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Ryza - WAAAGH! Grax: Ryza has long been a formidable Forge World, said to be second in the Imperium only to Mars, the homeworld of the Cult Mechanicus. Ryza once fuelled the larger Imperial war effort, but since WAAAGH! Grax descended upon it in 925.M41, those days are long past.Soon after, Ryza's tech-priests turned every solar second of the planet's industry to the business of survival alone. The greenskins made planetfall upon Ryza in the hundreds of millions. That number soared and dived with every solar hour of the conflict, defying even the ability of the magi logis to quantify it.The Imperium met the greenskin assault with over twenty Astra Militarum regiments fighting alongside Skitarii macroclades, Legio Cybernetica war cohorts, even Titan Legions, yet the Orks attacked afresh with every new dawn.The tech-priests of Ryza turned to more inventive measures: Virus Bombs rained down across the Obduras continent, laying low lesser greenskins by the million as hermetically sealed Kastelan-class Robot maniples thumped phosphor rounds into those Orks tough enough to survive.Above the polar metropolises, Ork fighter craft were harried by Onager Dunecrawlers modified to crawl up the sheer hive city walls. Salvation teams reclaimed fallen god-machines, piecing them back together with ritual and supplicant incense even as Ork Mekaniaks resurrected their Gargants with little more than welding torches and foul language.Upon Ryza it was not attrition that carried the day, but invention -- a quality the Adeptus Mechanicus often considered all but heretical.The Orks eventually fell into disarray after forty standard years of fighting following the death of the Warlord Grax at the hands of the Warlord-class Titan Pugnus Vindictae. After the loss of their warlord the greenskins began to fight among themselves as each warboss jockeyed for position to lead the WAAAGH! in Grax's place, making it a simple task for the Mechanicus forces on Ryza to wipe them out.
Ryza - Geography: As attested to by the records of its first colonists during the Age of Strife, Ryza was once a world bountiful in life, two large continents separated by vast oceans brimming with biodiversity.The millennia preceding the coming of the Imperium during the Great Crusade saw much change upon Ryza, the once-verdant landscapes replaced by barren plains stripped of life and occupied by expansive forge-fanes. Between the two continents was a sea no longer, the water boiled away by ceaseless industry and replaced with industrial run-off and effluent.Though the two continents had changed little in size and shape they no longer stood isolated, for an extensive network of artificial isthmuses connected the two, each a vast highway offering easy access to all of Ryza.Mag trains ran the length of these isthmuses without pause, carrying cargo between manufactoria with remarkable ease to ensure the industry of Ryza never went hungry.These access routes were seen as a vital target for the Traitor invaders during the Defence of Ryza in the Horus Heresy, for claiming even a single one gave them unrestrained access to Ryza's continents, and it was for this reason that Salvation Isthmus was the Traitors' first target after planetfall was made.
Ryza - Continent of Founding: The first of Ryza's continents to be settled, by the coming of the Imperium it was the least populous of the two for much of its resources had been plundered in the millennia following the colonisation of the planet. Despite this, the city of Prosperity, the first settlement built upon Ryza, still stood strong, directing the efforts of the entire northern continent towards the production of war materiel.Within the walls of Prosperity itself, processing centres laboured day and night, assessing the quality of Ryza's products in search of imperfections; any that failed such checks were discarded, melted down and cast into the Sea of Reclamation for others to repurpose. In this way the lifeblood of Ryza flowed through Prosperity, just as it had once served as the foundation for all of Ryza's people.Viewed from orbit, the city of Prosperity was a dense structure covering kilometres of the surface, tendrils of metal reaching outwards across the northern continent. Such tendrils were mag trains flowing through the city and the various manufactoria. The most travelled of links led to the Western Forges, where hundreds of cradles turned solely towards the engineering of war machines originally destined for the Great Crusade, including dozens dedicated to the production of the famed Stormblade super-heavy tank.The coasts of the continent were dotted with reclamation manufactoria, their large, squat buildings the only viable route between the continental shelf and sea several hundreds of metres below through strategically vital lifts and ramps, while the structures themselves remained anchored to the seabed by vast pipes from which flowed the waste of Ryza's industry, left to rest until such time as a use for it was determined.Further east sat Salvation Isthmus, the most important passageway between continents. Though many such highways linked the two landmasses, it was from Salvation Isthmus that the reclamation teams ventured outwards, dedicated Reclamator tech-priests scouring the desiccated seabed in search of anything of value that could be reclaimed and forged anew within the manufactoria.In prominence, Salvation Isthmus was further secured by proximity to Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega, the principal spaceport for both imports and exports on Ryza.So vital was Salvation Isthmus that an artificial island was built alongside the northern coast, a handful of Legio Crucius Titans garrisoned within to ensure any threat could be met with lethal force.
