vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Macragge's Honour - Macragge's Honour: Macragge's Honour is an Imperial Gloriana-class Battleship that serves as the flagship of Roboute Guilliman, the primarch of the Ultramarines and the lord commander of the Imperium.The Macragge's Honour was constructed during the Great Crusade as the second-largest vessel of its class and participated in the battles of the Horus Heresy and the Great Scouring. It remains the largest battleship currently in service to the Imperium of Man.The Macragge's Honour is twenty-six kilometres of polished ceramite and steel armour, and is believed to be the second largest of the Gloriana-class Battleships used by the primarchs as their flagships during the Great Crusade.This flagship led the flotilla of the Ultramarines' warships which comprised the XIIIth Legion's 12th Expeditionary Fleet. It was from this flagship that Roboute Guilliman coordinated and prepared his forces before and during the infamous Battle of Calth at the beginning of the Horus Heresy.The vessel would remain an important component of the Ultramarines Chapter's fleet after the Second Founding, but would return to service most memorably under the command of Roboute Guilliman following his resurrection in the Ultramar Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.The vessel served as the restored lord commander of the Imperium's flagship throughout the subsequent Terran Crusade, Indomitus Crusade and the Plague Wars of the Era Indomitus.
Macragge's Honour - Battle of Calth: The Battle of Calth, also referred as the Calth Atrocity, was the name given by later Imperial scholars to the treacherous campaign conducted during the early stages of the Horus Heresy by the traitorous XVIIth Space Marine Legion, the Word Bearers, on behalf of the Warmaster Horus against their hated rivals, the Ultramarines.The campaign was launched by the Word Bearers' Primarch Lorgar Aurelian with the goal of exterminating the XIIIth Space Marine Legion outright. The purpose of the Word Bearers' invasion of the Ultramarines' Realm of Ultramar in the Eastern Fringes of the galaxy was to tie down the XIIIth Legion and prevent them from reinforcing their fellow Loyalists as the Traitor Legions marched relentlessly on Terra itself.The Macragge's Hounor would go on to play a rather substantial role during the Battle of Calth, as it was the command headquarters of Roboute Guilliman and the entire Ultramarines Legion, and it helped to coordinate the surviving Ultramarine forces in orbit as well as those on the surface of Calth during and after the battle. Shortly after the battle started, Robute Guilliman held another conference with his brother, Lorgar.The Bearer of the Word revealed his treacherous intentions to his disbelieving brother as the conversation ended when several Daemons invaded the Ultramarine flagship and caused the central command bridge to explode, which led Guilliman to be missing for most of the battle. Shortly after this incident, the majority of the Macragge's Honour was infested by a horde of daemons of Chaos Undivided, and several of the Word Bearers' warships attempted to board the Ultramarines' flagship. However, a team of surviving Ultramarines were able to fight through the vessel and retake the flagship for the servants of the Emperor.During a fight on the outer hull of the flagship in an attempt to disconnect the Word Bearers boarding ships from the Macragge's Honour, Roboute Guilliman was found to have survived the destruction of the command bridge and to have been flung out into the void, surviving only due to his superhuman Primarch anatomy. Guilliman was quickly rescued and taken back inside the flagship by his Astartes.Afterwards, Guilliman and several of his commanding officers led an Ultramarines' Kill-squad into the Zetsun Verid orbital shipyard in an attempt to seize control of Calth's orbital defensive weapons grid. Though successful in their efforts, they were unable to stop the Veridian System's blue sun from going nova and permanently poisoning Calth's atmosphere as a result of the use of the Calthian orbital weapons system on the Veridian star by the Word Bearers.Sensing that the battle was turning in the Ultramarines' favour, Kor Phaeron and his surviving Astartes retreated to the Word Bearers' flagship Infidus Imperator, and attempted to flee the Calth System. Guilliman ordered the Ultramarines Chapter Master Marius Gage to take command of the Macragge's Honour and give chase, which would lead to one of the most infamous starship duels in Imperial naval history.
Macragge's Honour - Ultramar Campaign: In 999.M41, the Maccrage's Honour would be called into service during the Ultramar Campaign when the forces of Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade invaded Ultramar with the intention of destroying the reawakened Roboute Guilliman and his allies before he became a serious threat to the forces of chaos.The Shrine World of Laphis was the site of the greatest naval engagement during this conflict when the Ultramar Defence Fleet engaged the ships of the Alpha Legion blockading the planet. Marneus Calgar commanded the offensive, seated in the captain's throne aboard the ancient flagship Macragge’s Honour. The Ultramarines vessels swept in through the void with their guns thundering, successfully driving back those Alpha Legion voidships engaged in orbital bombardment of the surface.Triumph turned to horror when a flotilla of fleeing Imperial bulk carriers were revealed to be crewed by Alpha Legion Chaos Cultists. Packed with explosives, the lumbering haulers ploughed into the Ultramarines vessels and crippled several. Calgar had expected treachery from his foes, however, and now revealed his own masterstroke as a second, reserve fleet of swift Strike Cruisers and frigates swept in from behind Laphis' third moon, Aurora.At the same time, elite strike units containing Ultramarines Techmarines dropped onto Laphis' surface and succeeded in awakening the world's battered orbital defence grid. Caught from three sides, the Alpha Legion warships were torn apart, left as a belt of drifting wreckage above the Shrine World.
