vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Drookian Fenguard - Notable Drookian Fenguard Regiments: 53rd Drookian Fenguard - The 53rd Drookian was one of the Astra Militarum regiments assigned to the defence of Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.72nd Drookian Fenguard - In 448.M41, the 72nd Drookian took part in the Imperial campaign against the Secessionist forces known as the Canis Hegemony. Their most famous engagement occurred on the world of Aelian VII, during the Battle of Traitor's Moss, when the 72nd ambushed and destroyed a much larger Secessionist force. This occurred during the seventeenth year of the Imperial campaign against the Canis Hegemony. The Imperial Navy had become entangled in a protracted engagement against corsairs and dealers from Valo Opaline, leaving the Imperial Guard forces deployed on the ground in the region without vital support. Desperate to break the deadlock, the Imperial High Command was at a loss on how to best continue the campaign, until they received help from an unexpected quarter. Led by their commander, Colonel Woortan, the 72nd Drookian Fenguard was reconnoitering the world of Aelian VII, preparing the way for the Imperial offensive in the Aelian System. The failure of the Imperial fleet to destroy the corsairs had led to the suspension of the Imperial offensive, effectively isolating the 72nd Drookian from the main body of the Imperial Crusade. This forced the Fenguard to rely on their own survival skills, which unfortunately could not have come at a more inopportune moment, as the XII Army of the Canis Hegemony chose to move on Aelian VII. Instead of engaging the enemy, Colonel Woortan bided his time, gathering valuable intelligence on enemy force dispositions before moving to attack. He devised an audacious plan to draw the entirety of the enemy forces towards Aelian VII. The Imperials proved able to draw the enemy onto the marshy zones that surrounded the low plains by the plateau, enabling the Drookians to utilise their superior abilities on such terrain, and effectively pinning the enemy forces until the reinforcements of the Imperial Crusade arrived. During the Battle of Traitor's Moss, fewer than 900 Fenguards crushed a force of more than 20,000 Secessionists. The 72nd Drookian was granted a Right of Conquest to the continent on Aelian VII as reward for their monumental victory.83rd Drookian Fenguard - In 999.M41, the 83rd Drookian Fenguard was one of several regiments that were involved in the defense of Cadia and its surrounding systems against the Forces of Chaos, commanded by Abaddon the Despoiler and his 13th Black Crusade.
Drop Pod - Drop Pod: Drop Pods are atmospheric assault transports that are primarily used by the Adeptus Astartes and their Chaos Space Marine counterparts for orbital insertion and planetary assaults where achieving tactical surprise is often an important factor.Drop Pods, along with Thunderhawks, Thunderhawk Transporters, Storm Eagles, Stormravens, Caestus Assault Rams and teleportation make up the majority of a Space Marine Chapter's means to deploy their forces to the surface of a planet quickly.Drop Pods resemble the standard Imperial Life Pod that is used to evacuate the crews of severely damaged starships. These craft are used as a one-way, environmentally sealed armoured landing craft to insert forces right into the heart of a battle or deep behind enemy lines.The ultimate weapon of terror and surprise, when a Drop Pod lands directly in the midst of an enemy line or formation and its occupants disembark and start wreaking havoc, there is little escape for the foe. Drop Pods are fired with colossal acceleration from an orbiting Strike Cruiser or Battle Barge, after which it screams through a planet's atmosphere with oversized rocket thrusters boosting it even further beyond terminal velocity; even the most advanced air defence systems have difficulty locking on to a Drop Pod travelling at up to 12,000 kilometres per hour.At these velocities, it takes only a matter of solar minutes, or even seconds, for a Drop Pod to reach its destination as it plummets through the atmosphere, only firing its retro thrusters at the last possible moment before making a devastating impact on the planetary surface with enough force to crush most structures.Drop Pod assaults are fraught with peril as the craft possesses few defences against enemy anti-aircraft fire or other aircraft or debris present in the air while they are plummeting downwards at full speed. Additionally, the passengers must lend their trust to the guidance systems of the craft's Machine Spirit (artificial intelligence) to safely deliver them to their destination.During the descent it is common for Space Marines to give voice to prayers to the Emperor and hymns of vengeance, steeling themselves against the danger of violent orbital entry and preparing themselves for the battle ahead.While many Astartes Chapters use Drop Pods for quick insertions or deep strikes, others such as the Invaders or the Black Consuls will use Drop Pod assaults to launch the majority of their entire Chapter into combat. In these situations, massed Drop Pod assaults light up the sky of the target world as hundreds of these screaming harbingers of woe streak across the firmament.There are few enemies who can withstand this tactic, as the Space Marines will land in and amongst places that only moments before were considered a safe haven. After a Drop Pod is used it will remain on the battlefield until it can be retrieved by the Chapter's Techmarines, usually by use of a Thunderhawk Transporter.
