knowledge of the cosmos, weapon maintenance protocols, training manuals, fleet transport regulations…
these training programs ensured that Guardsmen were not only literate but possessed a decent vocabulary and a broad range of knowledge.
Even if their educational level was roughly equivalent to a primary school student from a 21st-century superpower, it was more than enough to serve as a grassroots administrator.
Huron wasn’t looking for geniuses capable of ruling a world; he just needed people who could read, write, and understand common sense.
They could learn the rest on the job.
Aside from the “Super-Infantry Division” used for training bureaucrats, Huron began adjusting the “Astartes Company” templates.
After the new recruits’ surgeries were completed, Huron held a meeting with the other Chapter seniors to finalize the new organizational structure.
Referring to the Codex Astartes, the entire Chapter was divided into two Great Companies of one thousand men each.
The internal structure was similar to a Codex-compliant Chapter, but with the Scout and Training Companies removed.
Every company was a combat company.
The 1st Company served as the Veteran Company, intended to eventually become a Terminator Company.
Companies 2 through 6 were Tactical Companies, consisting of Battleline Squads, Fire Support Squads, and Close Support/Assault Squads.
Companies 7 and 8 were Fire Support Companies, specializing in tanks, artillery, and anti-armor assets.
Companies 9 and 10 were Assault Companies, concentrating most of the Astartes vehicles for pursuit, breakthroughs, and flanking maneuvers.
The Dreadnought Ancients were placed under the direct command of Chapter Headquarters, to be attached to Great Companies as needed.
Once the Great Company templates were set, Huron slotted the designated personnel into the organization and began exercises.
Exercises could raise proficiency to Level 3, “Regular.” For an Astartes, this was the level of a battle-brother who had just finished his apprenticeship—no longer a novice, but not yet a veteran.
While it seemed mediocre, it was actually the average standard for most Astartes.
After all, most Space Marines didn’t live long enough to become true veterans—that’s why veterans were so rare.
Huron checked the progress of the two Great Companies.
Without any other bonuses, purely through hard training, it would take about five years to reach the “Regular” level.
This might seem slow, but it was actually terrifying.
These recruits had been ordinary humans just days ago.
Their bodies hadn’t even fully matured yet; they were blank slates.
Other Chapters spent years on adaptive training during the transformation process, and it often took decades after the surgeries were finished to reach this level of proficiency.
With this capability alone, Huron was confident he could trade blows with Abaddon.
“Your ancient veterans are constantly being depleted, while my skilled recruits are inexhaustible.jpg”
With another matter settled, Huron turned his gaze toward the fleet.
There wasn’t much to say here for now.
Following the defeat during the pursuit of the Orks in 715.M41, the Chapter fleet was pitifully small, riddled with damage, and lacked facilities for repair.
In the original timeline, by 908.M41 during the Badab War, even after Huron had monopolized the Maelstrom Zone’s tithes for a century, the fleet he mustered wasn’t even as large as that of the Lamenters—a Chapter known for being impoverished.
At that time, the Lamenters possessed a mobile dockyard, 2 Forge Ships, 12 Support Ships, 2 Battle Barges, 6 Strike Cruisers, 3 Vanguard-class Light Cruisers, and 22 other assorted warships.
And the Astral Claws?
2 Battle Barges, 1 Cardinal-class Heavy Cruiser, 7 Strike Cruisers, 30 other warships, and 1 repair dock.
That was the result of Huron seizing the Maelstrom tithes for over a century.
The Lamenters would have probably laughed at him.
Currently, the Chapter fleet was even more pathetic: 2 Battle Barges, 4 Strike Cruisers, and 6 Gladius-class Frigates.
That was it.
Worse, every ship was damaged.
Two of the Gladius frigates even had holes punched through their keels.
Because of the tense relationship with the High Lords of Terra, the Astral Claws couldn’t even find a place to dock for repairs.
They had to figure it out themselves.
Assigning the only three available docks to repair the Gladius-class frigates—the ones with the least damage—Huron looked at the “1 year and 3 months” timer on the panel and finally let out a sigh of relief.
He had done all he could.
Now, he just had to wait for time to pass and witness the divine power of the System.