Macragge's Honour - Terran Crusade: When Guilliman finally declared his intention to return to Terra during the Terran Crusade, he travelled aboard his ancient flagship, Macragge’s Honour, a vessel that -- unlike so much of his surroundings after his resurrection -- provided the Primarch with a welcome sense of familiarity.Amidst fluctuating time streams and reality-warping energy storms which were rampant throughout the galaxy in the wake of the birth of the Great Rift, the ships of the Crusade struggled on. Ultimately trapped within the Warp rift known as the Maelstrom by a sorcerous ritual cast by the Daemon Primarch Magnus the Red, the Macragge's Honour would lead the Terran Crusade fleet through that region for an unknown period of time.More than once, the Imperial ships were forced to fight off opportunist raids by sleek hunting packs of Traitor warships. Amidst a thousand-mile-wide cloud of corrosive spores, the Crusade ships found themselves beset by swarms of vast Plague Flies as large as frigates. The monstrous daemonic insects took a savage toll upon the smaller ships of the Crusade, until Saint Celestine took to the Navigator's observation blister of the Macragge's Honour. Unleashing her holy light in a blazing shockwave, the Living Saint purged the hideous Daemonic Beasts from the void.Such fortune would not last, however, as the legendary ship and the fleet it commanded were led into a trap set by the Red Corsairs and the Lord of Change Kairos Fateweaver. The Macragge's Honour was attacked and boarded. Guilliman was captured through the use of the Fateweaver's sorcery and imprisoned alongside the survivors in a Blackstone Fortress within the Maelstrom that had been given to the Red Corsairs by Abaddon the Despoiler.While the Primarch and his companions were ultimately able to escape their captivity with the aid of the Fallen Angel Cypher and the Harlequin Shadowseer Sylandri Veilwalker, the Macragge's Honour would remain in the hands of the Red Corsairs, the human crews who had kept the Crusade's starships operational all sacrificed to the Dark Gods alongside the fleet's Imperial Guardsmen and Sisters of Battle.
Macragge's Honour - Indomitus Crusade: At some point before the Indomitus Crusade was launched from Terra, Imperial forces were able to recapture the Maccrage's Honour from the hands of the Traitors and it once again became the flagship of Roboute Guilliman, now the Imperial Regent and lord commander of the Imperium.Before it became the flagship of the Indomitus Crusade, the Macragge's Honour had undergone an extensive refit in the shipyards of the Ring of Iron around Mars, and the command deck had been entirely reconfigured from Guilliman's day.Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl's stamp was now on everything. New machines and unheard-of configurations of old devices replaced equipment that had been in use for tens of centuries. The more orthodox Tech-priests had been outraged, but Guilliman had silenced them in his determination to provide the crusade with new technology that would provide an edge over Mankind's many foes, and Cawl had had his way.These changes had resulted in a 10% increase in tactical responsiveness alone for the ancient warship. Multiple redundancies and newly integrated systems also allowed for better survivability for the vessel's crew. Dozens of Tech-priests from Cawl's more progressive faction of the Adeptus Mechanicus were now on board the Macragge's Honour, labouring to keep the archmagos' finely-balanced new systems working to his design.
Macragge's Honour - Plague Wars: When Guilliman returned to the Realm of Ultramar after the conclusion of the first stage of the Indomitus Crusade and launched a sector-wide counter-offensive to drive back the Nurglite invasion known as the Plague Wars led by the Daemon Primarch Mortarion and his Death Guard Traitor Legion, he would do so from aboard the Macragge's Honour.
Macragge's Honour (Graphic Novel) - Macragge's Honour (Graphic Novel): Macragge's Honour is the first Horus Heresy graphic novel. Macragge's Honour's story is written by Black Library author Dan Abnett with stunning full page art drawn by artist Neil Roberts. First released as a limited edition leatherbound hardback, it is now available as both a non-limited hardback and an e-book. The book contains a total of 128 pages, with 100-pages of story and art by Dan Abnett and Neil Roberts, with the remaining pages consisting of behind-the-scenes material, including script pages, sketches and more. Macragge's Honour is a sequel to Book 19, Know No Fear.
Macragge's Honour (Graphic Novel) - Synopsis: In the aftermath of the Word Bearers' attack on Calth, the wounded Kor Phaeron flees aboard his Battle Barge Infidus Imperator, intent on returning to the war that now rages across the entire galaxy. But the Ultramarines' First Chapter Master Marius Gage –- under orders from Roboute Guilliman himself –- has taken the Primarch's mighty flagship the Gloriana-class Battleship Macragge's Honour in pursuit, and the battle to come will surely be remembered for all eternity. Cut off from their Legions and with no hope of reinforcement, the crews of the two vessels stalk one another to the very edge of reality...and beyond.