Drop Pod - History: The Adeptus Astartes has made use of the Drop Pod since the very beginning of the Great Crusade when they were still full-sized Space Marine Legions. These spacecraft, which could quickly rain down forces comprised of hundreds or even thousands of Astartes, were used to quickly bring a world into Imperial Compliance.Drop Pods were deployed by both sides in the great interstellar civil war known as the Horus Heresy, when thousands of Drop Pods brought both Traitor and Loyalist Astartes down into combat against their former brothers. Drop Pods assaults were the preferred method of planetary insertion for several of the Space Marine Legions, such as the World Eaters and the Space Wolves.Drop Pods are still used by most of the Traitor Legions even after the passage of 10,000 standard years, yet many Heretic Astartes warbands now favour the use of the ancient Dreadclaw Drop Pod, as it is more advanced than the standard pattern Drop Pod. The Dreadclaw was the most advanced assault boat used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, yet a dangerous flaw in its Machine Spirit, which allowed it to become highly self-aware, led to it no longer being used by the Loyalist Astartes.
Drop Pod - Unit Composition: 1 Drop Pod (41st Millennium Only)1 Legion Drop Pod (31st Millennium Only)
Drop Pod - Wargear: A standard Drop Pod is armed and equipped with:Storm BolterInertial Guidance System - The Drop Pod's Inertial Guidance System is an on-board flight-control system that helps safely guide the Drop Pod to its target, avoiding enemy fire and obstacles. This system controls the descent so that the Space Marines on board are able to use the time to prepare for the coming battle.A Drop Pod may replace its Storm Bolter with any of the following:Deathwind LauncherDrop Pods may also have a variety of vehicle equipment such as:Locator Beacon
Drop Pod - Horus Heresy Wargear: During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy the Drop Pods of the Legiones Astartes featured different weapon loadout options than those still found during the 41st Millennium.A standard Legion Drop Pod is armed and equipped with:Twin-linked BoltersInertial Guidance System - The Legion Drop Pod's Inertial Guidance System is an on-board flight-control system that helps safely guide the Drop Pod to its target, avoiding enemy fire and obstacles. This system controls the descent so that the Space Marines on board are able to use the time to prepare for the coming battle.
Drop Pod - Variants: There exist many variants of the standard Drop Pod, from smaller single-man versions to large Drop Pods capable of delivering a Dreadnought into combat. The following are known Space Marine Drop Pod variants:
Drop Pod - Standard Drop Pod: The standard pattern of Adeptus Astartes Drop Pod is capable of carrying up to 12 Space Marines into combat. They are launched from a vessel in low orbit towards the drop zone, usually in the midst of or near a battlefield. Once launched, the Drop Pod plummets through the atmosphere until its retro rockets fire to slow its descent.A Machine Spirit (on-board computer) guides the Drop Pod to its destination and can receive further commands from the Pod's mothership. Although a Drop Pod becomes immobile after having landed on a planetary surface, it can later be recovered by the Chapter's Techmarines and reused.These spacecraft are capable of being armed with a single Storm Bolter or Deathwind Missile Launcher that is able to provide covering fire for the disembarking Astartes. During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy Drop Pods were equipped with a set of twin-linked Bolters.Although it is not standard, Drop Pods are able to be modified to carry Space Marines in Terminator Armour; though this practise is rarely utilised due to Terminator Armour's capability to teleport directly into combat. When a Drop Pod is modified to carry Space Marines in Terminator Armour, two standard-sized restraints must be replaced with a single large restraint due to the sheer bulk of Terminator Armour.
Drop Pod - Thunderfire Drop Pod: The Thunderfire Drop Pod is a standard pattern Drop Pod with most of its internal seating restraints removed, so that the craft is capable of carrying a single Thunderfire Cannon and its crew into combat to provide heavy fire support for the occupants of other Drop Pods in a single assault, as Drop Pods are not large enough to deliver vehicles into combat from orbit.
Drop Pod - Rapier Drop Pod: The Rapier Drop Pod is a standard pattern Drop Pod with most of its internal seating restraints removed, so that the spacecraft is capable of carrying a single Rapier mobile heavy-weapon platform and its crew into combat to provide heavy fire support for the occupants of other Drop Pods in a single assault, since Drop Pods are not large enough to deliver vehicles into combat from orbit. These Drop Pods were commonly used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the late 30th and early 31st Millennia by the Space Marine Legions.
Drop Pod - Squad Drop Pod: A smaller variant of the standard pattern Drop Pod, this variant carries only a single squad of 10 Space Marines into combat. Like the standard Drop Pod, this variant is also capable of being armed with a single Storm Bolter or Deathwind Missile Launcher that is able to provide covering fire for the disembarking Astartes.
Drop Pod - Combat-Squad Drop Pod: An even smaller variant of the standard pattern Drop Pod, this variant can carry a demi-squad of 5 Astartes into combat, although it is usually used to insert forces behind enemy lines to conduct covert operations against the enemy.
Drop Pod - Single-Man Drop Pods: These very small variants of the standard Drop Pod are capable of delivering a single person to the battlefield, and are usually used to deliver important Astartes officers such as Captains or Librarians to the planet's surface. These small spacecraft can also deliver other needed cargo such as special wargear or even Servitors if needed.