Ryza - Continent of Erudition: The more recently settled of the two continents, for it lay untouched for standard centuries following the colonisation of Ryza, it was upon the western edge of the southern continent that the ruling hierophant technis of Ryza housed their forge city.Built in the shadow of the Fortress of Iron, a towering hollow mountain that served as the bastion of the Legio Crucius, its outskirts were occupied by dedicated spaceports and manufactoria turned over to servicing the needs of the Warmongers.Further east sat the forge city of Endeavour, larger than that of Prosperity to the north. Where Prosperity served as a director of manufacturing and processing, Endeavour served as a repository of knowledge, for beneath the city lay archival catacombs containing the sum of Ryza's knowledge.Deeper still sat the war vaults of Ryza, sealed by order of the Emperor after Ryza was brought into the Imperium for fear of what they contained. Known only to a few, it was also there that House Sidus made their home, engaged in simulations until such time that war called and their existence could be revealed.Like that of its northern counterpart, much of the southern continent was given over to manufacturing, thousands of forge-fanes churning out instruments of war including integral components for the assembly of vessels destined for the Imperial fleets. Everything produced within these forges was ferried by mag train further east, fed to the warehouses of Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega for export off-world.Several kilometres of streets weaved their way through expansive storage facilities constructed around the spaceport. It was through Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega that the majority of Ryza's traffic flowed and much effort was placed into its defence before the invasion, the surrounding land home to numerous orbital defences designed solely to deny landing to invaders.Such precautions mattered little, for the tool of conquest was invited into the midst of Ryza long before the Traitors entertained notions of invasion, the Knights of the traitorous House Ioeden biding their time for three standard years before revealing their deception and seizing the spaceport.
Ryza - Sea of Reclamation: The records of Ryza, supported by detailed soil analysis, suggests that much of the world's surface was once occupied by liquid water, the vast seas serving as a habitat for a manner of life similar to those once found on Terra before life evolved to sustain itself upon land.Such oceans were long gone by the late 30th Millennium, replaced by a vast reservoir of effluent and industrial run-off known as the Sea of Reclamation. The exact composition of such a phenomenon was impossible to determine such was its complexity, for every by-product of Ryza's industry found its way to the sea's depths eventually.In practical terms the sea served as a reservoir, heated by vast hydrothermal vents situated on the sea floor that, in conjunction with power stations across Ryza, ensured the effluent remained molten in nature. From Salvation Isthmus, fleets of tech-priests would sail out upon craft built for the sole purpose of collecting refuse.Aided by servitors engineered against the harsh conditions, these teams would gather anything of value, cataloguing its properties and marking it for transportation to manufactoria across the surface of Ryza. In this manner, the industry of the world was sustained even in absence of external resources, ensuring Ryza stood self-sufficient regardless of strife.The other purpose of the Sea of Reclamation was part experimental theory and part religious devotion. Believing the Omnissiah spoke to His followers in indirect ways, the Cult Mechanicus upon Ryza saw the Sea of Reclamation as a direct link to the Omnissiah. Within its depths innumerable chemical reactions would occur as the offcast elements of Ryza's industry interacted with each other in unexpected ways.Over the millennia the results of these unexpected experiments were retrieved by the tech-priests who prowled the sea and lauded as gifts of the Omnissiah. It fell to the greatest minds of Ryza to unravel the mysteries of such gifts and the veracity of their claims leaves much to be desired.For their part, the archives of Ryza claim that numerous innovations were made as a result of these findings, with one such record stating it was from the Sea of Reclamation that a serendipitous discovery within it enabled the successful construction of the first Stormblade super-heavy tank.
Ryza - Ryza Secundus: Unlike Terra, Ryza possessed no moon in its orbit and instead turned to mechanical means to augment its control of nearspace; thus was born Ryza Secundus.A vast void station constructed over a number of Terran centuries, Ryza Secundus was built both as a station for rearming and repairing space vessels and as Ryza's first line of defence, for the outer rings of the station boasted a fearsome array of weapons commonly found on the largest of Imperial ships, their strength augmented by debilitating plasma lattices that proved capable of ensnaring passing ships with deadly force.The interior of the station was no less impressive, for its halls were cavernous, each cargo bay capable of hosting the personnel and supplies of all but the largest of Imperial expeditionary fleets.A network of accessways linked the cargo bays, serviced by mag trains and large enough for three Knights of the Questoris Familia to walk abreast.It was within these halls that the first battles for Ryza were to be fought, for whoever controlled the station could lay claim to Ryza's orbit, its gun batteries and repair cradles a significant advantage to any seeking to conquer the Ultima Segmentum.
Ryza - Notable Ryzan Personnel: Hierophant Technis Nira Heldentun - Nira Heldentun was the hierophant technis, or high priest, of the Cult Mechanicus on Ryza and the world's planetary governor. She essentially served the same role as that of the fabricator-general on other Forge Worlds.Archno-warmonger Eyrotellamax - A great hero of Ryza, this tech-priest led his armies against the xenos pirates that plagued their system. Willowy aliens fleeing the death of their empire, the pirates had become a terrible thorn in the side of Ryza. On vast artificial worlds and cold, airless lunar outposts the formidable Dhul X Cyberkastel Cohort, consisting of twenty-four Kastelan Robots, eliminated its designated targets in crackling blasts of phosphor and storms of flesh-withering flame. Eyrotellamax eventually met his end in the jaws of an enraged rift-wyrm.Xenophagest Hexterramere Vorght - Hexterramere Vorght is a vastly intelligent and dedicated Tech-priest Dominus of Ryza, who has become driven with the obsession to discover "Orkadia" -- the original Ork homeworld and foundation of the entire greenskin species. Since Ryza has become enmeshed in a deadly war of attrition which has fed entire cohorts of Skitarii and servitors into the meatgrinder of Ryza's hellish battlefields, the tech-priests of this Forge World desperately delved into the the depths of their world's logis vaults and cogitator-crypts seeking ancient and forbidden secrets to defeat the rampaging greenskin invaders. Xenophagest Vorght believes that the answer to the Orkoid question resides not within the crumbling data-structures of their Forge World, but hidden out among the stars. Vorght has taken these ideas to an altogether more extreme level, for he believes that somewhere in the void lies the origins of the genetic foundation of the entire Ork species. Vorght does not want to merely defeat the Orks on Ryza -- he plans to destroy all Orks, forever.
