Time Line

[Ferrata]

Time Line

By Ferrata

Colour Code

Chaos/Traitor Event - Yellow

Ork Events - Green

Necron Events - Blue

Space Marine Founding - Orange

T'au Events - Light Blue

Tyranid Events - Purple

Other - White

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> M29 First Founding

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> M31 The Horus Heresy

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 021M31 Second Founding

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 781.M31 Abaddon's First Black Crusade

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 001M32 Third Founding -- Takes place on first day of the Millenium.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 001.M34 Abaddon's Fourth Black Crusade - The Devastation of El'Phanor

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> M36 Twenty First - Cursed Founding

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 200.M36 The Age of Apostasy

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 288.M36 Formation of the Sisters of Battle

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 288.M36 Formation of the Ordo Hereticus

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 666.M40 First contact with Necron Fleet.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> M41 First contact with the advanced T’au

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 143-160.M41 Abaddon's Twelth Black Crusade - The Gothic War

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 392.M41 Lord Solar Macharius begins his crusade

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 738M41 Twenty Sixth Founding - Most Recent Founding

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 742.M41 Damocles Crusade against the T'au

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 745.M41 Hive Fleet Behemoth

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 891.M41 First War of Armageddon

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 897.M41 First recorded contact with Necrons

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 901-912.M41 Badab War

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 941.M41 Second War of Armageddon

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 944.M41 Balur Crusade

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 993.M41 Hive Fleet Kraken

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 997.M41 Hive Fleet Leviathan

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 998.M41 Third War of Armageddon

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> 999.M41 Abaddon's Thirteenth Crusade

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Unknown but between 999.M41 - 006.M42 The Fall of Medusa V

 

More Detailed Time Lines

The Ultramarine Timeline

[Ferrata]

The Horus Heresy

012.M31 to 014.M31

 

The Horus Heresy was the greatest time of strife for Astartes as fully half of the Legions fell to lures of Chaos. Warmaster Horus directed the traitor forces as they ripped the heart out of the Imperium. After many years of civil war, The Emperor finally slew Horus and, in doing so, ended the Horus Heresy. As the forces of Chaos fled back to the Eye of Terror, they tore a bloody hole in a period known as the Great Scouring.

 

How does this affect the DIYer? Very little actually. We cannot create a chapter founded before or during the Horus Heresy, and a majority of the Second Founding chapters (that would have been made of Marines who had participated in, or been created soon after, the Horus Heresy) are taken by GW. You can add background to these chapters, but that is a specialised task and a not-so-common one. A chapter created in the Third Founding might still feel the ripples of the Horus Heresy, but it will not be a massive focus of the chapter. Therefore, the Horus Heresy and DIY chapters have very little to do with one another.

[Ferrata]

The Foundings

by Octavulg

A Space Marine Founding is the process by which new Astartes chapters are created. The High Lords command the Mechanicus to begin the process, geneseed is grown, training cadres are assigned...and then it all gets a bit murky.

 

When is a Chapter considered "founded"? Good question. It could be when they start growing the organs, when the organs are sanctioned as fit for use, or when the chapter's training cadre starts training new Marines. A small cadre of ten men training Scouts from scratch could produce a chapter in about forty years - but is that how it's done, or is recruitment initially conducted en masse to shore up the chapter's numbers?

 

It's remarkable how much we don't know about the process, really. In any case, I set out to make an official list which I would then fill in with estimated dates. Then I ran into a slight problem. See if you can spot it.

 

The Official List

021.M31 - Second Founding

001.M32 - Third Founding

888.M32 - Founding during the Astropath Wars

220.M33 - Howling Griffons founded

~500.M34 - Eighth Founding (mid M34)

~500.M35 - Tenth Founding (mid M35)

598.M35 - Tiger Claws founded

991.M35 - Twenty-First Founding

013.M36 - Thirteenth Founding

~555.M37 - Founding of the Dark Hunters

~999.M37/001.M38 - The Twenty-Third (Sentinel) Founding

~750.M40 - The Twenty-Fifth Founding

738.M41 - The Twenty-Sixth Founding

 

As you can see, there's a bit of a problem. The Tenth through Twenty-First foundings happen in the space of a millenium (while all others happen every five hundred years or so), and the Thirteenth happens after the Twenty-First. This is just stupid.