Drop Pod - Dreadnought Drop Pod: The Dreadnought Drop Pod was developed alongside the more common Legion Drop Pod in general service at the time of the Great Crusade, specifically designed Dreadnought Drop Pods, such as the Lucius Pattern Heavy Drop Pod, were somewhat larger than the standard Drop Pods of the Legiones Astartes and had a more powerful engine, allowing for a dangerously meteoric descent to the battlefield. This served to protect the cargo during approach and allowed it to strike with unprecedented speed.Dreadnought Drop Pods are still highly valued by many Space Marine Chapters. This Drop Pod pattern is the largest known Drop Pod variant used by the Adeptus Astartes, and is capable of delivering a single Dreadnought into combat. This variant is slightly larger than the standard Drop Pod, yet lacks any and all internal non-essential equipment, such as restraints and weapon holders, which are not present to make room for the bulk of the Dreadnought. The Dreadnought Drop Pod uses three or four large external door ramps as opposed to the smaller ones used on other types of Drop Pods. These Drop Pods are capable of delivering both Contemptor Dreadnoughts and now-standard Castraferrum Pattern Mars Mark IV and Mark V Dreadnoughts to the battlefield.
Drop Pod - Deathstorm Drop Pod: Deathstorm Drop Pods were first conceived and prototyped by the Raven Guard Legion during the Great Crusade, who sought to augment the firepower of their precision-orbital assaults. The Raven Guard's preference for such surgical-strike tactics would, upon occasion, leave them at a disadvantage in the case of both protracted engagements and in assaulting very heavily fortified targets where heavy units such as Legion tanks and artillery could not be used.The Raven Guard's solution spoke much to their own nature and preferred tactics -- a weapon that would strike with merciless swiftness and expend its force in a lethal fury that left little need for prolonged endurance.The Deathstorm Drop Pod is a variant pattern of the standard Drop Pod that carries heavy weaponry instead of Space Marines. Built around a standard drop pod chassis, the Deathstorm pattern utilises heavy weapons which are slaved to a targeting Cogitator, and once the assault ramps have opened, the weapons will open fire on anything outside of the spacecraft. These weapons will only fire in the direction of the ramp they are positioned at and will strafe the immediate area with weapons fire.These weapons do not possess auto-targeting capabilities and will fire indiscriminately at the area around them until all ammunition is expended, although by the time this happens the Drop Pods carrying the Space Marines themselves will have landed and started disgorging Astartes onto the battlefield to face any enemies that survived the onslaught unleashed by the Deathstorm Drop Pod.The Deathstorm Drop Pod can be equipped with either five Assault Cannons or five Whirlwind Missile Launchers, one of these weapons positioned at each of the spacecraft's assault ramps.
Drop Pod - Deathwind Drop Pod: The Deathwind variant of the Drop Pod is no longer used by the Adeptus Astartes. This variant, similar in nearly every way to the Deathstorm variant that ultimately replaced it, was originally armed with Deathwind Missile Launchers to provide fire support. This variant has been replaced with the Deathstorm variant due to Whirlwind Missile Launchers being more powerful than Deathwind Missile Launchers and just as easy and cost effective to manufacture.
Drop Pod - Supply Drop Pods: Supply Drop Pods are Drop Pods that can be delivered to Space Marine forces operating behind enemy lines or otherwise away from an area where it is possible for them to readily resupply. Supply Drop Pods can be used to deliver anything that is needed to a squad, such as foodstuffs, weapons, ammunition, and wargear such as Jump Packs.
Drop Pod - Chaos Drop Pods: The following is a list of all known Chaos Drop Pod variants and crafts of similar function:
Drop Pod - Chaos Drop Pod: The Traitor Legions and Renegade Space Marines also make use of the Drop Pod. Chaos Drop Pods are similar in every way to their Loyalist counterpart, although they are usually warped and twisted beyond recognition by their time spent in the Eye of Terror. They often have various non-standard customisations added to them by their Chaos Space Marine masters and are covered in blasphemous Chaotic iconography. The standard Drop Pod is used alongside the rarer and more advanced Dreadclaw.
Drop Pod - Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw: The Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod was initially designed during the Great Crusade to insert Legion Space Marine boarding forces onto enemy void-craft in the midst of battle. As such they had a minimal profile and a heavily armoured hull designed to survive fire from smaller ship-based close defence weaponry, while a series of melta cutters allowed it to slice through a ship's outer hull and deliver its cargo into the heart of a vessel.Unlike some earlier boarding craft, which were incapable of returning their cargo to friendly ships, the Dreadclaw was also fully capable of operating as an independent dropship. Indeed, many Legions favoured using the Dreadclaw in this role instead of the more common Storm Eagle, dropping from the sky like a flaming comet and employing the craft's thermal jets and Melta cutters to scorch the landing zone clean before disembarking the assault troops contained within.Though lacking in any subtlety or elegance, this tactic was undeniably effective, and many crew had developed a dark notoriety for their skill at reckless low altitude strafing runs, leaving great swathes of the enemy's lines aflame with each pass.In the 41st Millennium, the Dreadclaw is an ancient Drop Pod pattern still utilised exclusively by the Traitor Legions as an assault boat for ship-to-ship combat. Unlike other Drop Pod patterns, the Dreadclaw is able to take off after landing. The Dreadclaw was the most advanced assault boat used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, yet a dangerous flaw in its Machine Spirit, which allowed it to become highly self-aware and nearly sentient, led to it no longer being used by Loyalist Astartes.Once the Heresy began a number of fatal incidents on starships that were part of the Loyalist forces increased exponentially and led to many Imperial starship captains simply jettisoning their entire complement of the assault boats into the cold vacuum of space.The Dreadclaws present on Traitor vessels did not suffer nearly as many problems. In fact, after the end of the Heresy and the retreat of the Traitor Legions into the Eye of Terror, the Dreadclaws became as warped by constant exposure to Chaos energies as the rest of the Chaos Space Marines' equipment and vehicles. The malevolence of these assault boats' Machine Spirits has only grown, though now they serve the agenda of the Ruinous Powers.