Macragge - Macragge: Macragge is an Imperial Civilised World located in the southern reaches of the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy in the Ultima Segmentum. It is also the Chapter homeworld of the Ultramarines Chapter of Space Marines and the capital of the Ultramarines' Realm of Ultramar.Macragge itself is mostly bleak and rocky, with more than three-quarters of its land mass formed from mountainous upland almost entirely devoid of life. The people of Macragge do not live in this inhospitable region, but the fortress-monastery of the Ultramarines, the Fortress of Hera, is built here upon a craggy peak surrounded by impenetrable mountains.Within this mighty fortress, inside the vast Temple of Correction, was the shrine of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman. This is where his body sat upon a huge throne of ornately-carved marble. He was preserved near death by a stasis field impervious to the decaying effects of time for nearly 10,000 Terran years.This Shrine of the Primarch was once one of the holiest places in the Imperium, and millions came from all over the galaxy to look upon the face of the ancient primarch.During the Ultramar Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, Roboute Guilliman was resurrected from this living death by the actions of the Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl and Yvraine, the Daughter of Shade, the prophet of the partially awakened Aeldari god of the dead, Ynnead.Guilliman immediately took back command of the Ultramarines and of Macragge and Ultramar itself. However, after clearing the forces of Abaddon the Despoiler from his homeworld and the rest of Ultramar, Guilliman left for Terra to consult with his father the Emperor for the first time in 10,000 standard years, leaving Chapter Master Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines to rule Macragge and Ultramar in his stead.He would return over a standard century later in the wake of the Indomitus Crusade to bring reinforcements to Macragge and Ultramar at the darkest hour of the Plague Wars, after the forces of the Chaos God Nurgle had sought to claim the Ultramarines domain for the Plague God.Macragge is famous as the site of the invasion of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Behemoth, which was repelled by the might of the Ultramarines at the Battle of Macragge. It remains the firm seat of the Realm of Ultramar, ruled by the Ultramarines Chapter Master who serves as the world's Planetary Governor under the title of Lord Macragge and the Lord of Ultramar.Macragge has fearsome defences, including two polar defence fortresses, that have been upgraded since the Battle of Macragge. It is the homeworld of the Ultramarines and the seat of the Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar.
Macragge - Fleet Avenger and the Coming of the Primaris Space Marines: While the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman organised what was to become the Indomitus Crusade in 999.M41, the Great Rift tore the galaxy asunder. Fearing for Ultramar, Guilliman sent to safeguard his realm much of the remaining task force of Ultramarines and their Successor Chapters that had accompanied him to Terra during the Terran Crusade. With them went the first Primaris Ultramarines, for Archmagos Belisarius Cawl had begun to open his secret vaults. The small armada -- commanded by Captain Cato Sicarius and dubbed Fleet Avenger -- ran into Warp Storms the like of which had not been seen since the Age of Strife.With the fleet battered and split apart, Sicarius signalled for each voidship to make its own way back to Macragge, the interference growing so bad he feared many would not receive the message. Sicarius' own Strike Cruiser, the Emperor's Will, was still in the Warp when the Astronomican faded and then went black, marking the onset of the Noctis Aeterna. Amidst the tidal waves of psychic energies that cascaded randomly across all star systems of the galaxy, one last transmission was received from the Emperor's Will. The fragmentary message was accompanied by disturbing images, and only one sentence could be made clear: "They have breached the hull, they are here." Fully half of Fleet Avenger ultimately reached Ultramar, bringing with them their precious cargo, but of the Emperor's Will there remained no sign. In his absence, command of the Ultramarines 2nd Company was handed over to Captain Acheran.
Macragge - Sources: Battlefleet Gothic: Armada, pg. 84Codex: Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 22-31, 44, 47, 49, 63, 134, 154-155, 193Codex: Space Marines (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Ultramar"Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pp. 12-14, 32-33Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition)Codex: Tyranids (3rd Edition)Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition), pg. 18Deathwatch: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 53-54, 200Deathwatch: First Founding (RPG), pp. 67-73Gathering Storm - Part Three - Rise of the Primarch (7th Edition), pp. 4-93Index Astartes III, "Warriors of Ultramar - The Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter"The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 76Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (8th Edition), pg. 154White Dwarf 264 (AU), "Index Astartes – Ultramarines"White Dwarf 263 (US), "Index Astartes - First Founding: Warriors of Ultramar - The Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter", pp. 18-25White Dwarf 185 (US), "Lord Macragge, Master of the Ultramarines", pp. 7-12White Dwarf 97 (US), "Index Astartes - Ultramarines" by David Wise & Rick Priestley, pp. 39-49Defenders of Ultramar (Graphic Novel) by Graham McNeill (Artwork here from Defenders of Ultramar Issue 1, pp. 5, 8)Battle for the Abyss (Novel) by Ben CounterGarro: Oath of Moment (Audio Book) by James SwallowThe First Heretic (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-BowdenBetrayer (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-BowdenDark Heart (Novella) by Anthony ReynoldsThe Unremembered Empire (Novel) by Dan AbnettNightbringer (Novel) by Graham McNeillLegends of the Space Marines (Anthology), "Consequences," (Short Story) by Graham McNeillDead Sky, Black Sun (Novel) by Graham McNeill, Chapter OneCourage and Honour (Novel) by Graham McNeillThe Chapter's Due (Novel) by Graham McNeillDark Imperium (Novel) by Guy Haley
Macragge System - Macragge System: The Macragge System is an Imperial star system located in the Realm of Ultramar in the Segmentum Ultima. It is the home system of Macragge, the Civilised World that is both the capital world of the Ultramar Sub-sector and the Chapter homeworld of the Ultramarines Chapter.