 

Thus, you get the Octavulg-Estimated version, where I ignore the minimum amount of things necessary to have things make sense:

Octavulg-Approved Founding Timeline

Founding Dates

2nd	021.M31	Date is given as 021.M31 in the Final Liberation Game Manual p 76 and in C:UM p 13. Seven years after the death of Horus (C:SM 5e p 14). The Legions are broken up and just over 400 chapters are created (C: GK, p 7).
3rd	001.M32	Founded on the first day of M32 per WD97 p 39.
4th	P: 888.M32	IA 10 p 114 suggests a founding during the Astropath Wars, which took place in 888.M32 (BRB 5e p 124).
5th	P: About 220.M33	220 or 221.M33 is the founding of the Howling Griffons (C:CSM 3e Rev, p 63). The number is not recorded. The Dark Angels geneseed was not used in this founding per C:DA v6 p 22.
6th	E: Mid-Late M33	The Dark Angels geneseed was not used in this founding per C:DA v6 p 22.
7th	E: Late M33/Early M34	If this founding was in M33, the Dark Angels geneseed would not have been used per C:DA v6 p 22.
8th	E: About 400.M34	Mid-M34 per IA 10, p 64. However, this will compress the next several foundings incredibly. Since this period is the Nova Terra Interregnum, it is possible that both the Ur-Council and the High Lords created legitimate foundings in this period, and that they were later renumbered.
9th	E: About 530.M34	-
10th	E: About 660.M34	IA 9, p 54 says mid-M35. This compresses the next eleven foundings into 500 years or less (vs. 3000 for the previous seven). This has thus been completely ignored.
11th	E: About 790.M34	-
12th	E: About 920.M34	-
13th	E: About 050.M35	This is the only founding for which the Adeptus Mechanicus does not possess original geneseed records (C:UM p 8). The Armageddon 3 Website included a communique from 013.M36 referring to the Exorcists as being in training following their founding. This has been ignored, because that would mean the 13th Founding within a century of the 21st, and I have limits. IA 10 p 124 seems to claim late M35/early M36, which carries the same problem. The highly-flawed IA: Emperor's Shield claims a founding date of M40 for the Exorcists, moving them out of the 13th Founding altogether. All of this has thus been ignored, since I refuse to have the 13th Founding within a century of the 21st (let alone AFTER it, as it might end up being)
14th	E: About 180.M35	-
15th	E: About 320.M35	-
16th	E: About 460.M35	-
17th	P: 598.M35	The Tiger Claws are founded at 598.M35 per C:CSM 3.5, p 7.
18th	E: About 700.M35	-
19th	E: About 800.M35	-
20th	E: About 900.M35	-
21st	991.M35 [/u]	991.M35 per BRB 6e, 170. "On the cusp of M36" (IA 9, p 106). Cursed Founding. Largest founding since the Second (C:UM p 13). Took place before the Age of Apostasy, which began within the first century or two of M36.
22nd	About 555.M37	The Dark Hunters are described as founded in the "dark days of the Occlusiad" (C:SM 5e, p 26). The Occlusiad War is from 550.M37 to 560.M37 (BRB 5e, 125). Their founding is not specifically mentioned, but there's only one option.
23rd	Late M37/Early M38	Late M37 per IA 9 p 74, Early M38 per IA 10 p 132. "The Sentinel Founding, created to aid the Imperium's defences in numerous ill-starred and vulnerable regions of the galaxy (IA 10, p 132)." "Generally believed to have been one of a series of linked foundings around this period designed to repair the power and reach of the Imperium's Space Marine forces which had suffered considerable losses in the preceding millenia."
24th	E: M39	-

25th M40, latter half Date per IA 9 p 94. Establishes chapter number 888 (WD 98 UK p 38). 26th738.M41Date is given as 021.M31 in the Final Liberation Game Manual, p 77 and in C:SM v3, IBC.

 

If you figure that a "Founding" happens when the chapters begin training marines, then these dates all work - some are close together, but there's still enough time for it to make sense (especially if you assume the Nova Terra Interregnum founded some Marine chapters).