Ryza - Red in Cog and Claw: Tech-priests of Ryza point to aggressive combat doctrines and zealous training protocols to explain the exceptional hand-to-hand prowess of their troops.Skeptics, however, counter that such designs do not explain why Ryzan troops seem to revel in close-quarters violence.
Ryza - Ryza Iconography: The illuminated "R" of Ryza is borne proudly by its warriors. This icon incorporates the skull and cog of Mars, a nod towards Ryza's ancestry.
Ryza - Ryza Forge World Colours: Ryza's Skitarii Legion has a proud history and a reputation for unshakeable faith. As with many Forge Worlds, Ryza's Skitarii often bear purity seals of blood-wax and parchment to signify their freedom from harmful scrapcode. The ochre armour plates and robes worn by Ryza's Skitarii are the same hue as the immense rust dunes that bestrew the planet. The interior of these robes are deep red in memory of the blood that has been spilt there over the millennia. The Tech-priests Dominus of Ryza dress in an ochre hue that represents the ever-shifting rust dunes of their arid and lifeless Forge World.Seniority within the priesthood of Ryza is indicated by the use of crimson on robes and armour -- the more red a Tech-priest wears, the more superior he is considered to be. Red also features sparingly on the warriors of Ryza, often appearing on the lining of robes, or on components of war machines.Copper is used as an embellishment, particularly on weapons like the Fulgurites' electroleech staves, or mechanical adornments like the Tech-priest's mechadendrite harness.Though the Legio Cybernetica of Ryza displays many thousands of variations in heraldry, all its robots bear combinations of ochre, deep red, silver and black. Each maniple's distribution of colour is echoed by the uniform of its assigned Cybernetica Datasmiths.
Ryza - Manufactoria Capabilities: Ryza is renowned for the manufacture of Plasma Reactor and magnetic containment field technology. The arts and technological sophistication of this Forge World is claimed by some to be second only to that of Mars itself.It is then unsurprising that the Legio Crucius, whose associations with Ryza are said to predate the Great Crusade, is renowned as one of the most well-equipped Titan Legions in Imperial service, and sufficient in number to provide garrison forces for several smaller outlying Forge Worlds and Adeptus Mechanicus outposts whose Magi maintain fealty or alliance to Ryza and its masters.Ryza is also famed for its manufacture of other plasma-based technologies and the complex art required to produce the magnetic containment fields that are an integral part of any plasma-using device. The Leman Russ Executioner main battle tank armed with its plasma-based Executioner Plasma Destroyer is manufactured exclusively on Ryza.It is said that Ryza's own Skitarii regiments are almost completely equipped with these rare armoured vehicles. The Stormblade super-heavy tank is also produced on Ryza, which was the first Forge World to begin to manufacture that pattern of tank for the ancient Space Marine Legions and then the Astra Militarum after the Horus Heresy.At the height of their technical sophistication during the Great Crusade, the majority of Plasma Blastguns utilised on Legiones Astartes Stormblade super-heavy tanks were wrought upon Ryza, whose lords were known as the undisputed masters of this particular strand of machine lore. When the weapon fired, a roiling, barely contained bolt of raw plasma as bright as a sun was unleashed.All but the strongest of armour was reduced to slag by such an attack and it could defeat even Titan-grade Void Shields with relative ease. During this era, Ryza was also known for manufacturing the formidable Solar-Ryza Pattern Leman Russ Tank.The Solar Auxilia made extensive use of armoured vehicles enhanced to the "Solar" specification. These Leman Russ Tanks possessed an extensive array of equipment that allowed them to operate in the most hazardous of environmental conditions.
Ryza - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus: The Defence of Ryza (Specialty Game), pp. 6, 8-9, 22-27, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus (8th Edition), pp. 12, 21, 34-35, 50, 64, 95, 97-98, 101Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus - Cult Mechanicus (7th Edition), pp. 29, 100-102, 104, 106Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus - Skitarii (7th Edition), pp. 34, 38, 98-104Codex: Imperial Guard (5th Edition), pp. 22, 27Cult Mechanicus Painting Guide - Crusaders of the Machine God (Painting Guide), pp. 18-31Dark Heresy: Purge the Unclean (RPG), pg. 140Imperial Armour - Imperial Vehicles for Warhammer 40,000, pg. 16Imperial Armour Volume One - Imperial Guard & Imperial Navy, pp. 8, 16, 61-62, 99, 101The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 242The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 89, 147The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 88-91Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (8th Edition), pg. 73Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (6th Edition), pg. 202White Dwarf 390 (UK), "The Battle for Cardrim," pg. 30White Dwarf 454 (May/June 2020), "Index Xenos - Goff Orks," pg. 20
Sa'ra'am - Sa'ra'am: Sa'ra'am, also called "The Daemon Beneath," "The Knife's Edge," and the "Laughter of War," is a Daemon of Chaos Undivided who was bound to the core of the Forge World of Sarum, which had long served as the primary supplier of wargear to the World Eaters Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.During an interaction with Primarch Perturabo and a contingent of his Iron Warriors, the Daemon created the first Chaos Space Marine Obliterator.