Macragge System - Worlds: The worlds of the Macragge System, from closest to the system primary to farthest, include:Nova Thulium - Nova Thulium is the innermost and first world of the Macragge System and an Agri-world that was one of the many planets invaded by the Chaos forces of Abaddon the Despoiler during the Ultramar Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.Ardium - Ardium is the second world of the Macragge System and a Hive World that was one of the many planets invaded by the Chaos forces during the Ultramar Campaign. During this assault, a warband of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion, the Bitter Sons, captured one of Ardium's three subterranean hive cities -- Hive Magmaria -- but the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman later led the Ultramarines' 4th and 6th Companies to free the world and eliminate the Bitter Sons. Ardium was once more the site of fighting between the Ultramarines and the Forces of Chaos, this time in service to the Plague God Nurgle, during the Plague Wars. Ardium had three major hive cities, including Hives Geodrane, Magmaria and Tarnas, all of which were built down into the world's crust rather than above the surface. The planet is famed for its large-scale bio-habitats.Thulium - Thulium is the third world of the Macragge System and a Death World. It, too, was one of the worlds that saw fighting between the Ultramarines and the forces of the Despoiler during the Ultramar Campaign.Laphis - Laphis is the fourth world of the Macragge System and a Shrine World of the Adeptus Ministorum. During the Ultramar Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade, it came under the control of the forces of the Alpha Legion before they were routed from the world by a counterinvasion led by Chapter Master Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines. Laphis has three moons -- Halo, Aurora, and Nimbus.Macragge - Macragge is the fifth world of the Macragge System, the eponymous planet of the system, a Civilised World and the homeworld of the Ultramarines and Roboute Guilliman, as well as the capital world of the sub-sector.Mortendar - Mortendar is the sixth and outermost planet of the Macragge System and a Fortress World of the Imperium. Like the rest of the system, it fell under assault by the servants of Chaos under the command of the Despoiler during the Ultramar Campaign.
Macragge System - Sources: Gathering Storm - Part Three - Rise of the Primarch (7th Edition), pp. 11, 41-47
Macro-Accelerator Cannon - Macro-Accelerator Cannon: The Macro-Accelerator Cannon is a large kinetic weapon used by the Primaris Space Marines' Astraeus Super-Heavy Grav Tank as its primary armament.The Macro-Accelerator Cannon is actually a complex mass driver that uses a potent electromagentic field to accelerate a barrage of high caliber ferro-carbide slugs to extremely high speeds. Usually twin-linked, these weapons unleash an onslaught against which even enemy heavy armour cannot stand.
Macrocannon - Macrocannon: A Macrocannon is the largest member of the family of Auto Weapons and it has been used as a main armament on the starships of the Imperium of Man since the time of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium.These massive ballistic weapons are deployed in batteries, and destroy their targets through the delivery of powerful broadsides of shells fired in volley to overwhelm their enemy in a barrage of destruction.Macrocannons are giant, edifice-size weapons covered with gantries, cranes, power lines and pipes manned by a crew that stands hundreds strong.Macrocannons can also be deployed to serve as potent artillery weapons by Imperial ground forces, though such instances are rare as these weapons are not very mobile, and their range and accuracy drops tremendously when deployed within the confines of a gravity well and atmosphere, to the point that their massive firepower can present as much danger to friendly forces as to the foe.The greenskinned and savage xenos known as Orks are also known to make extensive use of crude Macrocannons on their kroozers, and refer to these monstrous weapons simply as "Gunz."
Macrocannon - Operation: Located upon the gun decks of voidfaring capital ships, projectile-firing Macrocannons require large crews to handle and load their enormous shells into the waiting breeches.First, the breech must be opened by one crew pulling on massive pinions or chains, while the second crew ready the next shell to be loaded. Once the breech is open, the spent casing is extracted and the breech quickly cleaned by the third crew, under the watchful eye of a junior Tech-priest or Enginseer who checks for any damage or impurity.Next, the second crew loads the gargantuan shell into the breech, and quickly clears the way as the first crew starts closing the breech as soon as the shell is aligned with the barrel.Once the breech is closed and secured, the crews move to a safe distance waiting for the gun to fire and the loading cycle to start anew. Macrocannon crews also have to contend with sitting on top of a magazine full of enough munitions to level a city.Operating a Macrocannon is extremely taxing and tiring, and the sheer size and weight of the components makes any mishap that occurs almost always a fatal affair, crushing the life out of the poor wretches involved. Life expectancy amongst such crews is often measured in mere weeks.Many starship captains still prefer the reliability of Macrocannons despite the medieval toil they inflict on the crew of their warship. Additionally, Macrocannons are far more robust than directed energy weapons like Lances.After it suffers punishing damage, a Macrocannon can still load and fire long after an energy weapon's delicate mechanism would fall silent.Macrocannons tend to be mounted in individual gunrooms to contain the damage if their magazine explodes. Each cannon's battery is led by a gun captain and each gun deck by at least one petty officer.An ensign or lieutenant has nominal charge of the gun deck but these junior officers are seldom seen away from the vessel's command decks. The battery's commanding officer is usually only heard as a disembodied voice over the Vox-caster by the battery's crew.