 

As to how long it would take a chapter to get up to strength: the latest the Black Carapace can apparently be implanted is 18 years. The earliest you can start implanting organs is 10. So figure five or six years to train a Scout.

 

Next: how big's a training cadre? I'd expect two of each specialist, two command officers and four sergeants as a minimum. Perhaps one or two extra Sergeants. The chapter will also start with 1000 men worth of geneseed implants. It could be a lot more, of course - anything up to a company worth of men would make at least some degree of sense. But I'll go with a small cadre just for demonstration purposes.

 

There are a couple of ways things could go from here. The way I think it'd work (spoilered for length):

 

 

Initially, there are six officers (four sergeants, the First Captain and the Chapter Master). The Chapter Master serves as Scout Captain, the First Captain serves as senior Scout Sergeant, and the other four serve as Scout Sergeants. They thus train 54 Scouts.

 

Assume Scouts take 20% casualties in training in a five year period (likely high) and that ordinary Marines take 10% casualties (that 3+ save and some experience makes a world of difference). I count Scout Sergeants as Marines here. Note that practically speaking, this would happen gradually over the five year period.

 

You lose one Sergeant and 11 Scouts. Two Senior Officers, three Sergeants, 43 Marines remain. One Senior Officer takes 39 of the Marines and forms the First Company (40 Marines). The best four Scouts become Scout Sergeants (for a total of seven). The Scout Company can now take 72 recruits.

 

In the next five years, you lose four Marines and 14 Scouts. The First Company now has 89 Marines and one Senior Officer, and you promote an additional three Scout Sergeants for a total of one Senior Officer and 10 Scout Sergeants in the Scout Company. You take 100 recruits. So in just ten years, your Scout Company is over full strength and you've almost got a Battle Company.

 

Now, there are two possibilities. If the Chapter has a small home world and doesn't recruit outside it, that may be the maximum limit of how many recruits can be taken each year. However, with a larger home world, the Scout Company can keep growing until the Chapter is at full strength.

 

In the next five years, you lose 9 Marines, one Scout Sergeant and 18 Scouts, graduating 82. 9 go to the First Company, bringing it back to 90 Marines. 70 go to the Second Company. Three become Scout Sergeants (practically, they're promoted from the First and replaced). You have 12 Scout Sergeants and a Senior Officer in the Scout Company (who I'll count as a Scout Sergeant after this). You take 117 recruits, and almost have two Battle Companies after just fifteen years.

 

In the five years after this, you lose 16 Marines, one Scout Sergeant and 23 Scouts, graduating 94. 16 bring the companies up to strength, and 70 go to creating the Third Company (90/70/70). That leaves 8 to create Scout Sergeants. The Scout Company is now at double strength, with 20 Scout Sergeants. You take 180 recruits, and have about two and a half Battle Companies (plus lots of extra Scouts) after 20 years.

 

In the five years after this, you lose 25 Marines, two Scout Sergeants and 18 Scouts, graduating 162. 27 bring formations back up to strength, leaving 135. 40 bring the Second and Third up to 90 men each. 90 form the Fourth Company. The last five serve as Scout Sergeants (25 total). 225 recruits, 25 years.

 

Five years later, you lose 36 Marines, three Scout Sergeants and 23 Scouts, graduating 202. 39 bring formations up to strength, leaving 163. 90 form the Fifth, 60 form the Sixth, and the last three become Scout Sergeants (28). 252 recruits, 30 years.

 

Five years after this, you lose 42 Marines, three Scout Sergeants, and 25 Scouts, graduating 227. 45 bring formations up to strength, leaving 182. 30 go to the Sixth, 90 go to the Seventh, 60 go to the Eighth. Two become Scout Sergeants (30). 270 recruits, 35 years.

 

Five years after this, you lose 69 Marines, three Scout Sergeants and 27 Scouts, graduating 243. 72 bring formations up to strength, 30 bring the Eighth up to 90, and 90 more create the Ninth. This leaves 71. If you take twenty Scout Sergeants out of the Scout Company, you bring every company to full strength and have a full strength Scout Company after a mere forty years.