Sa'ra'am - History: Sa'ra'am claimed to have come into existence at the moment the first weapon made by a mortal to take a life was forged. The Daemon only grew stronger in the millennia that followed as the weapons created by mortals had developed, spread and become ever more destructive. Being confined to the heart of the Forge World was a fate the Daemon secretly relished, as this meant it was free from the direct control of the Chaos Gods and no longer had to serve their every whim.During the Horus Heresy, Primarch Perturabo and a contingent of his Iron Warriors came to Sarum seeking the location of his brother Angron, as he knew the World Eaters had long used Sarum as a primary source of their supply. Perturabo had been tasked by the Warmaster Horus with bringing Angron and the World Eaters to the Traitor Legions' muster on Ullanor in preparation for the start of the Siege of Terra.Perturabo threatened to free the Daemon if it did not reveal the whereabouts of Angron. The Daemon acquiesced and revealed that Angron could be found on the world of Deluge. The Daemon then possessed the Iron Warrior Volk who was accompanying Perturabo. Volk was the former commander of the 786th Grand Flight, a Lightning Crow pilot who had most of his body rebuilt and housed within a suit of modified Tactical Dreadnought Armour after being shot down in an engagement.The Daemon's touch transformed Volk into the first Obliterator. This new amalgamation of Daemon and Heretic Astartes left the planet with Perturabo. Volk would not be the last of his kind.
Sabatine - Sabatine: SabatineChapter homeworldWhite ConsulsSpace MarineChapterUltramarXIII LegionThis world lies in the Segmentum Pacificus, far to the galactic southwest of the Eye of Terror. As such, it is a rare thing indeed for the Chapter's brethren to appear in the court of Marneus Calgar, and when it does it is a great cause for celebration. Very little was known about Sabatine, due largely to the secretive and defensive nature of the White Consuls.Not long after the formation of the Great Rift, Sabatine was assaulted by the Heretic Astartes of the Weeping Veil and the Lords of Silence, warbands of the Word Bearers and Death Guard Traitor Legions, respectively. The skeleton force of White Consuls left behind while the majority of the Chapter had been deployed to defend the Imperium from the massive assault that was the 13th Black Crusade proved incapable of protecting Sabatine from the sheer size of the Chaos assault.Each warband sought to betray the other and seize the world for its own, but the Lords of Silence ultimately prevailed and the Weeping Veil fled Sabatine. Sabatiune has been transformed by the Lords of Silence into a Daemon World that can be considered a facsimile of the Death Guard's own homeworld in the Eye of Terror, the Plague Planet.
Sabatine - History: The White Consuls, alongside about twenty other Chapters known as the Astartes Praeses, are sworn to protect the Imperium from the depredations of the servants of Chaos -- in particular the Traitor Legions -- who periodically spew forth from the Eye of Terror on one of their devastating Black Crusades.So that they may prosecute their duty as sentinels of the Eye of Terror whilst maintaining operations against a wide range of enemies of the Imperium, the White Consuls have instigated a highly unusual policy. The Chapter is ruled not by a single Chapter Master, but by two. One of these oversaw the defences of Sabatine and commands a standing force ready at a moment's notice to respond to Chaos incursions through the Cadian Gate, while the other is responsible for the operations of the Chapter's forces in war zones further afield.This equal division of command works well for the White Consuls, although it is doubtful whether it is sanctioned by any entry in the Codex Astartes. Perhaps the Chapter's great separation from its Progenitor Legion means that it has not been challenged on the matter. In addition to its homeworld of Sabatine, the White Consuls also maintain sovereignty over several nearby star systems which they hold as protectorates, such as the Boros System and its central world of Boros Prime, site of a massive incursion by the Word Bearers Traitor Legion in the late 41st Millennium.
