Barthol Van Voytz
Barthol Van Voytz was a Lord General of the Astra Militarum, active during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.[1a]
Biography
A core member of Slaydo's initial command group, he was an experienced and excellent commander with a history of battling the Dark Eldar. With the Calahad Brigade he had demonstrated his ability for battlefield command. Known as one of Slaydo's most experienced and capable generals on the level of Bulledin, Blackwood, or Cybon, his oddly mercurial character sometimes got the better of him. Post-Balhaut, after the ascent of Macaroth, Barthol found himself relegated to the thankless second front. Only when Macaroth’s front seemed to waver did Voytz and other older officers begin to regain some significance. Van Voytz rebuilt status and prestige in Macaroth’s eyes by his successful prosecution of the Cabal fortress worlds, despite the high losses. Prior to this, he had been something of a mentor to Ibram Gaunt, but these battles put a rift between them.[4]
Van Voytz was one of the older officers in the Crusade high command that attempted to unseat Macaroth at Urdesh in 792.M41, and attempted to groom Gaunt as a successor. But when it came to it, Gaunt refused to cooperate with the conspirators, but also didn't side with the Macaroth-loyal generals. Instead, he brokered a third way to avert the crisis by appealing to Macaroth directly. Van Voytz was the only lord militant to continue with his resistance, and he was now isolated and derailed.[4]
As punishment he was reprimanded and lost command of the Fifth Army, though he escaped demotion or fourth tier reassignment to a penal regiment or frontier world. He was killed in 792.M41 leading a counterattack against Woe Machine sleeper agents that had infiltrated the Urdeshic Palace.[3]
Habits
Van Voytz was also a noted bibliophile, to the point of taking portions of his private collection (many of which were mint, first-edition copies) with him on campaign, even into active warzones.[1b]
His library included[1b]:
- Breaching the Darkness by Sejanus
- The Chime of Eons by Garbo Mojaro
- The Considerations of Solon
- The Liber Doctrina Historicas
- The Life of Sabbat
- The Spheres of Longing by Gideon Ravenor
In addition to the actual volumes above, Van Voytz also owned a cased collection of the complete sermons of Thor, an early quarto of the Tactica Imperium and Slaydo's treatise on Balhaut.[1b]