Macrocannon - Ork Macrocannons: Ork starships are more heavily armed than Imperial vessels of comparable size. Massive batteries of Macrocannons dot the hulls of every Ork warship, turrets and barrels protruding from every gap in the ship's hull that are capable of battering through an enemy vessel's Void Shields and ripping large chunks out of its hull. In a matter of minutes, an Ork vessel can unleash thousands of shells at a target, filling the void around an enemy ship with debris, shrapnel and unexploded shells. Above all other weapons, Orks favour massive shell-hurling Macrocannons, referred to collectively as "Gunz." Grouped together into batteries, these weapons fire volley after volley of solid shot and explosive shells, overwhelming any enemy in a torrent of destruction. However, these weapons do not always work as desired, sometimes misfiring or jamming. They may also be deactivated for repairs or "improvements" by a bored Mekboy. The following is a list of the most common "Gunz" found aboard Ork spacefaring vessels:Gunz - The most common Ork Macrobatteries are referred to simply as Gunz. Though this encompasses any number of different types of ship-based weapons, most fire ballistic projectiles of some sort or another. It is fairly common for Orks to loot weapons from defeated vessels, so many Gunz are "improved" versions of standard Imperial Macroweapons. The Ork inclination towards firepower is such that any gap in the haphazard armour plating of a Greenskin warship is soon filled with a Gun.'Eavy Gunz (Kannonz) - Alongside more conventional Macrocannons, the Orks commonly employ short-ranged but extremely powerful ballistic cannons called 'Eavy Gunz or Kannonz. Firing dense slugs of scrap metal massing thousands of tonnes, as well as jury-rigged plasma bombs, these shells quickly become inaccurate over long range. Nevertheless, they cause terrifying damage at close range. Often rebuilt from the largest broadsides of Imperial Cruisers, these guns protrude menacingly from the scowling armoured prows of Ork Kill Kroozers, ready to unleash salvoes of heavy explosive shells. Kannonz often have extra-long barrels, so the shells will fire further.
Macrocannon - Aeldari Starship Weapons: The Aeldari, Asuryani and Drukhari kindreds alike, disdain the use of crude ballistic weaponry like Macrocannons on their starships, preferring elegant and deadly laser and plasma-based weapons that can prove devastatingly accurate.
Madboy - Madboy: A Madboy (pl. Madboyz) is a Feral Ork who has developed a psychosis after his introduction to advanced forms of technology.Those Orks that cannot bear the sudden mental strain of exposure to advanced technology are collectively known as "Madboyz" or "Nutters" by their fellows and are usually grouped together in squads that can prove to be either a secret weapon for an Ork force or a deadly hindrance.As a result of their psychosis, even other Orks will be careful to keep their distance from a Madboy. Once combat erupts, Madboyz can prove to be savage fighters or can suddenly be overwhelmed by their insanity and start attacking other Orks, argue over whether a particular tree looks like Gork or Mork, or huddle in a gibbering panic.With a Madboy, other greenskins never know exactly how they will behave, which represents both the peril of these insane Orks -- and the possibilities.Madboyz often form informal retinues for Weirdboyz, and live apart from other Orks in small shanty towns. Mobs of Madboyz are considered to be lucky, their presence a sign of good fortune. However, this does entail a degree of inconvenience, such as when they decide to hold impromptu shouting contests in the middle of a night raid, or pelt the foe with a volley of stikkbomb pins before waiting expectantly for the loud bangs to start.The fact remains that Madboyz are a surprisingly potent asset on the battlefield, for their antics often confound the foe. Even the most gifted tactician cannot predict the anarchic movements of a mob of Madboyz caught up in the excitement of battle. After all, how can you second-guess an enemy who is as likely to tear apart an infantry platoon with their bare hands as they are to mill about picking snot-grubs out of each others’ noses?
Madboy - History: The ancient xenos known as the Old Ones, called by the Orks "Brain Boyz," created the Krork, the predecessors of current Orks, who may have been created to serve as a form of biological weapon in the Old Ones' long war with the Necrons. The Old Ones essentially "hardwired" all of the technological knowledge they deemed necessary into the Krork's genetic structure, from which it passed down to the Orks, a species that reproduces asexually through the use of spores that are periodically given off by every greenskin.However, not all of the inborn knowledge of an Ork is immediately available. When Orks are "born" on a world where advanced technology does not exist, they will possess technical knowledge equivalent to that of Humans during the Old Stone Age. Orks will slowly unlock the remaining knowledge of advanced technology naturally over the course of several generations of greenskins, ending with the instinctive ability of greenskin Mekboyz to build functional gravitic technologies like Warp-Drives, tractor beams and force fields which will allow them to migrate across the stars.Primitive Orks who have not yet attained the advanced technology required to cross interstellar distances are known as Feral Orks. To these Orks, introduction to even moderately advanced mechanical devices can prove to be mentally overwhelming, as the instinctive technical knowledge buried within their genes activates instantaneously instead of over time. Sometimes this process goes awry, creating a Madboy.