Drop Pod - Kharybdis Assault Claw Drop Pod: The Kharybdis Assault Claw is a rare pattern of Drop Pod of ancient provenance. Once employed by many Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras as a ship-to-ship assault craft, the Kharybdis was a monstrous Drop Pod capable of carrying large assault forces through the void and mounting significant firepower to blast a path through defending small craft. The arrival of a flight of these ominous Assault Craft, boarding hooks extended as they approached their target, signalled the end for the crew of any vessel that dared opposed the Legiones Astartes.As fully operational dropships, Kharybdis Assault Claws also served as surface-to-orbit transports. This was a role that allowed them to use the firepower of their Storm Launchers and Melta-cutters to scour clean their chosen landing zone before disembarking their deadly cargo into the midst of the enemy's shattered formation.Many more aggressive commanders employed the Kharybdis as an effective tank hunter, ramming enemy armour in daring low-altitude attack runs, clamping hold with the Kharybdis' hook-claws and burning through even the thickest ceramite plating with Melta-cutters designed to breach the much-thicker hulls of starships. The secrets of the Kharybdis' construction were lost by the Imperium in the centuries following the Horus Heresy, but still persists in the hands of the Dark Mechanicus and their Chaos Hell-Forges, who offer them up to the Forces of Chaos in return for a bounty of souls and slaves.
Drop Pod - Non-Astartes Imperial Drop Pods: The following is a list of all known non-Astartes Imperial Drop Pod variants and crafts of similar function:
Drop Pod - Eversor Temple: The Imperial Assassins of the Officio Assassinorum's Eversor Temple are deployed in special Drop Pods that prepare them for their missions. These Pods are equipped with neuro-links that feed the details of the mission directly to the Assassin's mind while remote links activate and begin to prepare his body for the task at hand.Once the Drop Pod lands at the appropriate destination the Assassin is fully briefed on the mission at hand and is fully awoken from his or her stasis.
Drop Pod - Adepta Sororitas: The Battle Sisters of the Adepta Sororitas occasionally deploy via Dominica Pattern Drop Pods when undertaking missions behind enemy lines. This includes the Dominica Pattern Deathwind Drop Pod, which may be armed with either Heavy Bolters or Multi-Meltas.
Drop Pod - Imperial Knights: When the circumstances of war dictate for a rapid deployment of their troops, the Nobles of the Questor Imperialis make use of a far larger version of the Drop Pod to deploy their Imperial Knights, the Drop Keep, but even those are dwarfed by the titanic macrolanders in use within the Titan Legions of the Collegia Titanica.As its name may suggest, a Drop Keep is heavily armoured; its size is such that it may be mistaken for an Imperial fortification dropped out of low orbit rather than a troop transport. A single Drop Keep can easily accomodate two full lances of Imperial Knights -- up to twelve suits of Knight Armour -- while boasting a firepower just short of an Imperial super-heavy tank.Once the Keep's weapons have cleared a space for the Knights to disembark, its troops lead the charge to the tunes of auto-fanfares, easily overwhelming the most dug in enemy.
Drop Pod - Life Pods: The Life Pod is the ancestor spacecraft from which all Drop Pods are derived. Life Pods are used by many intelligent, space-faring species throughout the galaxy to evacuate their starship crew members during an emergency. These pods are known by many different names and designations, yet they all are designed to do the same thing: get their passengers away from danger.Life Pods are usually equipped with advanced life support systems and navigation equipment, allowing them to safely remove themselves from danger. Life Pods can be used to land the escaped crew on a planet's surface or simply make their way to a nearby friendly starship or space station to be retrieved. Sometimes these spacecraft may be captured by the enemy, the escaped crew held as hostages or simply enslaved or killed.The quality of the spacecraft's life support, navigational equipment, comfort and safety features, and overall ability to keep its cargo from dying, varies from species to species. T'au Life Pods feature ample room, comfortable seating, and even shielded view ports, while Imperial Life Pods tend to be more spartan and utilitarian.
Drop Pod - Non-Human Drop Pods: The following is a list of known xenos craft of similar function to a Drop Pod:
Drop Pod - Ork Roks and Krash-Kapsuls: The Orks have their own version of Drop Pods, from the small (yet much larger than an Imperial Drop Pod) Krash-Kapsul to the massive Roks. Krash-Kapsuls are rarely used by Orks as they much rather prefer to use the larger Roks to get their forces into the fight quickly.Ork Roks are essentially a hollowed-out asteroid that is plated in thick armour, outfitted with large engines, and armed with a vast number of very big weapons. The Orks will deliberately slam these craft straight into the ground of a target world, causing massive amounts of damage to whatever it hits. After the Rok hits its destination, the surviving Orks will quickly swarm out of the wreck and engage their targets.
