The Horus Heresy was a galaxy-spanning civil war that consumed the worlds of Mankind for 9 Terran years. Its outbreak marked the end of the Emperor of Mankind's Great Crusade to reunite the scattered colony worlds of humanity under a single government and the beginning of the current Age of the Imperium. The Horus Heresy is in many ways the founding event of the Imperium of Man as it now exists.
The Age of Apostasy was a second period of interstellar civil war that consumed the Imperium of Man in the early 36th Millennium. The terrible conflicts of the Age of Apostasy grew out of a political struggle between the Administratum and the Adeptus Ministorum for dominance over the Imperium. The period is usually divided into two separate major events by Imperial historians known as the Reign of Blood and the Plague of Unbelief. The struggle began when control over the Imperium's government was essentially seized by a single man, the High Lord of Terra Goge Vandire, who commanded both the Administratum and the Ecclesiarchy as Master of the Administratum and ecclesiarch and ruled the Imperium according to his own wishes instead of in accordance with the Emperor's will.
The Orks, also called greenskins, are a savage, warlike, green-skinned species of humanoids who possess physiological features of both animals and fungi who are spread all across the Milky Way Galaxy. They are seen by their enemies (pretty much everyone else in the universe) as savage, violent, and crude, but they are the most successful species in the whole galaxy, outnumbering possibly every other intelligent starfaring species, even Humanity (with the very plausible exception of the Tyranids).
The Lamenters are an unfortunate Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines which, perhaps more than any other Chapter of the present era, seems to have been cursed by a dark shadow that has long determined its fate. The Lamenters' accursed and haunted legacy seems to have tainted much of what they have achieved and their victories often become bitter ashes in their hands.
The Death Guard are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines. They worship and devote themselves exclusively to the Chaos God Nurgle and as a result of his mutational "gifts" they have become Plague Marines; Astartes who are eternally rotting away within their power armour and infected with every known form of disease and decay but who are immune to all pain or minor injury.
The Adeptus Custodes, known as the Legio Custodes during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras, is the Imperial adepta responsible for protecting the Imperial Palace and the physical body of the Emperor of Mankind, as well as serving as His most important emissaries, His companions, and the keepers of His many secrets. The Custodes is an elite cadre of genetically-engineered transhuman warriors who are even more potent in combat than the Adeptus Astartes. They are to the Space Marines as the Emperor is to His primarchs, and it is rumoured that they were each created by the Master of Mankind personally.
The Night Lords were originally the VIIIth Legion of Space Marines created during the First Founding. They betrayed the trust of the Emperor of Mankind during the Horus Heresy of the 31st Millennium and became one of the 9 Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines. The Night Lords do not worship any of the four Chaos Gods individually, but acknowledge them equally in the form of Chaos Undivided as they ruthlessly spread terror and fear amongst the galaxy's inhabitants. The Night Lords are experts in the use of terror tactics to win battles and demoralise their foes before the main combat even begins.
The Tyranids are an extragalactic composite species of hideous, insectoid xenos. They actually comprise an entire space-faring ecosystem comprised of innumerable different bioforms which are all variations on the same genetic theme. The Tyranids are unlike any other intelligent species encountered by Humanity. They are the ultimate predators; to them, all living things, from the lowliest insect to the most advanced starfaring civilisation, are mere prey. Only now are the inhabitants of the galaxy realising the scale of the threat; unless the Tyranids can be stopped, it will mean nothing less than the extinction of all life.
The Astra Militarum, also known as the Imperial Guard in colloquial Low Gothic, is the largest coherent fighting force in the galaxy. They serve as the Imperium of Man's primary combat force and first line of defence from the myriad threats which endanger the existence of the Human race in the 41st Millennium. It is comprised of countless billions of men and women -- hundreds of thousands of different regiments, supported by a vast array of light and heavy armoured vehicles that provide the Guard's primary offensive punch. The Astra Militarum are usually the first Imperial force to respond to a threat if a world's Planetary Defence Force (PDF) fails to suppress it.
Trazyn, also known as Trazyn the Infinite, is a Necron Overlord and the self-proclaimed Archaeovist of the Solemnace Galleries on the Necron Tomb World of Solemnace. Trazyn is a preserver of histories, artefacts and events, and often "liberates" what he wants from other alien races or even his fellow Necrons so that the treasures may be preserved in his galleries. Often performing his work through mindshackled cat's paws and surrogate body hosts, recent times have forced him to take a more active role in acquiring additions to his galleries lest the historical treasures be lost in the flames of war forever.
The Drukhari (pronounced Druh-KAR-ee) or "Dark Ones" in the Aeldari Lexicon, also known to outsiders as the Dark Eldar, are a forsaken and corrupt Aeldari kindred, the sadistic, malicious counterparts of the Asuryani. Like their cousins of the craftworlds, the Drukhari are an ancient and highly advanced alien race of fey humanoids. The alternative term "Dark Eldar," or Eladrith Ynneas in the Aeldari tongue, was first coined by the Drukhari archon and Supreme Overlord of Commorragh Asdrubael Vect in the 32nd Millennium. The Drukhari's armies, like their Craftworld Aeldari counterparts, usually have the advantages of mobility and advanced technology, though they are often lacking in resilience and numbers. The Drukhari revel in piracy, enslavement and torture, and are sadistic in the extreme. Drukhari armies make use of various anti-gravity skimmers such as Raiders and Ravagers to launch high speed attacks.