 

 

 

Plausible enough math would suggest that it'd take you a mere 25 years to have four Battle Companies at nearly full strength, and only forty to reach full Chapter strength. And that's with a fairly small training cadre of less than twenty Marines, who receive no other assistance beyond the 1000 progenoids at the start.

[Ferrata]

The Black Crusades

by Aurelius Rex

 

With the exception of the Horus Heresy, Abaddon's Black Crusades are probably the most momentous Chaos-related events in the history of the Ruinous powers, and yet other than his two most recent pogroms, little is known of these cataclysmic events.

 

Something to bear in mind is that there have been other events referred to as Black Crusades that have nothing to do with Abaddon's thirteen... For completeness, or where it is unclear if they were called by him or another warlord, I have included them.

 

So below is a list of what I have been able to pull together about Abaddon's Black Crusades. The information is fragmentory, and so any extra referenced details and clarifications will be gratefully incorporated.

 

 

Ironically one of the best sources comes from the Warhammer-based Liber Chaotica: Khorne, but given that it is the mad ravings of an Old World looney, it doesn't mention actual dates:

 

Abaddon's First Black Crusade

(Dated as 781.M31 on page 136 of the 4th edition rulebook)

After 400 years of silence (400 years since the end of the Horus Heresy?) Abaddon led the assembled Traitor Legions out of the Eye of Terror. On Urulan he claimed Drachn'nyen.

After this the Cadian Gate was fortified, and the naval port of Bellis Corona and the Inquisitorial Fortress on Nemesis Tessera were created.

 

Abaddon's Second Black Crusade

Lasts 5 years, but was stymied assaulting Cadia

 

Abaddon's Fourth Black Crusade - The Devastation of El'Phanor

(Dated as c001.M34 in Chaos Codex below)

Abaddon attacks and destroys the Citadel of Kromarch on El'Phanor, but the cost was enormous and he is repelled by the Imperial counter-attack.

 

Abaddon's ??? Black Crusade - (During the Age of Strife)

No other info

 

Abaddon's Seventh Black Crusade - The Ghost War

The Chaos fleets flood out past Cadia and then disappear.

 

Abaddon's Tenth Black Crusade - The Conflict of Helica

The Black Crusade floods out on the opposite side of the Eye to thr Cadian Gate, attacking Helica and the capitol world, Thracian Primaris. The Chaos assault is fatally delayed when the Iron Warriors attack the Iron Hands on Medusa

 

The Battlefleet Gothic rulebook (and other sources) closely describes the next event

 

Abaddon's Twelth Black Crusade - The Gothic War

139-152.M41

Abaddon sneaks forces out of the Eye of Terror via the Arx Gap, before attacking the Gothic Sector. His Planetkiller ship is capable of doing just that. Using the artifacts the Hand of Darkness and the Eye of Night, he is able to capture and corrupt Blackstone Fortresses which three in concert were able to turn the Tarantis star nova, destroying the whole system. The Black Crusade ended at Schindelgeist, although Abaddon fled with two remaining Blackstones.

 

 

The Thirteenth Black Crusade was the subject of a GW worldwide campaign, and is described on-line, in White Dwarf (including UK WD 282 to 287) and in Codex: Eye of Terror and the Black Library sourcebook 'The 13th Black Crusade'.

 

Abaddon's Thirteenth Crusade

999.M41

There are so many events detailed in the sources above that that it would take athreat on its own to list them. Anyone who would like to give a concise account, please feel free. Until then, suffice to say that Chaos came close to breaking the Cadian Gate and devastated the surrounding systems, including the total destruction of Macharia, a world in the Cadian system.

 

 

 

Timings for Abaddon's Black Crusades, other than the last two, are sketchy, but the most recent Codex: Chaos Space Marines has a diagram on the inside back cover of 'The Black Crusades of Abaddon the Despoiler M31-Present Day'

 

These dates are given, along with occasional descriptions, although remembering GW's gift of continuity errors these may disagree with other information, so it is laughably simplistic to hope to just line them up as being the dates in the right order. <_<

 

781.M31 'The First Battle of Cadia'

The 4th edition rulebook (page 136) dates the first Black Crusade here too.

 

597.M32

 

909.M32

 

001.M34 'El'Phanor'

Seems to link nicely to the data above to make this Abaddon's Fourth Black Crusade.