Drop Pod - Tyranid Mycetic Spores: Mycetic Spores are large, living shells used to transport Tyranid bioforms from Tyranid Hive Ships to a planet's surface. They are considered the Tyranid equivalent of an Imperial Drop Pod, as they function in much the same way.Mycetic Spores are designed to survive the gravitational and thermal stresses of orbital insertion and to protect their organic cargo from impact with the planet's surface. Once through the upper atmosphere, the spores alter their shape to slow descent.The spores themselves die soon after impact, having safely released a swarm of Tyranid creatures.
Drop Pod - Notable Deployments of the Drop Pod: Dark Hands - The Dark Hands Chapter used Drop Pods during the Chinchare Hrud Infestation against the swarms of hideous xenos known as the Hrud.Blood Angels - The Blood Angels Chapter made use of Drop Pods during the Achemar Invasion.Crimson Fists - The Crimson Fists Chapter used Drop Pods as part of the Thule Intervention Force.Revilers - The Revilers Chapter used Drop Pods during the Azoth Campaign.Dark Angels - The Dark Angels Chapter made extensive use of Drop Pod assaults during the Piscina Campaign.Death Strike - The Death Strike Chapter used Drop Pods during the Verdan II Counter-Strike.Raven Guard - The Raven Guard Chapter used Drop Pods during the Imperial Raid on Kastorel-Novem against the Orks calling that world home.Taros Campaign - The Avenging Sons and Raptors Chapters deployed 24 and 42 Drop Pods, respectively, during the campaign against the Tau on the desert Mining World of Taros.Aurelian Crusades - The Blood Ravens Chapter deployed Drop Pods during all three of the Aurelian Crusades. They also made use of Drop Pods during the Tartarus, Kronus, and Kaurava Campaigns.Scouring of Tsagualsa - The Ultramarines, along with every single one of their Successor Chapters at the time, such as the Novamarines, Aurora Chapter, and the Genesis Chapter, launched a full-scale invasion against Tsagualsa, the home of the Night Lords Traitor Legion after the Horus Heresy. During this invasion the sky was lit with the trails of thousands of Drop Pods as they screamed towards the planet.Burning of Prospero - The entire Space Wolves Legion was unleashed against the Thousand Sons and their homeworld of Prospero in the early days of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium. The Space Wolves' Drop Pods delivered those avenging Astartes to Prospero's planetary capital of Tizca.Istvaan III Atrocity - During the Istvaan III Atrocity, the Traitor elements of the World Eaters, Sons of Horus, Death Guard, and the Emperor's Children Space Marine Legions made use of Drops Pods to land ground forces to exterminate their Loyalist counterparts.Badab War - During the Badab War Loyalist forces such as the Salamanders, Marines Errant, Minotaurs, and Red Scorpions and the Secessionists, including the Astral Claws and Lamenters, used Drop Pods in their battle for control of the Badab Sector. Both sides used Drop Pods to land their forces on many planets throughout the Sector.
Drop Pod - Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications: Drop PodTypeOrbital Drop PodOperational CeilingN/AVehicle NameDrop PodMax Speed12,000 kph descentWorld of OriginLuciusRangeUnlimitedKnown PatternsIV - XXXVIMain ArmamentN/ACrewN/ASecondary ArmamentN/APowerplant1 x FV-50-75 Retro-RocketMain AmmunitionN/AWeight14.0 TonnesSecondary AmmunitionN/ALength5.2 MetresArmourWingspanN/ASuperstructure60 millimetres of armourHeight7.7 MetresHull70 millimetres of armourVehicle Designation:2109-044-8657-DP 010Transport Capacity12 Space Marines or 6 Terminator Marines (Modified)Dreadnought Drop PodTypeOrbital Drop Pod - DreadnoughtOperational CeilingN/AVehicle NameDreadnought Drop PodMax Speed12,000 kph descentWorld of OriginLuciusRangeUnlimitedKnown PatternsI - XVIIMain ArmamentN/ACrewN/ASecondary ArmamentN/APowerplant1 x FV-50-75 Retro-RocketMain AmmunitionN/AWeight19.0 TonnesSecondary AmmunitionN/ALength7.5 MetresArmourWingspanN/ASuperstructure60 millimetres of armourHeight11.1 MetresHull70 millimetres of armourVehicle Designation:2109-044-8661-DP 013Transport Capacity1 Space Marine DreadnoughtDeathstorm Drop PodTypeOrbital Drop Pod - WeaponsOperational CeilingN/AVehicle NameDeathstorm Drop PodMax Speed12,000 kph descentWorld of OriginLuciusRangeUnlimitedKnown PatternsI - VIIMain Armament5 x Whirlwind Missile Launchers or 5 x Assault CannonsCrewN/ASecondary ArmamentN/APowerplant1 x FV-50-75 Retro-RocketMain AmmunitionUnknownWeight16.5 TonnesSecondary AmmunitionN/ALength5.2 MetresArmourWingspanN/ASuperstructure60 millimetres of armourHeight7.7 MetresHull70 millimetres of armourVehicle Designation:2109-044-8659-DP 013Transport CapacityN/A
Drop Pod - Sources: Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 86, 181Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Transports", "Drop Pod"Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition), pg. 32Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (8th Edition), pp. 56, 122Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Transports", "Drop Pod (Datasheet)"Codex: Dark Angels (6th Edition), pp. 42, 100Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition), pg. 35Codex Adeptus Astartes - Deathwatch (7th Edition), pp. 42, 86Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition), pg. 21Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pg. 69Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 99, 169Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition) (Revised Codex), pp. 83, 160Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pg. 47Deathwatch: Rites of Battle (RPG), pg. 170Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines and Forces of the Inquisition, pp. 143-153Imperial Armour Volume Two, Second Edition - War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes, pp. 