The Squats (Homo sapiens rotundus) were short, stocky and physically hardy Abhumans who were on average 1.4 metres tall and were adapted to the heavy gravity conditions that predominated on the worlds they had settled near the core of the Milky Way Galaxy. Of all the Abhuman types encountered by the Imperium, the Squats most closely resembled baseline Humans. Squats were the descendants of Human settlers who had colonised the worlds around the galactic core in the far distant past. These worlds are some of the oldest in the galaxy, formed when the galaxy's structure had not yet been fully stabilised. The Squat species was ultimately destroyed by the invasion of an unnamed Tyranid splinter hive fleet that consumed their homeworlds in the late 41st Millennium, though some survivors still serve in the Astra Militarum, hoping for revenge and to find a new beginning for the remnants of their race.
The Adeptus Mechanicus is the official Imperial name within the Adeptus Terra for the Cult Mechanicus or Cult of the Machine based on Mars which provides the Imperium with its scientists, engineers and technicians. The Adepts of the Mechanicus are the primary keepers of what is viewed as sacred wisdom, a privileged caste of Tech-priests who jealously guard the knowledge required to maintain and construct much of the Imperium's advanced technology.
Khorne, also called the Blood God and the Lord of Skulls, is the Chaos God of blood, war and murder. Its domain covers the most basic and brutal of sentient emotions and actions, such as hate, anger, rage, war and killing. Every act of killing or murder in the material universe feeds and empowers Khorne; the more senseless and destructive, the better. However, though Khorne is the god of bloody slaughter, it is also the god of martial pride and honour, of those who set themselves against the most dangerous foes and earn victory against the odds. A devotee of Khorne is as likely to be an honourable champion in combat as a blood-crazed slaughterer. Khornates take no artful approach to killing, seeking only to slay rather than to inflict pain, because while the blood and death of their victims strengthens Khorne, their suffering actually empowers its nemesis Slaanesh.
The T'au (Imperial binomial classification: Tau tau), also spelled Tau in older records and pronounced "TOW," are a young, humanoid and technologically-advanced intelligent species native to the Eastern Fringes of the Milky Way Galaxy. They are fighting to expand their interstellar empire and extend a philosophical concept they call the "Greater Good" (Tau'va in the T'au Lexicon) to all the intelligent species of the galaxy. The T'au claim to be a peaceful species when possible, asking if others will join their cause voluntarily instead of fighting against them. However, if their peaceful overtures are refused, the T'au may well decide to conquer a planet and add it to their growing interstellar empire for the Greater Good, searing the flesh from the bones of anyone who stands against their benign intentions.
The Necrons are a mysterious xenos species of humanoid, robotic skeletal warriors that have lain dormant in their stasis-tombs for more than 60 million Terran years, though they have begun to awaken at last. They are the soulless creations and former servants of the ancient C'tan, the terrible Star Gods of Aeldari myth. The Necrons are ancient beyond reckoning, predating even the birth of the Aeldari. At long last, however, they are beginning to awaken from their Tomb Worlds, for the galaxy is ripe for conquest and the restoration of the Necron Empire since the disappearance of the Old Ones more than 60 million standard years ago. The Necrons are a completely robotic humanoid species whose technological prowess is probably unmatched by any of the other intelligent species of the galaxy.
Abaddon, also known as Abaddon the Despoiler, once named Ezekyle Abaddon, is the Warmaster of Chaos, a Chaos Lord and the greatest Champion of Chaos Undivided in the galaxy. He is the commander of the Black Legion of Chaos Space Marines and is rumoured to be the clone-progeny of the Warmaster Horus, the greatest Traitor in Imperial history, and at one time his most favoured son amongst the Space Marines of the Sons of Horus Legion. Abaddon is now infamous for leading Black Crusades, the terrible military campaigns during which the normally fractious forces of Chaos unite under his leadership and launch a massive attack against the Imperium from within the Eye of Terror. The most recent of these attacks, the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, led to the fall of the vital Imperial Fortress World of Cadia, the birth of the Great Rift that divided the galaxy in half and the start of the Noctis Aeterna.
For ten thousand years Cadia has stood firm against the horrors spewed forth by the Eye of Terror. There are no records of how many valiant souls have fallen defending the fortress worlds of the Cadian Gate — but by their sacrifice, the tide of horror stemmed. But there is no sacrifice big enough to stop what is coming. Abaddon has unleashed the full might of his thirteenth Black Crusade and little hope remains. On Cadia itself, Ursarkar Creed and manifold Imperial forces mount a desperate defence, and they are soon to be joined by the strangest and most powerful of allies. Their arrival spurs a chain of events that will change things forever – the pylons will fall, the Eye will open, and a storm will come.
The Ultramarines are considered one of the strongest and most honoured of all the Space Marine Chapters in the Imperium of Man, and were responsible for almost single-handedly holding the Imperium together after the Horus Heresy. Highly disciplined and courageous warriors, the Ultramarines have remained true to the teachings of their Primarch Roboute Guilliman for 10,000 standard years. The Ultramarines were originally the XIIIth Space Marine Legion before the reforms that initiated the Second Founding and reshaped the Imperium after the Heresy on the orders of Guilliman himself as the lord commander of the Imperium and Imperial Regent.