 

723.M36

 

901.M36

 

811M37 'The Slaughter of the Blood Angels at Mackan'

 

999.M37

 

573.M38

 

001.M39

 

Another interesting point to note was that in Index Astartes: Imperial Fists. It referred to a Black Crusade that threatened to engulf Cadia. Before the attack Rogal Dorn and three companies of Imperial Fists attacked the Chaos anchorage in the Pelenos Belt and did enough damage to avert the attack on Cadia, with Dorn making his last stand on the bridge of the Chaos Battleship, Sword of Sacrilege. If this refers to a general Black Crusade, or specifically one of Abaddon's Black Crusades is unclear, and a date is not given other than it was soon after the disappearance of Corax.

[Ferrata]

The Age of Apostasy

by krieger haggoroth

 

Sometime Prior to 200.M32 Temple of the Savior Emperor becomes dominant faith in Imperium, and is recognized as state religion of Imperium. Becomes Adeptus Ministorum/ Ecclisiarchy

 

500.M32 Ecclisiarch becomes an Official, Permenant High Lord Position.

 

Early M34 Ecclisiarchy becomes vastly powerful, and grows to dominate every facet of Imperial Life. It's political power grows to such a level that a coalition is formed between the Administratum, Various Astartes Chapters, the Adeptus Mechanicus, and other organizations bind together to quell growing Ecclisiastical influence. Ecclisiarchy rapidly loses power and influence.

 

200.M35 Ecclisiarch Benedin IV moves the Ministorum's headquarters to Ophelia VII in an effort to curb outside influence on the organization.

 

200.M35 - 500 M35 Ecclisiarchy becomes vastly wealthy. Frateris Templars swell in size to number in the billions, and the organization raises massive tithes and erects many of the Imperium's lasting cathedrals. Ecclisiarchial temples on Terra fall into disrepair.

 

500.M35 Ecclisiarch Greigor XI relocates back to Terra. The process take twelve years and vast resources. The Ecclisiarchy is nearly bankrupted and are forced to implement even further tithes and taxes.

 

501.M35 - 01.M36 Planetary govorners begin refusing to pay tithes and rebellions break out across the Imperium, as a result of massive taxation. Frateris Templars brutally put down uprisings, and Ecclisiarchs use Imperial Assassins to execute rebel govorners and opponents. Various enemies use turmoil to assault the Imperium. Ork empires grow and Chaos raids become frequent, adding to strife.

 

Early M36 Ecclisiarchy begins to lose power as rebellion tears Imperium apart. Goge Vandire is elected as High Lord of the Administratum, and begins placing agents, friends, and allies into the Ecclisiarchy. His power grows, and he becomes so influential that he gains near total control of the High Lords.

 

Approx 196.M36 Vandire gains control of Ecclisiarchy in a military Coup, executing Paulis III, sitting Ecclisiarch, as a heretic. He becomes defacto head of the Imperium. Enemies are assassinated or executed as heretics, and Vandire gains full control. High Lords are dissolved and the Adeptus Custodes put the Imperial Palace on Lockdown. Vandire effectively becomes ruler of the Imperium, and the reign of blood and Age of Apostasy begins.

 

197.M36 Vandire grows increasingly insane. More Exterminatus measures are ordered during this time than at any other point in Imperial History. Any dissenters are quickly killed.

 

Unknown date Wars of Vindication begin. Assassins loyal to Vandire turn on others, and Imperial Assassins wage open war on the streets of Terra. Rumors persist that these wars continue to the present, although this would mean that participants are either thousands of years old or that the wars have been passed through many generations of assassins.

 

Unknown date Vandire recruits the Daughters of the Emperor as his personal bodyguards, renaming them the Brides of the Emperor and gaining their absoloute loyalty through nefarious means.

 

266.M36 Sebastian Thor is born.

 

266.M36 - 287.M36 Sebastian Thor quickly gains a massive following, known as the Confederation of Light. A fleet sent by Vandire to destroy him is wiped out by the formation of the Storm of the Emperor's wrath, a massive warp storm centered around the world of Clax. Thor makes his way to Terra, gaining the loyalty of most worlds on his way and crushing any who stand against him.