25, 158-163Imperial Armour Volume Three - The Taros Campaign, pp. 22-24, 27, 32, 47, 54Imperial Armour Volume Eight - Raid On Kastorel-Novem, pg. 105Imperial Armour Volume Nine - The Badab War - Part One, pp. 80, 114, 134,Imperial Armour Volume Ten - The Badab War - Part Two, pp. 26, 27, 142Imperial Armour Volume Twelve - The Fall of Orpheus, pg. 153Imperial Armour Update 2002, pp. 6, 42Imperial Armour Apocalypse, pp. 26-27Imperial Armour Apocalypse II, pg. 28Imperial Armour Apocalypse (Second Edition), pg. 32Planetstrike (5th Edition), pp. 1, 33The Horus Heresy: Book One - Betrayal (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 41, 208-209The Horus Heresy: Book Two - Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 201, 204The Horus Heresy: Book Three - Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 114-115, 235-237The Horus Heresy - Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 108-109The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List pg. 46Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 132The Citadel Journal #49 - Ordo Hereticus Strike Force, pg. 21Void Stalker (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-BowdenKingsblade (Novel) by Andy Clark, pp.16-21Ultramarines Novel Series by Graham McNeillDawn of War (PC Game)Dawn of War - Winter Assault (PC Game)Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (PC Game)Dawn of War - Soulstorm (PC Game)Dawn of War II (PC Game)Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising (PC Game)Dawn of War II - Retribution (PC Game)Forge World - Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop PodForge World - Legion Kharybdis Assault ClawForge World - Deathstorm Drop Pod with Missile LaunchersForge World - Deathstorm Drop Pod with Assault CannonsForge World - Dreadnought Drop Pod
Drop Site Massacre - Drop Site Massacre: The Drop Site Massacre of Isstvan V, also called the Battle of Isstvan V, was one of the major turning points that occurred early in the great galactic civil war that engulfed the Imperium of Man in the early 31st Millennium known in later times as the Horus Heresy.After the news of the Isstvan III Atrocity was brought to the Regent of Terra Malcador the Sigillite and the Primarch Rogal Dorn, the Praetorian of Terra, by the Loyalists aboard the Death Guard frigate Eisenstein, the Emperor of Mankind entrusted Dorn with the creation of a plan to deal with the rebellion of the Warmaster Horus and his allies.Under the Emperor's authority, in ca. 006.M31 Dorn ordered the combined forces of seven Space Marine Legions to assault the positions of Horus and his Traitor Legions in the Isstvan System.During that assault on the world of Isstvan V, three Loyalist Space Marine Legions -- the Iron Hands, the Salamanders and the Raven Guard -- were betrayed by the 4 other Legions of the supposedly Loyalist second assault wave -- the Alpha Legion, Night Lords, Iron Warriors, and a large contingent of Word Bearers -- who they had believed were loyal to the Emperor, but in fact had already betrayed the Imperium and secretly turned to the service of the rebellious Warmaster Horus and Chaos.As the Loyalists of the first assault wave retreated back towards what they believed were friendly lines, the hidden Traitors revealed their allegiance by opening fire upon the Loyalists, catching them between a Traitor hammer and anvil and nearly destroying all three Loyalist Legions, who became known as the "Shattered Legions" thereafter due to the scope of their losses.This victory demolished what the Loyalists had believed to be their numerical superiority and opened the path to the conquest of Terra for Horus and his allies amongst the forces of Chaos.
Drop Site Massacre - History: The Isstvan System's third world, comfortably close enough to the Isstvanian sun to support Human life, had become a virus-soaked mass grave marking the anger of Horus Lupercal in the aftermath of the Isstvan III Atrocity that marked the start of the Horus Heresy. The world's population was nothing more than contaminated ash scattered over lifeless continents, while the bones of their cities remained as blackened smears of burnt stone – a civilisation reduced to memory in but a single day. The orbital bombardment from the Warmaster Horus' fleet, payloads composed of incendiary shells and virus-laden biological warfare pods, had seemingly spared nothing and no one anywhere on the world.Isstvan III lingered in silent orbit around its sun, almost grand in the extent of its absolute devastation, serving as the scarred tombstone for the death of an empire. With the destruction of the last surviving warriors on Istvaan III, the Traitor Legions of Horus made their way to Istvaan V, a flotilla of powerful warships and carriers bearing the martial pride of four Space Marine Legions, their ranks fully comprised of those whose loyalty was to Horus and Horus alone. Mass conveyors of Imperial Army units brought millions of armed men and their tanks and artillery pieces. Bloated Dark Mechanicum transports bore the Legio Mortis to Istvaan V, the dark Tech-priests ministering to the Dies Irae and its sister Titans as they prepared to unleash the unimaginable power of those war machines once more.Final victory for the Traitors on Istvaan III had been bought with many lives, but in its wake the Traitor Legions were tempered in the crucible of combat to do what must be done to seize control of the Imperium. The process had been long and bloody, but the Warmaster's army was ready and eager to fight its brothers, where the lackeys of the Emperor would find their readiness to strike down their kith and kin untested. Such mercy would be their undoing, Horus promised. Horus would strike a vicious blow against the Imperium and the False Emperor -- a blow that would resonate down through the millennia for all time.