Roboute Guilliman (pronounced Ruh-BOOT-ay GIL-li-man), sometimes referred to as the "Avenging Son," "The Victorious," "The Master of Ultramar" and "The Blade of Unity," is the primarch of the Ultramarines Space Marine Legion and its myriad subsequent Successor Chapters. He is the current lord commander of the Imperium and the ruling Imperial Regent. Held by some as a paragon among the Emperor's sons, Roboute Guilliman was as much a patrician statesman and empire-builder as he was an indefatigable warrior. A being of preternatural intelligence, cold reason and indomitable will, Guilliman forged his XIIIth Legion into a vast force of conquest and control, a weapon by which he made himself the master of a stellar domain in the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy, the Realm of Ultramar, which during his lifetime spanned five hundred worlds.
The Schola Progenium is one of the many divisions of the Adeptus Ministorum, the state church of the Imperium of Man. It is responsible for the upbringing, education and training of orphans, predominantly those of officers and nobles who have died in the service of the Imperium, often those who once served in the Astra Militarum or Imperial Navy. These children are known as the Progena, and most of them will end up serving the Ministorum or in other branches of the Adeptus Terra. Others will go on to become military leaders and special forces troops within the Imperial Guard or Imperial Navy such as elite Tempestus Scions or iron-willed Imperial commissars.
Trazyn the Infinite and Orikan the Diviner are opposites. Each is obsessed with their own speciality, and their rivalry spans millennia. Yet together, they may hold the secret to saving the necron race…
Angron, sometimes called the "Red Angel," and originally named Angronius of Nuceria, the "Lord of the Red Sands," is the primarch of the World Eaters Traitor Legion. He was the most savage of the primarchs. When Horus began his rebellion against the Emperor, Angron was quick to join in his treachery because of his long-lasting grudge against the Master of Mankind, but his only true master was the rage within him. He fell to Chaos during the Horus Heresy and was transformed into a Daemon Prince in the campaign known as the Shadow Crusade before that conflict had ended.
The World Eaters are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines who now inhabit the Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror in the Imperium of Man's Segmentum Obscurus. The World Eaters, originally known as the War Hounds, were also once the XIIth Legion of the twenty First Founding Space Marine Legions, and one of the first to betray the Emperor of Mankind for the service of Chaos and the Warmaster Horus. This Legion was a collection of nearly inhuman monsters long before Horus became corrupted and monsters they would remain, only with what little remained of their restraint and their Humanity stripped away after their fall to Chaos.
The Adepta Sororitas, colloquially called the "Sisterhood," whose military arm is also known as the Sisters of Battle and formerly as the Daughters of the Emperor, are an all-female division of the Imperium of Man's state church known as the Ecclesiarchy or, more formally, as the Adeptus Ministorum. The Sisterhood's Orders Militant serve as the Ecclesiarchy's armed forces, mercilessly rooting out spiritual corruption and heresy within Humanity and every organisation of the Adeptus Terra. There is naturally some overlap between the duties of the Sisterhood and the Imperial Inquisition; for this reason, although the Inquisition and the Sisterhood remain entirely separate organisations, the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas also act as the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus.
The Night Lords were originally the VIIIth Legion of Space Marines created during the First Founding. They betrayed the trust of the Emperor of Mankind during the Horus Heresy of the 31st Millennium and became one of the 9 Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines. The Night Lords do not worship any of the four Chaos Gods individually, but acknowledge them equally in the form of Chaos Undivided as they ruthlessly spread terror and fear amongst the galaxy's inhabitants. The Night Lords are experts in the use of terror tactics to win battles and demoralise their foes before the main combat even begins.
First and Only is a military science fiction novel by Dan Abnett, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Published in 1999, it is the first novel in the Gaunt's Ghosts series, which, as of 2019, consists of 16 novels and multiple short stories, as well as two spin-off novels (Titanicus and Double Eagle) and a companion book that acts as a mock history of the military campaign which forms the setting of the series.
Alpharius Omegon, also known as the "Aleph Null," "The Hydra," the "Threefold Serpent," "The Final Configuration" and the "Last Primarch," was one of the twenty primarchs created by the Emperor of Mankind in the earliest days of the Imperium of Man, just after the end of the Age of Strife in the 30th Millennium. In truth, Alpharius Omegon was actually a pair of identical twin brothers, one named Alpharius and the other Omegon. Of all the primarchs of the Legiones Astartes, Alpharius was without a doubt the most steeped in mystery, legend, contradiction and deliberate falsification. The primarch of the Alpha Legion shrouded himself in mystery, often moving unseen even amongst the ranks of his own Legion. However, when the time came to cast off the cloak of misdirection, Alpharius was as awe-inspiring a being as any of his brother primarchs. Clad in armour forged in the manner of some terrifying beast of ancient Terran myth and armed with a fearsome panoply of weapons of unknown proven
A Squig (short for "Squiggly Beast") is the simplest known form of Orkoid life. There are many types of Squig, each generally filling some functional or utilitarian role in the Ork ecosystem. They currently serve as the Orks' primary food source, much like herd animals are for Humans. There are many types of Squigs, but each can be generalised into a single variety, such as edible, musical, hair, medical, parasite-hunting, face-eaters, pet, buzzing and paint Squigs. Some, like the face-eater types, are little more than snapping, fanged mouths on legs. Squigs naturally grow and breed within the cesspits of Ork settlements, subsisting on Ork refuse. Tending the Squigs is the duty of the low-caste Orkoids known as Snotlings.