Madboy - Madmob: A madmob includes lots of individual Madboyz with various manias such as frantiks, paranoids, phobiaks, maniks and skitzos. On his own, each deranged Ork displays eccentric behaviour which is characteristic of his particular mania, but a mob of Madboyz acts in an even more bizarre and unpredictable way.In the excitement of battle, the mania of one Madboy can suddenly spread to the others leading to an outburdt of collective aberrant behaviour. When this subsides it will be replaced by an equally erratic and unpredictable series of actions stirred up by the ravings of another Madboy in the mob.And so it goes on throughout the battle; the mob rampages around the battlefield causing untold amounts of worry to friend and foe alike, each action as bizarre as the next.From time to time it just so happens that the Madboyz uncannily do something amazingly appropriate at exactly the right moment, causing all sorts of trouble for the enemy and saving some poor beleaguered Ork mob in the nick of time.On the other hand, they are just as likely to wander about the battlefield, frantically shouting and gesticulating in front of the enemy, attracting attention to themselves and the other Orks around them. With Madboyz, you never know what might happen.
Maeleum - Maeleum: Maeleum is a Daemon World located within the Warp-realspace interface known as the Eye of Terror in the Segmentum Obscurus.For a time, Maeleum served as the first homeworld of the Sons of Horus Traitor Legion following the immediate end of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium, though the world was abandoned in the wake of the Legion Wars.
Maeleum - History: Using slaves captured from their campaigns against the Imperium during the Heresy, the XVI Legion was able to build a massive fortress on the planet they named "Monument," or the Lupercalios, for they also entombed the corpse of their slain Warmaster Horus within it.However, not long after, the Legion Wars erupted within the Eye of Terror between the defeated Traitor Legions and the Emperor's Children Legion launched a devastating surprise assault on Maeleum, devastating the Sons of Horus' fortress and stealing Horus' corpse.This was part of an attempt by the corrupted Emperor's Children Chief Apothecary Fabius Bile to clone the dead Warmaster of Chaos and restore the fortunes of the forces of Chaos in the wake of the Imperium's victory in the Horus Heresy.It was at this time that Abaddon the Despoiler returned to the Sons of Horus to lead his forces to recover Horus' corpse. Following the successful defeat of the Emperor's Children and the shattering of that once-proud Space Marine Legion into gibbering, hedonistic warbands, the Sons of Horus recovered the corpse of their former leader.Abaddon returned it to Maeleum where he had it destroyed so that no further attempts to clone Horus could ever be attempted. At the same time, he came to the epiphany that Horus was dead because Horus had been a weak fool, unable to complete his task of slaying the Emperor and taking control of the galaxy in the name of the Dark Gods.Abaddon swore that he would succeed where Horus had failed in overthrowing the "Corpse-Emperor" and proclaimed himself the new Warmaster of Chaos. He had the Sons of Horus repaint their viridian Power Armour black, the colour of mourning and of vengeance, and cast-off the XVI Legion's former moniker of the Sons of Horus.From then on, they became known only as the Black Legion. The Black Legion abandoned the ruins of the Sons of Horus' fortress and left Maeleum behind, choosing to become a fleet-based Legion with scattered holdings all across the Eye of Terror.During the preliminary stages of the 1st Black Crusade, the Black Legion gathered their forces and withdrew from much of their territory, leaving only skeleton forces at key outposts and minimizing the patrols of their domain. Every Astartes was vital to the campaign. This left much of their realm unguarded. Thaegus Daravek, Lord of Hosts and Abaddon's most hated rival at that time bombarded Maeleum from orbit, shattered the planet and used those pieces as ammunition, propelled by mass drivers, to attack the Black Fleet.
Maelstrom - Maelstrom: The Maelstrom, with the region of Imperial space surrounding it commonly referred to as the Maelstrom Zone (also known by its ponderous Administratum designation Maelstrom Adjacent Autonomous Imperial Resource Extraction Zone Grid 004-357), is a massive and ancient Warp rift located near the galactic core in the Ultima Segmentum.This area of space is riven with Warp Storms so intense that stellar travel in the region is virtually impossible. Unlike the Eye of Terror which was created by the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh, the Maelstrom is, as far as Imperial scholars can ascertain, a naturally occurring phenomenon.With the difficulty of travelling through the region, this area of space became a haven to pirates, criminals and Renegades. Swirling with Warp-energies that permeate its worlds, this region is riddled with the evil energies of the Warp which slowly poisons those mad enough, or desperate enough, to reside within.Within the Maelstrom is a region of lawless Wilderness Space containing an estimated twenty-plus Ork Empires, numerous Hrud infestations, and countless Human pirate strongholds.It is also said to be home to the infamous Huron Blackheart and his piratical Renegade Space Marine warband known as the Red Corsairs as well as a large contingent of Word Bearers Chaos Space Marines and their Chaos Cultist allies who fled there and established a base on the Daemon World of Ghalmek in the early 31st Millennium in the wake of the Horus Heresy's Battle of Calth.