 

287.M36 Thor meets with representatives from several Astartes chapters and the Fabricator General on Mars, and form an alliance. The Second Siege of Terra begins.

 

287.M36-288.M36 The Second Siege of Terra. Few gains are made against Vandire's palaces and the Brides of the Emperor. Actions by the Black Templars Space Marine chapter bring news of outside events to the Adeptus Custodes. The Adeptus custodes bring Angelica Dominica, commander of the Brides, before the Emperor. She then kills Vandire. His last words are reported to be "You can't kill me, I don't have time to die! I'm too busy!"

 

288.M36 Thor is made Ecclisiarch of the Imperium. The degree passive is struck, declaring that the church may no longer keep men at arms. The Ecclisiarchy is reformed and checks are put on its power. The Imperium is rebuilt for the second time. Changes include:

 

• Allowing a person to only possess one High Lords' seat
  
• Prohibiting the maintaining of men-at-arms by the Church
  
• Requiring that the Use of Assassin's may only be declared by a majority vote of High Lords, and the formation of the ordo Sicarius to monitor the Assassin Temples. The Temples are also seperated.
  
• Set Caps on Imperial Tithes and Taxes
  
• Adepta Sororitas are founded as the military arm of the Church, allowed because they are not technically men
  

 

298.M36 Thor leaves Terra and begins a crusade. For the next eighty years he travels the Imperium helping to reform it put down remaining rebellions.

 

300.M36 Plague of Unbeleif. A rebel empire is formed under Cardinal Bucharis that stretches from Bakka to Fenris. Bucharis rules with an Iron fist, reflecting Vandire's own rule. Fenris is attacked, and the Space Wolves respond. The empire is shattered. After hearing the words of Confessor Dolan, the Empire erupts in another rebellion, and rejoins the Imperium.

 

378.M36 Thor returns to Terra and dies. His successor divides the Adepta Sororitas to limit their power.

[Ferrata]

The Wars of Armegeddon

 

891.M41 First War of Armageddon

Angron, Daemon-Primarch of the World Eaters, leads the invasion of Armageddon. The Space Wolves and Grey Knights are able to turn the tide of battle and destroy the chaos forces. Angron was banished by the Grey Knights as he forces stormed the main hives of the planet.

 

941.M41 Second War of Armageddon

Ork Warlord Ghazghkull Thraka leads his first assault on the planet. The Orks manage to beat the Imperium at every turn until Commissar Yarrick leadership is able to push the battle in the Imperiums favour. The Blood Angels, Ultramarines and Salamanders help defeat the Orks.

 

998.M41 Third War of Armageddon

Ork Warlord Ghazghkull Thraka attacks Armageddon once more. Commissar Yarrick acts as Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces which include twenty-five Space Marine chapters. The deaths on each side were immense, but the Imperium were able to force Thraka to flee. The war still continues as the Ork forces still roam across Armegeddon.

[Ferrata]

The Hive Fleets

by Ferrata

 

The Great Devourer

The Tyranids

 

Brief Overview

 

The Tyranids are one of the newest, and possibly the deadliest, threats to the Imperium. First appearing on the planet of Tyran, their threat quickly came apparent with the appearance of Hive Fleet Behemoth. This first appearance of the Tyranids was only defeated by the heroic stand on their home world by Ultramarine veterans. Two other Hive Fleets have threatened the Imperium, Kraken which was destroyed by major defeats by the Ultramarines on Ichar IV and by the Eldar of Craftworld Iyanden, although the Scythes of the Emperor and the Lamenters were all but destroyed. Leviathan, the latest of the Hive Fleets, has been diverted into the Ork Empire of Octavius. Although the Tyranid threat has been halted for the time being, it is unknown what price the Imperium will pay for this tactic. Although defeated, elements of defeated Tyranids which avoided the destruction of their fleet and created an unknown number of splinter fleets which have been plaguing the Imperium ever since.

 

Detailed History

 

745.M41 – Hive Fleet Behemoth

 

The first signs of the Tyranid horror were on the ocean-bound planet of Tyran. The Tyranids had, unknown to the Imperium, destroying numerous planets and leaving them as lifeless rocks, a phenomena the research team on Tyran were studying. Their work had interested the now famous Inquisitor Kryptman, who on arrival to Tyran found it a dead rock like those they had been researching themselves. A data-codex found in the planet’s crust revealed the deadly horror which was now plagued the Imperium.