The Officio Assassinorum is a highly secretive agency of the Imperium of Man's government that employs different "temples" that train human Assassins to further the goals and protect the security of the Imperium of Man. Although the Inquisition strikes fear in the hearts of all Imperial citizens, loyal and corrupt alike, the deadly disciples of the Officio Assassinorum strike fear in the hearts of even the most savvy, battle-hardened of Imperial warriors.
Jaghatai Khan (pronounced Jagg-a-tie KAAN), also known as "The Great Khan," "the Khagan" and the "Warhawk," was the primarch of the V Legion of Space Marines, the White Scars, who led them through the years of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. Jaghatai fought alongside his White Scars for another 70 standard years following the end of the Heresy, eventually disappearing in 084.M31 into a region of space known as the Maelstrom, a large Warp rift in the Ultima Segmentum that is a smaller counterpart of the Eye of Terror.
The Night Lords were once among the most potent forces of the Imperium, Space Marines who used fear itself as their weapon. Now, cast adrift from the Emperor's light and hunted as heretics after their monstrous betrayal, the Night Lords clad themselves in symbols of death and fight the Long War, bringing pain and terror to all who worship the corpse-god of Terra. A summons from Warmaster Abaddon sends these rebels on a dangerous journey that leads inexorably to a conflict with the Emperor's chosen warriors, the Blood Angels.
The White Scars, who call themselves the "Horde of Jaghatai" and were originally called the Star Hunters during the early Great Crusade, are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter and one of the First Founding Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. Known and feared throughout the Imperium of Man for their highly mobile way of war, the White Scars are considered the masters of the lightning strike and hit-and-run attack and are particularly adapted to the use of the Astartes Assault Bike as their mechanical steeds and their forces contain an unusually large number of Bike Squads compared to other Chapters. Bearing the ritual scars of bravery, these fierce warriors fight with all the tribal savagery that define the fierce steppe nomads of their homeworld Mundus Planus, known to them as Chogoris, bringing swift death to all of the enemies of the Imperium.
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The Asuryani ("children of Asuryan" in the Aeldari Lexicon), also called Craftworld Aeldari as they were named before the fall of their lost realm, or the Eldar as they were long known to outsiders, are an ancient humanoid alien species whose vast empire once extended the width and breadth of the known galaxy. The Asuryani are a kindred of the Aeldari race who now live on vast, city-like starships called craftworlds.
A Dreadnought is a cybernetic combat walker of intermediate size used by the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes as heavy infantry support for their Space Marine companies. The most common form of Dreadnought deployed in the late 41st Millennium is officially designated a Castraferrum Pattern Dreadnought. Even the superhuman Space Marines are still mortal and can fall in battle despite legends to the contrary amongst the common people of the Imperium of Man. Dreadnoughts are war incarnate, towering machines that advance forwards with thunderous strides, fiery death roaring from the myriad of heavy weapons mounted on their hulls. They are terrifying foes, fighting with all the skill and ferocity of a Space Marine, but combined with the durability and firepower of a battle tank.
Each Chapter of Space Marines has its own methods of recruiting young warriors to fill its ranks. Many are based on a single homeworld and recruit solely from that populace, setting trials and tests for prospective candidates to weed out all but the strongest and the most faithful. These worlds are often technologically backward with strong militaristic societies, where male children who show potential are pushed harder and harder, that they may one day have a chance to join the ranks of the Space Marines, who are often known to such peoples as "star warriors," "sky knights," or similar names. Because Feral Worlds are rough, primitive, and untamed, their inhabitants invariably provide excellent recruits. For true aggression and nigh-psychotic killer-instinct, however, few recruits can best the murderous city-scum that roam the darkest pits of the Imperium's many Hive Worlds. Driven to extremes of violence by the pressures of Hive World living, these merciless killers are usually ign
Blood Reaver is the second novel in the Night Lords Series by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. Driven on by their hatred of the False Emperor, the Night Lords stalk the shadows of the galaxy, eternally seeking revenge for the death of their primarch. Their dark quest leads them to a fractious alliance with the Red Corsairs, united only by a common enemy. Together with this piratical band of renegades, they bring their ways of destruction to the fortress-monastery of the Marines Errant.
Xenos (pronounced ZEE-nahs or zehn-AHS) is a High Gothic term used by the people and adepta of the Imperium of Man that means "stranger" and "alien." It is often used by the Adeptus Terra to signify enemy aliens or off-world, non-Human forces. The main starfaring, intelligent xenos species in the Milky Way Galaxy are the Drukhari, Aeldari, Necrons, Orks, T'au and Tyranids, though there are countless other intelligent alien species, most of them hostile, that Mankind has encountered over the long millennia of its expansion across the stars.
A Genestealer Cult is a xenos-worshipping secret society made up of and controlled by Tyranid Genestealers that thrives in the dark corners of the Imperial underworld across the galaxy. Secretive, stealthy, and utterly malignant, Genestealer Cults are the cancers growing unseen in the hidden spaces of Mankind's realm. Their purpose is to rise up and take control of Imperial worlds in the name of a xenos god that is actually a Tyranid Hive Fleet. Once the world is under their control, the cultists' psychic emanations are picked up by the closest Hive Fleet's extension of the Hive Mind which is then drawn to consume the world, cultists and all.