Drop Site Massacre - Invasion: As the Loyalist fleet closed on the Istvaan System, it received the target's information relayed by astropathic transmission. It was received with a mixture of bellicose fervour and some trepidation. Given the scale of concealed activity on Istvaan V, it was clear that the enemy was rearing up a fortress of prodigious strength there, no doubt intended to be the headquarters of the Warmaster's rebellion and its principal mustering ground.The absence of the Traitors' fleet, however, was a more troubling matter, but one perhaps easily explained by a needful scramble for resources and supply from distant systems in preparation for a conflict to come, and if indeed the Traitors were sure that no sizable counterattack could yet be attempted upon them, such a brave gamble was in-keeping with Horus' known character. Long-range pict-captures showed the personal standards of both Horus and Fulgrim flying above the overbuilt ancient fortifications of Istvaan V's Urgall ruins, while Power Armoured figures and Mechanicum engines toiled ceaselessly to raise up defences beneath them, and this damning evidence above all else settled the fate of what was to come.For Ferrus Manus, the absence of the Traitor Legion's fleet in the Istvaan System was not so much a cause of suspicion as it was an opportunity that should not be wasted. Through the bungled attempt of Fulgrim and his Emperor's Children to sway Ferrus Manus to the Traitors' cause and the flight of the Eisenstein escaping the betrayal at Istvaan III, the Imperium had been made aware of Horus' plot long before the arch-Traitor had been ready, and to the grim mind of the master of the Iron Hands Legion, it was an error for which the enemy would be made to pay. The time to strike was now, before the enemy fleet returned, and crush the rebellion with a single concerted attack. It was a judgement shared by many; they had caught the Traitors' preparations in disarray -- Horus' dispositions were half-made and his defences incomplete. The enemy was vulnerable, or so the Loyalists thought. Soon the cataclysm would be unleashed, and the war of the Horus Heresy would truly begin.
Drop Site Massacre - Traitor Conclave: Ringing Istvaan V was one of the largest fleets ever gathered in the history of the human species. Without a doubt, it was the most impressive coalition of Astartes vessels ever gathered, with the scouts, cruisers, destroyers and command ships of seven entire Legions present. Shuttles and gunships ferried between the heaviest cruisers, while the decks of every warship made ready to deploy their warriors in an unprecedented, unified planetfall. Horus had decided to make his stand on the surface. The Imperium of Man had sent seven Legions to kill its wayward scion, little knowing that four of them had already spat on their oaths of allegiance to the Imperial Throneworld and its master.The Fidelitas Lex, Lorgar's flagship, played host to a gathering of rare significance. There were commanders from the Night Lords, Alpha Legion, and Iron Warriors as well as three additional Primarchs: Konrad Curze, Alpharius Omegon and Perturabo. Lorgar strode to the centre of the gathering of Traitors. He proceeded to impress upon the group of his sons, brothers and cousin Astartes the importance of their cause, and of the significance this day would hold in history.The Word Bearers and their allies believed that the Imperium had failed them by being flawed to its core, imperfect in its pursuit of a perfect human culture, and in its weakness against the encroachment of xenos breeds that sought to twist humanity to alien ends. And it had failed them, most of all, by being founded upon the lies of rationalism and atheism that defined the Imperial Truth. The Imperium had been forged under the aegis of a dangerous deceit, demanding that its citizens and their defenders sacrifice truth on the altar of necessity. This was an empire that deserved to die. And on Istvaan V the purge would begin.From the ashes, Lorgar promised, would rise the new kingdom of Mankind: an Imperium of justice, faith and enlightenment. An Imperium heralded, commanded and protected by the avatars of the Gods themselves. An empire strong enough to stand through a future of blood and fire. But now the time had come for the Traitors to declare their intentions openly. There would be no more manipulating fleet movements and falsifying expeditionary data. Now the Alpha Legion, the Word Bearers, the Iron Warriors and the Night Lords would stand together with their comrades in the Sons of Horus, World Eaters, Emperor's Children and Death Guard Legions -- bloodied but unbowed beneath the flag of the Warmaster Horus, the rightful second Emperor of Mankind. The true Emperor.When Lorgar had finished speaking, First Captain Sevatar of the Night Lords Legion declared, "Death to the False Emperor!" In so doing, he became the first living soul to utter those words that would soon echo from the throats of countless others through the millennia of the Long War that was to come. The cry was taken up by other voices, and soon it was cried in full-throated roars, "Death to the False Emperor! Death to the False Emperor! Death! Death! Death!"