Maelstrom - History: Second only to the great Warp rift that is the Eye of Terror, the Maelstrom is a vast Warp Storm that scars both the physical universe and the fabric of the Immaterium beyond.It is a dark, twisting light in the Warp, and a fell beacon for those that would find solace in hell, a place where the material universe and the Empyrean interpenetrate each other and it is frighteningly easy to slip from reality to unreality and back again. It is salvation for the Damned and a shifting sea of storms to trouble the righteous.Located near the dense stellar masses of the galactic core in a near-linear path between the core and Terra, the Maelstrom covers an area many hundreds of light years across, and its presence in space is marked by a vast, slowly turning gyre comprised of nebulae, dust and stellar material in which countless stars and worlds have long been lost.Although turbulent and unpredictable enough to make any true chart worthless and any hopes of conquering or even patrolling it an insurmountable task, it remains considerably more stable than most other Warp Storms on record, and evidence indicates that it has been in existence since before the evolution of Mankind.Because of its relative stability, the Maelstrom has long served as a haven for all manner of corsairs, Renegades, outcasts, exiles and forgotten horrors, from the Traitor Legions to the Craftworld Aeldari's debased Drukhari kin.At any one time it is estimated by the Deathwatch that at least twenty major Ork infestations or petty pirate kingdoms make their home in the Maelstrom, warring against each other and venturing forth to raid and pillage.Worse things still stalk its radiant darkness. As a Majoris Grade Warp Anomaly, the Maelstrom is a point of constant interface between the real and the unreal, realspace and the Warp overlapping each other like a blurred image.Daemonic incursions and the predations of spectral entities such as Psychneuein and Hull Ghasts are common at the points within the Maelstrom where these realities overlap, while the flotsam of unknown aeons is cast up within its shadowed vortex. Many worlds found whirling within the Maelstrom's depths have been tainted by Chaos in some way, while others have been touched by the lapping of stranger tides yet.Although considered "stable" -- for a Warp Storm at least -- the Maelstrom is not static, and it is known that it periodically waxes and wanes in size and turbulence over time. Nor can any location within it be entirely relied upon to remain where it was last encountered.Over the centuries, a number of savants and Explorators have sought to define some pattern, reason or rhyme to the chaotic fluctuations of the Maelstrom, drawn to its dark mysteries. Most have gone mad or become lost themselves; although those that left decipherable records have often compared its patterns to the breath of gods fitfully slumbering or the encephalographic patterns of a nightmare-riven mind.
Maelstrom - Early History: During the Great Crusade, the armies of the Emperor of Mankind attempted to penetrate the Maelstrom and cleanse it of the evils that lurked within. The wealth of the Maelstrom region has drawn Humanity to the Maelstrom Zone time and again despite its manifold hazards and difficulties, and indeed there is ready evidence of Humanity's presence in the region as far back as the Age of Technology.The Maelstrom Zone has also drawn Humanity's enemies as well in their countless number and diverse loathsome forms. Hundreds of warships and thousands of troops were lost in the early campaigns during the Great Crusade era in the late 30th Millennium, and with the rest of the galaxy to reconquer, the Emperor declared the region Purgatus.In the years following the Horus Heresy, Primarch Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines Legion decided that the inhabitants of the Maelstrom were too great a threat to the stability of the wounded Imperium to ignore, and ordered the surrounding regions reinforced in an effort to contain any attacks that might originate from within.Over time, the Imperium slowly established several important Imperial outposts within the Maelstrom Zone during the 38th and 39th Millennia. These outposts rose to prominence as flickering beacons of influence and strength within the region.The three vital star systems that formed the links in a distant chain that allowed the resources of the Maelstrom Zone to flow into the coffers of the more established Imperial sectors beyond were the systems of Cygnax, Sagan and Badab. As the situation in the Maelstrom became ever more volatile, this path of Imperial commerce came increasingly under threat.
Maelstrom - Death of Cygnax: By the middle of the 41st Millennium, the heavily militarised Hive World of Cygnax located in the star system that bore its name was the most populated sphere in the northern Maelstrom Zone. Having long been a lynchpin of Imperial control of the region, Cygnax was a key world, forming a bulwark against aggressors and serving as a safe port for Imperial merchant and naval vessels.In the year 557.M41 disaster struck with the suddenness of an onrushing storm as Cygnax succumbed to corruption from within and attack from without. The planet rapidly fell into bloody civil war between its Imperial garrison and Death Cult nihilists, backed by the intervention of the dread Chaos Space Marine warband known as the Reborn.Despite the intervention of the Mantis Warriors Chapter, which itself had made a home in the nearby Endymion Cluster, the death toll rose exponentially into the millions.The Death Cultists managed to gain access to part of the planet's missile defence network, and in a suicidal rage unleashed a rain of atomic and plasma warheads upon the doomed world, shattering its hive cities and disrupting the planet's orbit for several years. The resulting permanent nuclear winter, radioactive fallout and tectonic upheavals annihilated all life on Cygnax.With the fall of this key world, Imperial control of the northern Maelstrom Zone swiftly crumbled. Without Cygnax, combined with other losses in the region over the previous few centuries, vital Imperial military supply chains stretching as far as Bakka and Terra itself were threatened, forcing the Adeptus Terra to act.