Sabatine - Fall of Sabatine: After the Great Rift opened, the Chaos Gods charged the Weeping Veil Dark Apostle Mor Jalchek with the conquest of Sabatine, the homeworld of the White Consuls Space Marines. The Word Bearers Chapter's flagship, the Styx-class heavy Cruiser Ayamandar, then left the behind the battles of the Cadian Gate raging after the fall of Cadia to carry out the Ruinous Powers' latest sacred task.However, with the onset of the Noctis Aeterna, the Weeping Veil proved unable to determine Sabatine's exact location in the Warp, no matter what instruments of technology or sorcery they employed. Their difficulties ended when they were approached aboard the Ayamandar by the Death Guard Repulsive-class Grand Cruiser Solace and the warband that commanded it which was known as the Lords of Silence.The Lords of Silence also desired to conquer Sabatine and their Chaos Lord Vorx explained that he knew its location and promised to lead the Weeping Veil to the White Consuls world if the Word Bearers Chapter agreed to join with them in carrying out the planetary assault. After some consideration, Jalchek agreed to Vorx's proposal, but also secretly planned to betray the servants of Nurgle and allow the Word Bearers' daemonic allies to claim the world for their own once it was conquered.With their combined forces, the Weeping Veil and the Lords of Silence easily overwhelmed the skeleton garrison force  maintained by the Astartes of the 4th Company of the White Consuls, regiments of the Astra Militarum's Praetorian Guard and the world's own Planetary Defence Forces. The servants of Chaos claimed the planet for their own. But when the Weeping Veil moved to betray their allies by sacrificing much of Sabatine's captured population to summon three Greater Daemons and their daemonic legions to the captured world and remove the Nurglites, the Lords of Silence struck first.Vorx had been prepared for the Weeping Veil's betrayal from the start and he had ordered his warband to poison Sabatine's mortal population with a pathogen prepared by his Biologus Putrifier Slert during the invasion. Before the Word Bearers could initiate their sacrificial ritual, all the people of Sabatine were transformed into Plague Zombies and Poxwalkers who quickly joined with the Lords of Silence to overwhelm the Weeping Veil.Jalchek was forced to lead his Chapter in a retreat from the world back to the Ayamandar which successfully fled into the Warp. Sabatine was soon transformed into a Daemon World dedicated to the Plague God and became a remarkable facsimile of the Death Guard's Plague Planet within the Eye of Terror.Luckily for the Imperium, the bulk of the White Consuls Chapter had been off-world when Sabatine was lost, unlike many of their fellow Astartes Chapters in similar circumstances. The effect the loss of their homeworld had upon their unusual Chapter hierarchy remains unknown.
Sabbat Crusade (Anthology) - Sabbat Crusade (Anthology): Sabbat Crusade is the second anthology in the Gaunt's Ghosts series of novels by Dan Abnett. Sabbat Worlds gathers together twelve short stories from various Black Library authors.
Sabbat Crusade (Anthology) - Synopsis: For a thousand Terran years, the Sabbat Worlds have been lost to the Imperium, claimed by the dread powers of Chaos. Now, a mighty crusade seeks to return the sector to Imperial rule. The Space Marines of the Iron Snakes strike against Heretic enclaves. Astra Militarum units such as the Volpone Bluebloods defend worlds from the ruinous hordes. The forces of the enemy -- the vicious Blood Pact and Sons of Sek -- fight amongst themselves for the honour of facing their foes. And at the forefront of the crusade are Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Tanith First-and-Only -- better known as "Gaunt's Ghosts".
Sabbat Crusade (Anthology) - Contents: Sabbat Worlds includes the following Gaunt's Ghosts short stories:Family, You Never Know, Ghosts and Bad Shadows and A Ghost Return by Dan AbnettThe Blood Bound by Rob SandersSon of Sek by John FrenchTempest by Nick KymeViduity and The Fissure by Nik VincentThe Deeper Wounds by David AnnandaleArnogaur by Aaron Dembski-BowdenThe Inheritor King by Matthew Farrer
Sabbat Crusade (Anthology) - Appendices: Sabbat Crusade includes the following additional content taken from background books:The Sabbat Worlds Crusade, 755-775.M41 from the background book The Sabbat Worlds CrusadeTactica Imperialis: Lyubov taken from the background book Tactica Imperialis
Sabbat Martyr (Novel) - Sabbat Martyr (Novel): Sabbat Martyr is the seventh volume in the Gaunt's Ghosts series of novels by Dan Abnett.
Sabbat Martyr (Novel) - Synopsis: With the future of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade balanced on a knife edge, new hope arises in the form of Saint Sabbat herself, reincarnated to lead the Imperium to victory against the dark forces of Chaos. The Living Saint calls for Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Tanith First-and-Only to be her guardians. Doubting that she is who she claims, Gaunt must discover the truth while fending off enemy troops and lethal assassins. But treachery within the Ghosts will not only threaten the mission, but will rip the Tanith regiment asunder.
Sabbat Worlds - Notable Worlds of the Sector: BalhautBlackshardEnothisFormal PrimeFortis BinaryGereonGrimoyrHagiaHerodorJagoKarkariadKhan Nobilis (Former Sector Capital)LodiusMenazoid EpsilonMonthaxMorlondNonimaxOscillia IXPersepolisPhantinePyritesRyxus VTanithTarnaguaUrdesh MinorUrusVoltemand
Sabbat Worlds - Newfound Trailing Group: The Newfound Trailing Group is a region within the Sabbat Worlds Sector known to include the following worlds:Ambold ElevenAshek IICociaminusFornax AlephGotthroneHeskethMelsarSverrenTaliscantVerghast
Sabbat Worlds (Anthology) - Sabbat Worlds (Anthology): Sabbat Worlds is the first anthology in the Gaunt's Ghosts series of novels by Dan Abnett. Sabbat Worlds gathers together eight short stories from various Black Library authors.
