First Rangdan Xenocide

The Emperor in the wake of the First Rangdan Xenocides walking amongst the veteran survivors of the war.

### Defending Commander

Emperor of Mankind
Legion Master Helron of the Horned Sentinels
First Captain Osmandiel of the Venom Stalkers
Legion Master Surag Genden of the Silver Wings
First Praetor Dorsenne Soult of the Imperial Justicars

### Strength (Attackers)

Rangdan Cerabvores, Rangdan Osseivores, Slaught murder-minds

### Strength (Defenders)

The Horned Sentinels
The Venom Stalkers
The Desert Marauders
The Revenant Legion
The Sable Choir
The Silver Wings
The Faceless Heralds
The Imperial Justicars
The XXth Legion
Legio Custodes
Heavy presence of Imperial Army, Mechanicum, Titanicus and Knightly house forces

### Casualties (Defenders)

An estimated 75% of the 100,000 Astartes deployed
Extremely heavy amongst the Imperial Army, Mechanicum, Titanicus and Knightly house forces
Unknown, presumed small, number of the Legio Custodes

### Outcome

The Rangdan menace is dislodged from the outermost holding of their galactic empire, and retreat to their inner systems far beyond the Imperium's boarders.

The **Rangdan Xenocides** were a series of three xenocidal campaigns of the Great Crusade carried out against the xenos threat known as the Rangdan Cerabvores. Each of these three conflicts was deverstating to the Imperium.

These wars were amongst the most terrible of any yet fought by the Expeditionary Fleets of the burgeoning Imperium of Man. The initial threat was only stymied after the intervention of the Emperor Himself and at nine Space Marine Legions, over a dozen *Legio Titanicus* Titan Legions, several Imperial KnightHouses, the military forces of the Mechanicum and millions of troops of the Imperialis Auxilia.

Of all of the Xenocides however, the first is considered the most deadly, the conflict arrising when the Imperium was young, and could have been snuffed out by the war.

## History

The First Rangdan Xenocides were a war fought in utter Chaos; the Great Crusade still in its infancy, the legions yet to truly grow and none yet reunited with their sires. So heavy was the toll on the nascent Imperium that few truly remember the events of those dark days, the records lost or sealed. Those few pieces that do exist are presented here in their unabridged form.

In M30.801, a mere three years after the first of the Emperor’s mighty legions had travelled beyond the light of Sol, the XVIth Legion, already known as the Imperial Justicars, were set upon by an unknown foe, though one the entire Imperium would soon come to recognise them as the feared and reviled ‘Rangdan’. Though they fought bravely, the unending waves of Rangdan cerabvores tore into the XVIth, and of the ten thousand who entered the conflict, barely a handful survived. For many legions, this would have been a death sentence, or at least represented a significant loss of manpower only to be reversed upon discovery of their Primarch. However, within the span of a few years, the Imperial Justicars numbers had recovered to the point where they could join the frontline once more, a feat which did not go unnoticed througout the Imperium, though its method was unknown to all.

As the Rangdan poured into the nascent Imperium, three legions were deployed to slow the tide, the Ist, as yet unnamed, the IInd, known as the Venom Stalkers from the wars of Terra, and the XIVth, only recently gaining the name of Silver Wings from a recent compliance action. The Ist took the brunt of the frontline fighting, this act soon leading to them too gaining a title of their own, in their role as line holders in the war they were named the Horned Sentinels. As the Sentinels held the frontline, the Venom Stalkers provided artillery and biological warfare support, while the Silver Wings acted as an outrider and interdiction force, exploiting or sealing gaps in either line. It was in this was that all three legions began to truly refine their standard operating tactics, those they had first started developing in the wars on Terra and in the Sol system, and yet it was still not enough, the Rangdan proving too strong for even that force to fight alone.

And then, as all seemed lost, the Emperor himself arrived, his burning sword held high as he took the fight to the Rangdan, and in his wake poured the might of the Imperium, undeniable even in those early days; the famed Custodes, millions of soldiers of the Imperial Army, the Mechanicum, and finally, five whole legions, each chosen for a specific reason.

The VIth, the Desert Marauders, became the armoured fist of the Imperium upon those battlefields, crushing Rangdan beneath their armoured treads with vengeful fury, while the IXth, the shunned Revenant Legion, were unleashed in all their fury, ctearing apart the enemy with no thought for mercy or their own survival. The Xth, the Sable Choir, brought forth their taciturn combat methods, relentlessly taking up positions behind other legions, providing deadly fire support when required, or even deploying their unique blank units to combat the Rangdan Psykers. The XVth, the helmed warriors of the Faceless Heralds, persecuted the war in silence, deployed alone often, seperated in battle as they were in peace. And  finally, the unnamed XXth legion was unleashed. Never before bloodied in combat, the only legion to not see action in the campaigns of Sol, the XXth now unleashed the full scope of their fury, Phospex and Exterminatus class weapons common in their armoury, while in others they were rare commodities.

With these five legions, the Imperum first broke the momentum of the Rangdan, before finally hurling them back. Everywhere the Xenos tried to strike, the Imperium was ready for them, nine battered legions finally breaking the swarm, the survivors fleeing back to their hidden territories beyond the borders of the Imperium, deep into uncharted space. None truly believed they had been defeated, the Imperium began preparing for a reckoning with the deadly species, though as it turned out, their preparations were woefully under-scaled.

The First Rangdan Xenocide is remembered as seeing the largest percentage of casualties amongst all Imperial forces; the others eclipsing it in terms of sheer numbers, but the threat of the First was still absolute. At a time where the Imperium was new, the Rangdan could have easily stopped the spread of Mankind's influence, halting the Great Crusade in its tracks. Only by the Grace of the Emperor and his staunch defenders was such crisis averted, though at great cost. Amongst the legions, of the close to 100,000 warriors deployed to the front, barely 25,000 remained as the war came to an end. Amongst the other forces, no accurate figure exists, though it is believed to have been near total for all, save the Legio Custodes themselves.

## Notable Participants

**The Emperor of Mankind**

**Legion Master Helron of the Horned Sentinels** -

**First Captain Osmandiel of the Venom Stalkers** -

**Legion Master Surag Genden of the Silver Wings** - Already a well known warrior, Legion Master Surag Genden distinguished himself in the Xenocides, even going so far as to catch the eye of the Emperor himself. It was this fame that led to the XIVth campaigning with the Emperor for a short time, leading to their presence of the fateful world of Proxima.

**First Praetor Dorsenne Soult of the Imperial Justicars** - A brutal warrior, Soult was known for

## See Also

* The Second Rangdan Xenocide
* The Third Rangdan Xenocide