The Catachan Jungle Fighters are the members of the Astra Militarum Militarum Regimentum that has been recruited from the Death World of Catachan. They have the well-deserved reputation of being the deadliest practitioners of jungle warfare in the galaxy. Their homeworld of Catachan is a jungle Death World, where natural selection ensures only the most deadly flora and fauna survive. Extremely resourceful and uncompromising warriors, the natives of Catachan recruited into the Imperial Guard are deadly melee fighters with their specialised close combat blades or from ambush with their Lascarbines. In jungle terrain they are unsurpassed by nearly any other mortal soldiers in the Imperium, with each Catachan Fighter being worth ten soldiers from any other regiment. The skills learned in the jungles of Catachan are easily adapted to other war zones.
Whilst lacking the more technologically-advanced vehicles available to the elite branches of the Imperium's military like the Inquisition and the Space Marines, the Imperial Guard does possess the largest selection of ordnance and potent armoured fighting vehicles amongst all the factions fighting for dominance in the Milky Way Galaxy The Baneblade is the primary super-heavy tank of the Astra Militarum, and one of the largest and oldest armoured fighting vehicles in the service of the Imperial armed forces. The tank is a venerated Standard Template Construct (STC) design, with ten people needed to fully crew one. It is also one of the oldest STC designs in existence. They are often used as command vehicles by Imperial Guard commanders. The Chimera is the standard armoured personnel carrier (APC) of the Astra Militarum and its chassis is the basis for a large number of other Imperial armoured vehicles such as the Basilisk artillery and Salamander scout vehicles. The basic Chimera is e
Perturabo, sometimes called the "Lord of Iron," "The Breaker" and "The Hammer of Olympia," is the primarch of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion, one of the original twenty Space Marine Legions. Weaned on war and intrigue in the strife-ridden courts of his homeworld of Olympia, Perturabo was a grim warrior and master of technological arcana who wielded logic and the mathematics of warfare as keenly as he did a blade and Bolter. The Lord of Iron was taciturn to the point of insult, preferring to harbour his thoughts against the threat of treachery, even amongst his kin. Few would call him friend, but none could fault his ability to wage a campaign and plot the most direct course to victory regardless of the cost and despite the strain put on him and his IVth Legion during the long years of the Great Crusade. His word was as unbreakable as iron.
The hunters have become the hunted. The Night Lords flee to the dark fringes of the Imperium to escape their relentless pursuers - the aeldari of Craftworld Ulthwé. Their flight takes them to the carrion world of Tsagualsa, where their primarch died and their Legion was broken. There, history will repeat itself as a deadly assassin stalks the shadows, and the Night Lords are drawn into a battle they are destined to lose.
The Iron Warriors are one of the nine First Founding Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines that turned to the service of Chaos during the Horus Heresy and now fight to overthrow the Imperium of Man. The Iron Warriors, who were originally the IVth Legion of Space Marines, specialised in the breaking of sieges and assaults on static fortifications, which made them great rivals of the Imperial Fists Legion, said to construct the greatest static defences in the Imperium. It was this rivalry between the Legions, and between their primarchs Perturabo and the Imperial Fists' Rogal Dorn, that helped turn the Iron Warriors to Chaos. Like the members of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Loyalist Iron Hands Chapter, the Iron Warriors have a strong predilection for replacing parts of their body with cybernetic enhancements. When struck with a mutational "gift" from the Ruinous Powers, most Iron Warriors simply cut off the mutated appendage, if possible, and replace it with a mechanical one.
Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka (usually shortened to Ghazghkull Thraka) is an Ork Warlord of the Goff klan and a mighty prophet of the WAAAGH!. He is the single most influential Ork in the galaxy in the late 41st Millennium, and billions of greenskins march to war in his name. Since Ghazghkull's rise to power, he has led countless campaigns of destruction. He has crushed Aeldari war hosts, banished tides of daemons, and smashed phalanxes of Necrons to so much sparking scrap. Yet his greatest battles have always been fought against the servants of the Emperor of Mankind. Ghazghkull's sheer, unstoppable brutality has left countless worlds of the Imperium blazing in his wake and reduced the mighty Hive World of Armageddon, during the Second and Third War for Armageddon, to a never-ending cauldron of bloody battle. Yet Ghazghkull is not satisfied. Gork and Mork have greater plans for their prophet, plans they see fit to deliver amid agonising visions of a galaxy ablaze with green fire. At
Ork Clans are cultural groupings of Orks rather than actual communities, each embodying a distinct Orkish philosophy. Clans exist outside the organization of tribes - where tribes are inconstant, breaking apart and reforming in war, Clans are constant and enduring. There are countless tribes and warbands throughout the galaxy, but only six significant Clans. Each has its own distinct character, culture, colours, markings, and ways of waging war. The Clan distinctions are possibly genetic, engineered into the Orks by the Brainboys of the distant past. A large tribe usually consists of Orks of different Clans. Orks tend to form tribes and warbands with others who follow the same clan, but different groups tend to be lumped together after suffering casualties during a Waaagh!.
The Sisters of Silence are an all-female order of Imperial Witch Hunters tasked with hunting down rogue psykers and other psychic threats across the galaxy. They also help to enforce the Imperium's rigid laws on the use of psychic powers. The Silent Sisterhood was most active during the time of the Great Crusade in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia. In the wake of the Horus Heresy they became far less active in Imperial affairs to such a degree that for most of the last 10,000 Terran years the order was wrongfully believed to have been disbanded. Yet the Sisters of Silence have recently returned to prominence in the Imperium of Man following the birth of the Great Rift and the start of the Era Indomitus.