Sabbat Worlds (Anthology) - Synopsis: Across the Sabbat Worlds, a bitter conflict is fought, a conflict that can only end in victory or annihilation. The innumerable forces of the Archenemy attack without mercy, and planet after planet burns with the flames of war. Yet even amidst this nightmare, the Astra Militarum stand stoic against their foes. The Phantine Air Corps battle the enemies of Mankind across burning skies, while the Gereon resistance tries to break the foothold of Chaos on their beleaguered world and the legendary Gaunt's Ghosts fight in the most violent and bloody of warzones.
Sabbat Worlds (Anthology) - Contents: Sabbat Worlds includes the following Gaunt's Ghosts short stories:Apostle's Creed by Graham McNeillThe Headstone and the Hammerstone Kings by Matthew FarrerRegicide by Aaron Dembski-BowdenThe Iron Star by Dan AbnettCell by Nik VincentBlueblood by Nick KymeA Good Man by Sandy MitchellOf Their Lives in the Ruins of Their Cities by Dan Abnett
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Sabbat Worlds Crusade: The Sabbat Worlds Crusade was an Imperial Crusade fought over the course of more than 45 standard years beginning in 755.M41 which had not yet ended by 791.M41, to retake the Sabbat Worlds Sector located at the rimward edge of the Segmentum Pacificus from the heretical forces of Chaos.This crusade was one of the largest and most significant Imperial military operations undertaken in the 41st Millennium and ultimately ended solar decades later in the reconquest of the sector by the armed forces of the Imperium of Man.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Impending War: Following the disastrous loss of the Sabbat Worlds, in 741.M41 there were many suggestions to send a military expedition to liberate the besieged sector. This idea was especially championed by the exiled sector governor, but those within the high echelon of the Imperial military had little or no enthusiasm for such an investiture of time, expense and materials.All, except for Lord Militant Slaydo. This very capable Imperial commander was already noted and experienced, owing his fame to the string of several stunning victories he had won during the successful Khulan Wars (752-754.M41).A tactical genius, Slaydo capitalised on his popularity within the rank and file of the Astra Militarum and petitioned the High Lords of Terra for the honour of leading the Imperial Crusade to liberate the Sabbat Worlds.As a lord militant, Slaydo actively sought to lead the crusade, petitioning the High Lords directly during the Khulan campaign. He had supported the action as early as 732.M41, as he felt a strong passion for the liberation of the hard-won territories that had been so poorly discarded. Many of his senior commanders and aides related that Slaydo believed this to be an Imperial crime.In 755.M41, the High Lords finally declared him Warmaster, and charged him with the sacred duty of carrying out this monumental undertaking. Slaydo's subsequent elevation to this esteemed position was the envy of his fellow Lords Militant, which were quickly tempered by the realisation of the task that had been set before Slaydo.The Warmaster's only overriding fear was that at his advanced age (150 standard years), he would not live to see the eventual victorious completion of such a massive campaign.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Consolidation of Imperial Forces (755.M41): Warmaster Slaydo and his senior staff commanders spent nearly the entire standard year planning at Khulan for the opening phase of advance into the Sabbat Worlds.The vast Imperial armada began to assemble and stage at Khulan, Khulan Outreach, San Sargo, Kazin II, Arvinx Cardinal and the Bethan Halo.The Warmaster compiled an impressive Imperial force comprised of almost a billion Imperial Guardsmen of the Astra Militarum, along with massive retinues of armour and artillery, 6 Chapters of Adeptus Astartes, and Titan Legions from the Collegia Titanica provided by the Adeptus Mechanicus.The Warmaster studied and rejected over 30 attack plans until he found a scheme that would favour the Imperial military strength the most. All options were weighed and considered until this final scheme was decided upon. Codenamed "Redrake," Warmaster Slaydo sent the signal to advance on the 266th day of 755.M41.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Bloody Path To Balhaut (756-764.M41): The opposition of the forces of Chaos within the Sabbat Worlds had, so far, proven to be more difficult and intense than the high echelon of commanders of the crusade had originally envisioned.Tactical records showed that the Warmaster revised his estimated liberation date for Balhaut at least 37 times as the crusade bogged down due to fierce organised resistance, throwing off the Warmaster's calculated schedule time and again.These difficulties were compounded by three factors: firstly, the bodies of enemy population dug into various world sites, armoured against attack and prepared for resistance. These populations sometimes numbered in the millions, and were often under the leadership of a sacred and charismatic leader, sometimes with the rank of magister (lieutenant).Secondly, there were the counter-assault forces sent by the archon to meet the Imperial push, in the form of raider fleets and military convoys. These raider fleets were highly mobile and able to concentrate their attacks on the Imperial forward echelon. Within the last two solar months of 756.M41 alone, 8 significant fleet engagements occurred.Thirdly, there were smaller Chaos raiding forces -- referred to as mobile opportunists -- that plagued crusade deployments by running raids and guerrilla assaults on supply lines and relay depots.