Maelstrom - Maelstrom Warders: In 587.M41, the High Lords of Terra pronounced an Edict Imperialis in response to these dire predations, ordering several Space Marine Chapters to permanently base themselves in the Maelstrom Zone in order to protect the Imperium's interests and pacify the region. In recognition of their past glorious service to the Imperium, the Astral Claws Chapter was given the high honour of the senior role in commanding these newly formed Maelstrom Warders.This force was to include the fleet-based Lamenters and Charnel Guard Chapters to patrol the outer regions, and also incorporated the Mantis Warriors from the nearby Endymion Cluster. Once this force was put in place the Astral Claws Chapter took over an orbital battle station in the strategically vital Badab System, which became their fortress-monastery and base of operations.After the Maelstrom Warders' establishment, an Imperial Navy squadron was detached from the Segmentum Battlefleet and permanently assigned to the region to conduct search-and-destroy and convoy protection duties. This naval detachment quickly stabilised the surrounding areas and purged the inner zone of the heretical and xenos elements that had plagued them. Soon the wealth of the Maelstrom Zone once again began to flow into the coffers of the Imperium.The greatest operation during these times occurred during the Scourge Campaign from 640.M41-651.M41, in which the Astral Claws and their allies conducted a series of major combat operations, striking deep into the heart of the Maelstrom in an attempt to take the battle to the foe.Initially the Space Marines were successful, until the abrupt withdrawal of the Charnel Guard Chapter. The Adeptus Terra severed the Chapter's ties to the Warders, dispatching them to the Thanatos Crusade in the Veiled Region.This sudden loss effectively ended the campaign. The Astral Claws subsequently petitioned for a replacement Chapter to be reassigned to the Maelstrom Zone, but were denied. Less then two Terran decades later, the Warders suffered a series of setbacks and a high number of casualties amongst some of their allies, causing a rift in relations between the wider Imperium and the Maelstrom Warders during this period.Soon the Warders became hard-pressed by an upsurge of daemonic incursions and corsair attacks, pushing them into an increasingly defensive posture and suspending all operations near the Maelstrom itself.
Maelstrom - Badab War: But things soon took a turn for the worst, when conditions in the Maelstrom Zone worsened and matters turned against the self-proclaimed "Tyrant of Badab" as his plans were thwarted by causes beyond his control.Huron became increasingly paranoid and dictatorial, and soon embarked upon a dark course that would eventually lead to the lamentable conflict known as the Badab War from 901.M41-912.M41 in which the Astral Claws and their allies sought to secede from the Imperium so that they could prosecute their own private war against the forces of the Maelstrom more effectively.Not only his own Chapter, but those blinded by their past relationships and allied to the Astral Claws, also followed Lufgt Huron into this treachery. In the face of wanton heresy and deceit, the Inquisitor-Legate charged with prosecuting the Imperial Crusade against the Secessionist forces of the Badab Sector condemned the entire Astral Claws Chapter as Excommunicate Traitoris, and placed their allies under official suspicion of heresy and treason.Lufgt Huron eventually fell during the final Loyalist Space Marine assault on the Palace of Thorns, Huron's seat of power on the world of Badab Primaris, although whether he survived or was truly slain remained shrouded in mystery for several decades, as his badly wounded form was borne away by his closest followers.Though the Badab War had ended, best estimates suggested that more than two hundred of the Astral Claws Traitors escaped their fate and fled into the Maelstrom.
Maelstrom - Red Corsairs: Within the hellish realm of the Maelstrom Zone, the surviving Astral Claws and Renegade elements of several other Space Marine Chapters fled to this region's heart, carving themselves out an empire.From their new homeworld, dubbed New Badab, these cruel reavers have plagued every Imperial shipping route within 5,000 light years of the Maelstrom.Lufgt Huron, who survived his injuries with the aid of Heretekal augmetics, renamed himself Huron Blackheart and his rogue Chapter the Red Corsairs, selling his soul to the powers of Chaos Undivided in return for the ability to make war upon the Imperium and the False Emperor he believed betrayed him.To this day, many of those few Space Marines who have tragically fallen to the lure of Chaos are inevitably found within the ranks of the Red Corsairs, embittered and twisted by the dark power of Chaos that reigns supreme within this hellish realm.At some point before the 13th Black Crusade, Abaddon the Despoiler gifted to Huron Blackheart and the Red Corsairs one of the two Blackstone Fortresses he had captured during the Gothic War of the early 41st Millennium. The fortress was hidden within the Maelstrom Zone.
Maelstrom - Notable Sectors and Sub-sectors of the Maelstrom Zone: Badab SectorSagan Sub-sector (Sub-sector of Badab Sector)Endymion Cluster (unorganised region formerly controlled by the Mantis Warriors)Khymaran DriftMagog ClusterThe Pale Stars
Maelstrom - Notable Worlds and Star Systems of the Maelstrom Zone: Badab SystemBadab PrimarisAngstrom SystemAngstrom IIEndymion Prime (located in the Endymion Cluster)Ghalmek (located within the Maelstrom)New Badab (located within the Maelstrom)Tranquility II (located in the Endymion Cluster)
Maelstrom Warders - Maelstrom Warders: The Maelstrom Warders were an alliance of Space Marine Chapters dedicated to the defence of the volatile and dangerous region of the Ultima Segmentum of the galaxy known as the Maelstrom Zone. In 587.M41, the High Lords of Terra issued an Edict Imperialis in response to numerous dire predations on Imperial commerce and worlds in the region that ordered several Space Marine Chapters to permanently base themselves in the Maelstrom Zone. Their objective was to protect the Imperium's interests and pacify the region. But conditions in the Maelstrom Zone worsened and the Renegade Astral Claws' Chapter Master Lufgt Huron, the self-proclaimed "Tyrant of Badab", embarked upon a dark course that would eventually lead the Maelstrom Warders into heresy during the lamentable civil conflict between the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes known as the Badab War from 901.M41 to 912.M41.