Imotekh, also known as Imotekh the Stormlord or simply the Stormlord, is the phaeron of the Sautekh Dynasty and perhaps the strongest and most accomplished Necron Overlord in the galaxy at the end of the 41st Millennium. Imotekh rules over a Necron stellar empire currently comprising 80 Tomb Worlds. Renowned for his supreme strategic genius and pride, he has led successful campaigns across entire sectors to expand his growing realm against the lesser sentient races of the galaxy.
Ufthak Blackhawk and the green tide descend upon Hephaesto - an Adeptus Mechanicus forge world bristling with loot - only to find it already under siege by the notorious Freebooter Kaptin Badrukk. When his warboss, Da Biggest Big Mek, orders temporary co-operation, Ufthak seeks to make a name for himself by crushing some of the Imperium's most advanced defenders and claiming the greatest prize. But with a sinister new war machine on the horizon, Badrukk's plotting, and a thoroughly annoying grot in his way, Ufthak is going to need the brutal kunnin' of Mork himself just to survive.
Nurgle is known also as "Grandfather Nurgle," the "Lord of Pestilence" and the "Lord of Decay." It is the third of the Chaos Gods to fully awake within the Warp, emerging during the 2nd Millennium in the midst of Terra's European Middle Ages, as great plagues swept across the world heralding the god's birth. Nurgle is the Chaos God most directly involved with the plights of mortals, particularly humans who suffer so acutely from a fear of death, perhaps the oldest fear of that species, or any other. While Nurgle is the god of death and decay, it is also the god of rebirth. Decay is simply one part of the cycle of life, without which no new life could grow. In the same way, Nurgle is also the god of perseverance and survival.
The Imperial Knights, or Questor Imperialis in High Gothic, are piloted robotic combat walkers of medium size in the service of the Imperium and sometimes the Adeptus Mechanicus. Each Knight is piloted by a single Human warrior drawn from an ancient feudal aristocratic culture that stretches across the galaxy. However, a Knight is smaller and less capable in combat than even the smallest class of true Titan utilised by the Collegia Titanica, the Warhound-class Scout Titan. Knights normally deploy in squadrons comprised of several of these war machines. These ancient battlesuits stand thirty to forty Terran feet (9 to 12 metres) tall, are protected by nearly impenetrable Ion Shields and armed with a devastating array of heavy weapons. Imperial Knights are colossal war machines that tower over the battlefield. They are propelled into battle by powerful servos and have the power to kick over tanks and crush soldiers into red paste.
Lifelong Warhammer fan Bricky and grimdark greenhorn Dkdiamantes delve into the incredibly vast ocean that is Warhammer 40000 lore. From superhuman space warriors to depraved cultists and green-skinned Mad Max rejects, not even the most ridiculous aspects of this setting are off the table for these two mad men.
Hive Fleet Behemoth was the first Tyranid Hive Fleet encountered by the Imperium, and was also the first contact the Imperium had with the Tyranids as a race. Behemoth made a juggernaut rush into the Galaxy from the Eastern Fringe and proceeded into Ultramar, resulting in what became known as the First Tyrannic War. It was eventually destroyed at the Battle for Macragge in 745.M41 The Battle of Macragge was the greatest test ever faced by the Ultramarines Chapter of Space Marines when they confronted and defeated the first invasion of the Milky Way Galaxy by the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Behemoth in 745.M41, bringing an end to the First Tyrannic War. The victory would lead to several changes in the Chapter's tactical organisation and doctrine to fight this new threat, including the introduction of the Tyrannic War Veterans.
The Drukhari (pronounced Druh-KAR-ee) or "Dark Ones" in the Aeldari Lexicon, also known to outsiders as the Dark Eldar, are a forsaken and corrupt Aeldari kindred, the sadistic, malicious counterparts of the Asuryani. Like their cousins of the craftworlds, the Drukhari are an ancient and highly advanced alien race of fey humanoids. A Kabal of the Drukhari is an autonomous military organisation that exists somewhere in the gray zone between a criminal cartel, a pirate fraternity and a noble household for that sadistic Aeldari kindred. The Haemonculi, the Lords of Pain, are horrific and insane Drukhari flesh-sculptors who have lived within the depths of Commorragh for many Terran centuries, if not millennia. The Wych Cults or Hekatarii of Commorragh are second in prestige in Drukhari society only to the Kabals that sponsor them.
On an Imperial outpost world on the fringes of tau space, the renowned Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his fractious regiment of Valhallan Guard, newly created from the remnants of two devastated units, find themselves in the middle of a war. As the Astra Militarum struggle to contain worldwide civil insurrection, can the wily Commissar Cain identify the real villain before the planet is lost to the Imperium forever?
Vulkan was one of the 20 superhuman primarchs and a Perpetual created by the Emperor of Mankind from altered versions of His own DNA to lead his Great Crusade and reunite the scattered peoples of Humanity within the Imperium of Man. The XVIIIth Legion, created from Vulkan's genome and originally known as the Dragon Warriors, was re-named the Salamanders after the great fire-resistant reptiles native to his volcanic homeworld of Nocturne in memory of the legendary contest between the Emperor and Vulkan that had involved slaying one of those dangerous beasts. The outcome of this contest had revealed the Emperor's identity to Vulkan and restored the Primarch to the Imperium. Approximately a thousand standard years after the Horus Heresy, Vulkan hid 9 sacred artefacts he had created around the galaxy for the Salamanders to find, intended as a test to see if they were worthy of his leadership. He then disappeared, leaving his genetic sons with the message that whenever the Forgefather of
The Salamanders are one of the Loyalist First Founding Chapters of Space Marines. They originally served as the Imperium's XVIIIth Space Marine Legion during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy and for some time before the return of their primarch were known as the "Dragon Warriors." Their homeworld is the volcanic Death World of Nocturne.