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Ashek II (756-757.M41): The second phase of the crusade, known as Operation Newfound, focused its priorities on the liberation of the Newfound Trailing Group. Just before the initial phase of Newfound took place, the crusade focused on liberating the towering hive cities of Ashek II.The prosecution of Ashek II began early in 756.M41, but the scale of the fighting increased in 757.M41. Their task of liberating the planet was made extremely difficult by the fact that they faced the notorious and brilliant Heritor Asphodel, one of the most tactically gifted magisters serving the archon.Asphodel showed a predilection for deploying grotesque daemonic war engines that were dubbed "Woe Machines". Some speculate that somewhere in the magister's past, he may have had some connection to a Forge World or even to the Cult Mechanicus itself.The Imperial commanders soon became painfully aware of the futility of sending Imperial waves of infantry troops against Asphodel's Woe Machines. Petitioned for heavier support, Slaydo responded by providing 3 brigades of armour from the Mershan 45th and 2nd Narmenian Heavy Regiments. Significant gains were only made later when nearly a full-strength squadron of Battle Titans of the Collegia Titanica arrived to support the Imperial assault.This was the first significant deployment of Adeptus Mechanicus war engines in the crusade. Led by the ancient Imperator-class Titan Imperious Corporalis, the mighty war machines' subsequent engagements lasted for three solar months. In the end, Asphodel's woe machines were destroyed and the defeated magister fled Ashek II.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Ambold Eleven (756.M41): Initially, Ambold Eleven had been an opening phase target of the crusade, but at the final hour had been rejected by Warmaster Slaydo. Ambold Eleven became instead a target for the second phase, Operation Newfound, and the assault began in the middle of 756.M41.A swift and brutal fleet action commanded by Admiral Karslae commenced and the Imperial forces successfully decimated the orbital forts above the planet and destroyed enemy shipping at both high and low anchor. This allowed for Imperial troop forces under the command of General Dilen Belfry to execute an overnight drop into strategic enemy strongholds.The forces of the Archenemy were well-entrenched, driving back the Imperial Guardsmen during successive actions. Approximately 9,500 Guardsmen were killed trying to breach the sturdy concentric walls defending these citadels.General Belfry himself was killed in a mortar attack. His subordinate, Colonel Begulin of the Sarpoy Regiments, attempted to consolidate the losses, but foolishly managed to trap the main portion of the Imperial ground forces between a deadly crossfire.Space Marines of the Iron Snakes, en route to Sverren, answered the frantic signals, voluntarily diverted and made a drop-pod assault on the targeted cities to relieve the desperate and beleaguered Imperial Guard forces.The proud warriors of Ithaka put two hives to the sword as 29,000 of the Archenemy troopers were slaughtered, with only the loss of 81 Iron Snakes. A solar week later, the last targeted hive fell as the Iron Snakes stormed the walls and executed the Archenemy leaders by crucifixion.Colonel Begulin was subsequently executed by the Commissariat for gross leadership errors.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Sverren (757-758.M41): Sverren was a key world strategically central to the region known as the Holy Visage, and was in the remit of Operation Newfound. Once again, the brutal campaign to liberate this world was mired by circumstance and the tenacity of the Archenemy's forces.Commanded by Lord Militant Humel and General Bulledin, an Astra Militarum army invaded in 757.M41, routing the gathering of Chaos troops and killing Magister Kuvelo in the initial assault. But circumstances quickly changed when the weather turned bad and Imperial ground forces were forced to dig in, bogging down the assault.The forces of the Archenemy were able to regroup and attempted to repulse the Imperial forces. General Bulledin braved the inclement weather, pushing his battalions toward the city of Rammery. Encircling the city, it soon fell after a short siege. Lord Militant Humel focused his efforts on the city of Colchis, and after a six-week aerial campaign, eventually won air superiority on Sverren.Nefr City proved to be much more difficult to subdue, as Bulledin lost 3,000 soldiers for the gain of only two kilometres of land. Offering his resignation to Warmaster Slaydo for his failure, it was refused. Slaydo sent back a despatch which read, "Do it again."Bulledin took his orders from the Warmaster to heart, and finally, on the 241st day of 758.M41, Bulledin's forces and a single Warlord-class Titan (the Victrix Impassionata), overran the walls of Nefr City.Storming the Upper Palace, the magister's second-in-command, Pater Bucher, was killed while resisting capture.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Cociaminus (760-773.M41): Cociaminus was one of the more problematic worlds encountered during the Newfound Trailing. Dubbed as the "world that refused to die," Cociaminus collectively cost more Imperial lives than the fighting on the notorious Fortress World of Morlond. It has been estimated that over 8 million Imperial Guardsmen perished fighting for the liberation of the planet.At the beginning of the campaign, the Imperial forces made an auspicious start. A series of assaults were made under the command of General Kelso and General Forgues. Also at the beginning of the campaign Lord Militant Vichres was sent to depose General Forgues whose behaviour had become increasingly erratic.It was later rumoured that he was actually replaced following a heated argument with the Warmaster. Later that year, Vichres and 47 men in his retinue were killed in an enemy armour ambush due to faulty intelligence, in what came to be referred to as the "Sabre Bridge Incident."Famous for his trust in armour, Kelso directed the main thrust of the assault, winning three hive cities (Harshen, Bolliquen and Nazeth) in a 6-month period. Employing armoured forces against the Archenemy, two significant tank battles took place, eventually winning the outer hab of Harshen. Despite these Imperial triumphs the war on Cociaminus ground down to a tediously slow pace.The world was finally taken in 762.M41 after an extensive and punishing ground war. But the world's future was a troubled one as fleeing forces of the Archenemy retook the planet twice. After three more long and bitterly contested campaigns were fought there, Imperial domination finally occurred in 773.M41.