Drop Site Massacre - Drop Site Massacre: Taking stock of their dire situation, the Primarchs Corax and Vulkan differed over how to salvage what they could from the situation. The Salamanders' Primarch suggested that the Loyalists attempt to make a tactical withdrawal to their respective drop ships and dig in to resist any further attacks. Corax advocated instead that the Loyalists should do whatever they could to make good their escape from the slaughter as the battle was lost. Neither Primarch could agree with the other, and so Corax turned from Vulkan and ordered his Legion to retreat.A short while later, a direct artillery strike hit the Primarchs' position. By the grace of the Emperor, Corax somehow managed to survive, but the fate of his brother Vulkan was unknown.In the meantime, the second wave of Traitor Legions that had turned upon their former allies began to slaughter the Loyalists in earnest. The Iron Hands were apparently slaughtered to a man. In the midst of this brutal carnage, two Primarchs from the opposing sides confronted one another in a final showdown. Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children and Ferrus Manus, once as close as true brothers could be, fought a bitterly contested, titanic struggle.
Drop Site Massacre - Total Victory Denied: As crushing as the Traitor victory at the Drop Site Massacre had been, it quickly became apparent that it was not total. A number of small groups of Loyalist survivors had managed to break out of the encircling trap as soon as it became clear that all was lost, either managing to escape via gunship in the chaos or slip away into the crags and shifting volcanic sands and dust storms of the desert plains; an escape aided in part by the bloodlust of some of the Traitors, and the eagerness to pick over the spoils of battle by others, and the sheer contempt the Renegade Legions seemed to hold for each other, even then.In the skies above Istvaan V, the war fleets of the Loyalists had also been betrayed and assaulted and there, although overmatched, the battle had not been such a one-sided affair as the Traitors would have liked. The Loyalist vessels had been fully Void Shielded and on battle alert as befitted them in a war zone, and were quick to respond in kind once the initial, unexpected assault had been weathered, with many of their number damaged, but far from destroyed by the sudden attack of their supposed allies.The resulting void battle had lasted for many more solar hours than the carnage on the ground, and some Loyalist warships had fought on stubbornly, refusing to abandon their Legion planet-side to whatever dark fate had befallen them even as they paid the ultimate price for their loyalty. Others, badly damaged, were either driven off, or realising the futility of the overwhelming odds they faced as the fleets of the first Traitor Legions re-appeared, succeeded in escaping the system, the hounds of the enemy at their heels and bitter vengeance in their hearts.The Battle of Istvaan V was over, the treacherous Warmaster Horus was its victor. The whirlwind of galactic civil war had been sown, and the Dark Gods would reap the years of terror and bloodshed that would follow.
Drop Site Massacre - The Night of Butchery: All that remains among Imperial records about the first night after the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V is scattered and fragmentary accounts, many of them entirely contradictory. Some survivors spoke of tides of Traitors surging across the hills in a berserk frenzy, howling for the blood of the survivors. Others described a deep, sonorous chanting that rolled through the valleys like thunder and stirred dread in the hearts of those still loyal to the Emperor. Still other evidence shows bands of Traitors descending on isolated Loyalists and tearing them apart in an atavistic savagery, while circling gunships loosed fire indiscriminately, little caring of who they slew so long as it was not their own.How many battles raged throughout that night cannot be known, for every Loyalist Legionary fought his own bitter war for survival. Even as the main body of the foe harried the surviving Raven Guard Astartes from behind, others fell upon them from above as they passed along cracked ravines. Few Legionaries had any ammunition to spare, and so most of these battles were fought with fists and Combat Knives. When individual Raven Guard fell, their brothers made impossibly valiant attempts to rescue them from their howling, blood-maddened foes.Those who could walk bore those who could not, the withdrawal ever-teetering on the edge of being overrun. But by the time the wan light of Istvaan V's sun appeared on the horizon, barely penetrating the tortured, smoke-stained skies, the bulk of the surviving Raven Guard had broken free of their pursuers, finding sanctuary in the maze-like ravines beyond the Urgall Hills, for a brief moment at least.As the Raven Guard were fighting alongside their Primarch, those remaining Loyalist Legionaries unable to escape the noose of the Traitor armies were being systematically butchered. As the tides of war receded, the Traitors stalked the battlefield, knee-deep in the shattered bodies of their erstwhile kinsmen, seeking the dying that they might deliver death anew. Others sought the wounded in order to perform abominable tortures upon their already ruined flesh. Some Traitor Legions piled their own dead on to great pyres so that their deaths might be honoured as the growing flames licked the blackened skies.The World Eaters are known to have performed one of the basest acts of savagery that day by butchering the dead and dying, decapitating them, flensing the flesh from their skulls and piling these in massive ossuary-cairns. The Word Bearers, following the teachings of their damned Primarch Lorgar, enacted their own victory rituals, the terrible significance of which is now all too well-known to the Imperium. As if to heap infamy upon ignominy, the Traitors began another, still worse mutilation of the fallen. Tens of thousands of corpses had their Progenoid Glands -- the implant that bears the Space Marines' gene-seed by which the Legions themselves were propagated -- torn bloodily from them, for what fell purpose few would dare speculate at the time.