The Daemonculaba was the name given to the individuals used in the attempt to create new Chaos Space Marines, making use of the uncorrupted gene-seed stolen from the Imperial Fists' repository on the world of Hydra Cordatus. It was a project undertaken by the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion, and overseen by the Warsmith Honsou. It took place deep within the dungeons of Khalan-Ghol, Honsou's fortress on the Daemon World of Medrengard. The project was destroyed through the efforts of Captain Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines Chapter and his small band of allies.
The Ithakas Dynasty are a Dynasty of the Necrons. It is in the terminal stages of decline and the Dynasty is currently facing annihilation, at the hands of an Ork invasion. Oltyx is a disgraced Necron Lord, who is forced to return to his Dynasty in order to bring word of an Ork invasion. This forces him to return to the very court that cast him out, but when Oltyx arrives there, the Lord discovers the Orks are the least of the horrors he will face.
The Harlequins, or Rillietann, are a unique subset of the Eldar race, who split their time between being talented battlefield fighters and theatrical performers. They exist outside of normal Eldar society and hold no allegiance to any Craftworld, Kabal, or other form of authority other than to their own belief in the Eldar deity Cegorach, the Laughing God.
The Emperor of Mankind, often referred to by His faithful as the "God-Emperor," the "Master of Mankind," or simply "the Emperor," is the immortal Perpetual and psyker who serves as the reigning monarch of the Imperium of Man, and is described by the Imperial Ecclesiarchy and the Imperial Cult as the Father, Guardian and God of Humanity.
Slaanesh, also known as the "Dark Prince," the "Prince of Pleasure," the "Lord of Excess," the "Perfect Prince," and "Prince of Chaos" in the Imperium of Man and "She Who Thirsts" among the Aeldari, is the Chaos God of pleasure, hedonism, excess and decadence. Lust, pride and self-indulgence are the hallmarks of all who follow it.
interview with Richard Reed, Multi-Award Winning Actor, heard in Total War Warhammer II, Elite Dangerous, Thrones of Britannia, Audible, Games Workshop and more!
The Carcharodons, also known as the Carcharodons Astra in High Gothic and sometimes as the "Space Sharks" in Low Gothic, is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of an unknown Founding, though it has been alleged to be either an ancient Chapter born as early as the Second Founding, or a relatively new Chapter raised during the 23rd Founding.
The Lasgun, also sometimes referred to as a Lasrifle, is a directed-energy antipersonnel weapon used by the military forces of the Imperium of Man, and it is the most common and widely-used type of laser weapon in the galaxy. It is standard-issue for the Adeptus Mechanicus' cybernetic Skitarii infantry, all Astra Militarum rank-and-file infantry and most junior Astra Militarum officers. Lasguns are reliable, easy to maintain and to produce, and are readily available on most Imperial worlds.
The Farsight Enclaves, known as the "Forbidden Zone" in the T'au Empire, are a series of heavily-fortified T'au colony worlds that are independent and indeed opposed to the rule of the T'au Empire and its Ethereals. They are ruled by the legendary Fire Caste Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr, known to the Imperium as Commander Farsight, and lie on the far side of the Damocles Gulf region of the Segmentum Ultima in the Eastern Fringe of the Milky Way Galaxy.
The Death Guard are one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines. They worship and devote themselves exclusively to the Chaos God Nurgle and as a result of his mutational "gifts" they have become Plague Marines; Astartes who are eternally rotting away within their power armour and infected with every known form of disease and decay but who are immune to all pain or minor injury.
The Octarius War is a major conflict being waged between the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan and the powerful Ork Empire of Octarius as well as tangential players such as the Imperium and Forces of Chaos.
D. B. Cooper is a media epithet used to refer to an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in United States airspace on the afternoon of November 24, 1971. The aircraft was operated by Northwest Orient Airlines and was flying from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington. The hijacker extorted $200,000 in ransom (equivalent to $1,278,000 in 2020), asked to be flown to Reno, Nevada, then parachuted to an uncertain fate over southwestern Washington part-way through the second flight. A small portion of the ransom was found along the banks of the Columbia River in 1980, which triggered renewed interest but ultimately only deepened the mystery; the great majority of the ransom remains unrecovered. The man purchased his airline ticket using the alias Dan Cooper but, because of a news miscommunication, became known in popular culture as D. B. Cooper.
The Octarius War is a major conflict being waged between the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan and the powerful Ork Empire of Octarius as well as tangential players such as the Imperium and Forces of Chaos.