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Second Battle of Sverren (760-761.M41): Operation Newfound continued to experience significant impediments. Pockmarks of resistance continued to hamper the crusade's efforts. To compound matters further, in 760.M41, a fierce and bloody counter-strike ripped into the Imperials' midline. Led by Archon Nadzybar himself, the world of Sverren fell to the forces of the Archenemy.For only the second time in five standard years, the world found itself the site of major warfare. General Bulledin soon found himself in command of the Imperial forces on Sverren, as he had experienced fighting in the land war on the contested planet two standard years earlier. His fierce determination was instrumental in preserving the declining morale of Imperial forces, as he refused to let the cursed world bedevil him twice.When relief convoys arrived in 761.M41, they soon determined that the beleaguered General had been fighting a war on two fronts, resisting both Magister Sholen Skara and the hosts of Archon Nadzybar himself. The Archenemy forces were eventually driven to the tropical jungles of the southern continent.The forces of the Archenemy were finally broken after 16 intense months of fighting. They soon fell into disarray as the momentum of their counter-strike was spent. The archon and Magister Skara began a lengthy retreat to their final destiny on Balhaut.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Final Advance - Balhaut (763-765.M41): The Warmaster grew impatient, as the second phase of the crusade took longer to accomplish than he had foreseen. Balhaut had been Slaydo's prized objective since the crusade's inception. He knew the liberation of this world would prove to be both tactically and psychologically important.Despite the constant persuasion of Lords Militant Cybon and Dravere to alter their plans in regards to Balhaut, Slaydo refused to consider any alternative plans proposed by them. He would not compromise his original tactical plans to take Balhaut, as he knew it to be a key world, and to oust the archon and his forces from the planet would deliver a serious blow to the Archenemy forces.By ignoring Balhaut and turning rimward to annex the sparsely defended Nubila Reach and the Belt of Uristes, Slaydo believed their crusade force would be left dangerously exposed along their coreward flank. In many regards, Slaydo's conduct in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade emulated the figure of St. Sabbat Beati's original campaign in the sector.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Fabian Ruse (764-765.M41): Still in retreat from Sverren, Archon Nadzybar began to call upon his magisters and warlords to help formulate a large unified host against the Imperial Crusade. The archon intended to draw the Imperial forces towards the world of Fabia, where he hoped to annihilate the crusade in one fell swoop.Being a master of subterfuge, Slaydo recognised the archon's attempts to draw his forces to Fabia, and ordered a series of false fleet dispositions and troop movements along various trade routes in order to suggest that he had fallen for the archon's ruse and taken the bait.Suspecting that Archenemy spies existed within the ranks of the crusade, he also began to disseminate disinformation into intelligence traffic and Munitorum orders, adding credibility to his deception.Gathering his forces for an assault on Fabia, the archon manoeuvred his forces into a gross mistake. In 765.M41, the Archenemy forces were brought to Balhaut to be rearmed and resupplied. They were caught totally by surprise as the Imperial Crusade assaulted the planet.
Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Death of Slaydo - Balhaut (765.M41): As Warmaster Slaydo pressed his final advance on the Palace of the Oligarchy, he received word of Marshal Macaroth's success at Balopolis. The young officer had turned Balopolis from rout to unexpected Imperial victory. The Warmaster was reported as being "struck mute with great admiration." The price for taking the cursed planet had become all too evident to the embittered Warmaster.The weight of the crusade weighed heavily upon Slaydo. Some officers reported later that he seemed to be "weary and fatalistic." Taking up his power sword, the Warmaster personally led the first attack wave against the Palace of the Oligarchy.The firefights that took place within the confines of the palace were brutal to the extreme. It was at this point that the Warmaster may have been seriously wounded, either by a blade or projectile puncture to the stomach, but it was not evident until the medicae discovered the mortal wound when the Warmaster was on his deathbed.At hour eighteen of the tenth solar day, Slaydo's command force encountered the Archon Nadzybar and his elite bodyguard on the Western Palisade. The Warmaster and the vile archon soon joined in furiously intense single combat. Depending on sources, the fight lasted between 6 and 11 solar minutes, where Slaydo took two mortal wounds that he somehow managed to push past, maintaining the initiative, before delivering a lethal blow to the archon.The archon fell back, dying and his cult followers stormed the Pallisade to retrieve their fallen leader and carry him away to safety. Astra Militarum units valiantly defended their fallen Warmaster, putting many cultists to their deaths. Slaydo was found, close to death, lying on the marble floor of the West Atrium.He was far beyond any medical help as his grievous wounds appeared to be fatal. The Warmaster's own bodyguard stormed the Pallisade and slaughtered any Archenemy forces they came across.Archon Nadzybar's corpse was later discovered amongst a heap of massacred bodies near a fallen palanquin. Slaydo's men had indiscriminately cut down the fleeing cultists, and only afterwards established the identity of their burden.