Black Crusade - Black Crusade: A Black Crusade is a military campaign unleashed upon the Milky Way Galaxy when the forces of Chaos manage to unite under the leadership of a powerful Champion of Chaos.They then launch a massive offensive from their base within the great Warp rift called the Eye of Terror against the worlds of the Imperium of Man.The term can also sometimes be used for other incursions by the mortal and daemonic servants of Chaos out of the smaller Warp rifts that exist across the galaxy.Commanding one of these campaigns is often considered the greatest reward that can be bestowed upon a mortal servant of the Chaos Gods. Successfully achieving the stated objective of one of these lesser Black Crusades can result in the ultimate reward: ascension to the rank of Daemon Prince.The most devastating Black Crusades have been led by the Warmaster of Chaos and commander of the Black Legion, Abaddon the Despoiler, the self-proclaimed heir of Horus, who has led multiple Black Crusades against the Imperium.Each of these Black Crusades actually had a larger, secret purpose known to Abaddon which was intended in ultimately paving the way for a final, massive assault upon the Imperial Fortress World of Cadia and unleashing a plan for the final victory of Chaos known as the "Crimson Path." The most recent of these campaigns was the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, the largest and most successful of them all which succeeded at almost all of Abaddon's goals.The 1st Black Crusade occurred in the late 31st Millennium, five standard centuries after the end of the Horus Heresy. Utilising the region of calm space around the Eye of Terror known as the Cadian Gate, Abaddon led the combined forces of the Chaos Space Marine Traitor Legions against scores of Imperial worlds, and was responsible for millions of deaths in the first solar week alone.Multiple worlds were lost before the Imperium could launch an effective counterassault, and although the Black Crusade was ultimately defeated, the Imperium was forced to heavily fortify the surrounding Cadian Sector, transforming Cadia itself into a Fortress World.Over the course of the intervening ten thousand standard years, the forces of Chaos under the command of the Despoiler have launched a further twelve Black Crusades. Millions of other attacks have been made on the worlds of the Cadian Gate by Daemon Princes and lesser Chaos warlords, but the title of Black Crusade is reserved for the times when Abaddon or another powerful Chaos Lord is able to unite all of the forces of Chaos located within the Eye of Terror in the pursuit of one goal -- the destruction of the Imperium of Man, the greatest bastion of Order in the galaxy.The 41st Millennium saw two major Black Crusades. The 12th Black Crusade, also known as the Gothic War, began in 139.M41 and lasted until 160.M41. It represented Abaddon's attempt to capture the ancient xenos artefacts called the Talismans of Vaul by the Aeldari, but known to the Imperium as the six Blackstone Fortresses. The Aeldari allied themselves with the Imperium to defeat the Chaos forces, and were successful, although Abaddon escaped with at least two of the Blackstone Fortresses.The 13th Black Crusade began in 999.M41, and resulted in the largest mobilisation of both Imperial and Chaos forces seen since the Horus Heresy. Despite the valiant defence of millions of Astra Militarum soldiers, Space Marines and the Sisters of Battle of the Adepta Sororitas, it was not enough.The Fortress World of Cadia fell after Abaddon's Black Fleet unleashed a massive assault. Though the Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity was deactivated through a combined assault of a Space Wolves fleet and an attack by the Imperial Fists' mobile fortress-monastery Phalanx, Horus used the Blackstone Fortress as a makeshift missile, sending it careening into Cadia's surface. The tectonic upheaval of this kinetic strike shattered the forces of the remaining Imperial defenders, leading them to abandon the world.The fall of Cadia also destroyed the Necron-built Cadian Pylons that had long held the Warp rift of the Eye of Terror in check. This, combined with the growing instability of the Immaterium as the power of the Dark Gods waxed, led to the eruption of the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Great Rift, in 999.M41. It divided the territory of the Imperium in half and dimmed the light of the Astronomican on the side of the rift cut off from Terra known as the "Dark Imperium."In response to the assault on Cadia, the Imperium had stripped the garrisons along its far Eastern Fringe to reinforce the Cadian Gate, which resulted in a full retreat of the forces of Chaos from the Cadian Sector and produced the current stalemate.However, this weakening of Imperial defences hastened the onslaught of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan and the latest expansion of the T'au Empire until it was brought to a halt in the Zeist Campaign.At the present time Abaddon's forces are preparing their next major line of attack in the wake of the birth of the Great Rift and the division of Imperial space between the Imperium Nihilus and the Imperium Sanctus.