Rogal Dorn, known as "The Vigilant," the "Praetorian of Terra" and the "Unyielding One," and to his gene-sons by the "wall-name" of "Defiance," was the primarch of the Imperial Fists Space Marine Legion and one of the greatest heroes in the history of the Imperium of Man. A being of thunderous zeal and stone made manifest is how many described the primarch of the VIIth Legion. He had a stern and naturally unsmiling face, topped with an unruly shock of short, bone-white hair. His zeal was the fire of a son who believed in his father's dream for the Imperium without reservation and without question. To Rogal Dorn there was no higher purpose to the existence of the Legiones Astartes than the unification of Mankind, and the illumination of the Imperium's ideals. This idealism drove Dorn and his Legion ever onwards, never compromising, never stinting in any aspect of duty. The stone in his soul was his ability to bear whatever his father needed of him, an unyielding nature, which made him
The Imperial Fists are one of the First Founding Chapters of the Space Marines and were originally the VIIthLegion of the Legiones Astartes raised by the Emperor Himself from across Terra during the Unification Wars. The Imperial Fists stand out from other Space Marine Chapters since they possess no fixed homeworld, although they are most frequently based on Terra. Instead, the Imperial Fists rely on their 10,000-year-old mobile space fortress, Phalanx, to serve as their fortress-monastery. They maintain recruitment-chapels on various worlds spread throughout the Imperium. Part of the Imperial Fists' duties during the Great Crusade were to function as the Emperor's "personal praetorians," accompanying Him everywhere.
The Squats (Homo sapiens rotundus), who refer to themselves as the "Kin," and are organized into a polity known as the Leagues of Votann, are short, stocky and physically hardy Abhumans, a subspecies of Humanity, who were on average 1.4 metres tall and were adapted to the heavy gravity conditions that predominated on the worlds they had settled near the core of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Krieg is a dead world. Fifteen hundred years ago, it declared its independence from the Imperium of Man, and paid the price. One loyal soul defied its treacherous rulers, and laid the world to waste. From these ashes emerged a unique fighting force, forged and tempered in nuclear fire... Today, the Death Korps of Krieg lay siege to a captured hive ctiy on the outskirts of the system-spanning Octarius War, in a desperate attempt to secure the cordon that stops untold masses of Orks and Tyranids from spilling out into the Imperium at large. The Korpsmen are relentless, ruthless, implacable, and unstoppable, even in the face of a war that seems unwinnable. How far will they go to achieve victory, and is history doomed to repeat itself? Written by Steve Lyons.
The vehicles of the Space Marines are suited to their role as a rapid-strike planetary assault force, focusing more on speed and mobility rather than protection or sheer destructive potential. The vehicles used by the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes include the: Rhino Razorback Predator Destructor Predator Annihilator Baal Predator Deimos Rhino Deimos Predator Destructor Deimos Predator Annihilator Deimos Predator Executioner Deimos Predator Infernus Land Speeder Land Speeder Tornado Land Speeder Typhoon Land Speeder Tempest Land Speeder Storm Land Speeder Vengeance (Ravenwing) Ravenwing Darkshroud (Ravenwing) Javelin Attack Speeder Land Raider Phobos Land Raider Crusader Land Raider Helios Land Raider Prometheus Land Raider Achilles Land Raider Proteus Land Raider Redeemer Land Raider Ares Land Raider Terminus Ultra Land Raider Tartarus Spartan Assault Tank Typhon Heavy Siege Tank Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer Sicaran Battle Tank Sicaran Venator Mastodon
On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1945, a fire destroyed the Sodder residence in Fayetteville, West Virginia, United States. At the time, it was occupied by George Sodder, his wife Jennie, and nine of their ten children. During the fire, George, Jennie, and four of the nine children escaped. The bodies of the other five children have never been found. The surviving Sodder family believed for the rest of their lives that the five missing children survived.
A hive fleet is a large armada of living, biomechanical starships created by the Tyranids for the purpose of gathering the raw materials and biomass necessary for the reproduction, evolution and expansion of their species. A hive fleet is used to attack and strip star systems of their biomass using the full range of Tyranid bioforms. Only three primary Tyranid hive fleets and a host of smaller splinter fleets have ever come into direct contact with the Imperium of Man, but they have all brought devastating damage and loss of life.
A Forge World is the Imperial term used for the numerous planets that are directly controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus. All have in common a complete dedication to the manufacture of the various machines and devices of the Imperium, the pursuit and preservation of (ancient) scientific and technical knowledge and the worship of the Machine God. Because of the Adeptus Mechanicus' monopoly on technical knowledge and expertise in Imperial culture, the Forge Worlds are the Imperium's primary source of all kinds of hardware: from farming equipment to war machines such as starships, tanks, aerospace fighters, or even Titans.
Of the billions of greenskins who swarm the galaxy, only the name of one strikes fear into the hearts of human and xenos alike: Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. The Warlord of Warlords. The Beast of Armageddon. The Prophet of the Waaagh! With his tusks, fists, and power claw, he does the holy work of Gork and Mork – and soon all worlds will burn in his bootprints. Mystery shrouds how such a beast came to exist, and rumours abound that the mighty warlord was once just like any other ork. But if that is the case, how did his ascendance come to be? Many have lost their minds trying to unravel the mystery. Lord Inquisitor Tytonida Falx has headed into the murky depths of heresy to find the answer, only this time, something is different. She possesses something the others did not. Custody of the one creature in the universe who claims to know the truth of it all. Ghazghkull’s banner bearer: Makari the Grot.
The Inquisition, formally called the Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition, is a secret organization that exists outside of the standard administrative hierarchy of the Imperium of Man. The Inquisition acts as the secret police force of the Imperium, hunting down any and all of the myriad threats to the stability of the God-Emperor's realm, from the corruption caused by the forces of Chaos, Heretics, mutants and rebels, to assaults from vicious alien species like the Tyranids, Orks or Drukhari.
interview with Richard Reed, Multi-Award Winning Actor, heard in Total War Warhammer II, Elite Dangerous, Thrones of Britannia, Audible, Games Workshop and more!