 

The Hive Fleet had then moved onto the Thandos system which was quickly overrun before Kryptman could arrive, before arriving at the Macragge system. Even though the system had been protected by a ring of ships, the massive alien fleet pushed aside all attacks and headed in system. A number of creatures descended upon the garden world of Prandium and left the “jewel in Macragge’s crown” a barren rock. A risky tactic by Lord Calgar of the Ultramarines, to retreat from the system to draw the Tyranids onto the defences of Macragge, allowed the Ultramar fleet to assault the spread out fleet, destroying one of the major Hive Ships and slaughtering hundreds of bio-ships. As the Ultramarines begun to win the war in space, the battle for the planet was about to begin.

 

Thousands of spores had landed on both the Northern and Southern polar fortresses and assaulted across the ice fields. The Ultramarines first company along with the titan legion Praetor defended the two keystones of Macragge’s defences. When Calgar returned to Macragge after forcing the Hive Fleet into jaws of Battle fleet Tempestus, the scene of the battle for Macragge were one of unbelievable carnage. The polar plains ran with the alien blood with the flaming wrecks of the titan legion strewn amongst them. The veterans’ last stand took place in the lower generatorium, each brother giving his life for his home world, but in the end they were overwhelmed. The remaining Ultramarines were able to destroy what remained of the Tyranid force, and with that, defeating Hive Fleet Behemoth.

 

993.M41 – Hive Fleet Kraken

 

Two and half centuries after the destruction of Behemoth, systems in the galactic south-east were hit by an epidemic of unrest, riots and rebellion. A young inquisitor, Agmar, active on the industrial world of Ichar IV, was the first to piece together the cause of these rebellions, Genestealers. Quickly, a task force of Ultramarines were detached to the planet and with three weeks all signs of the Tyranid vanguard had been defeated. Unfortunately the second Hive Fleet had begun to be detected in the outer reaches of the system.

 

Unlike Behemoth, Kraken attacked entire sectors of the Imperium, sub-sectors being swallowed up without warning or resistance. Tales of the slaughter are told by the handful of survivors, how many billions loss their lives in the first moves of Hive Fleet is unknown. The most tragic loss in these times is that of two Astartes’ chapter, Scythes of the Emperor, who gave their lives on the planet of Miral Prime, and a company of Lamenters who allowed civilians to escape whilst they held back the swarms upon Devlan. Such a broad spectrum of assault left the Imperium unable to draw up defensive plans and forces had to be retreated to the most vital of planets, leaving others to the fate of the Great Devourer.

 

One of these vital planets was that of Ichar IV, were in 993.M41, one of the bloodiest battles took place. With Calgar at the helm again, the Ultramarines were able to mount a solid defence of the system. Whilst crack teams of Tyranic War Veterans fought a series of grudging battles amongst the hive cities of Ichar for almost a year, Calgar led the Ultramarine fleet in a devastating victory of the Tyranid armada. Aid in defeating Kraken came from an unexpected quarter, with the Eldar of craft world Iyanden coming under heavy assault from the Tyranids. With their space fleet in tatters, the battle had taken place in the corridors of the craft world itself. Finally, with four fifths of their population killed, the Tyranids were defeated.

 

Although the Imperium had survived another onslaught by the Tyranids, an unknown number of splinter fleets managed to push through the defences and now devour unexpecting worlds. Running battles with these splinter fleets have tied up the eastern fringe ever since Kraken first arrived.

 

997.M41 – Hive Fleet Leviathan

 

As the year dawned to a close, the Imperium began to lose contact with several systems in Segmentum Tempestus. Inquisitor Kryptmann was the first to recognise this as a sign of a new Tyranid advance. Struggling to keep contact with those planets in the wake of the new hive fleet, Kryptmann was able to track the path of destruction and concluded a horrifying theory. Worlds had been lose in three segmentum, Tempestus, Ultima and Solar, with the Tyranids forming into two prongs of attack hundreds of light years apart. The psychic void which accompanies Tyranids spread across the reach between the two forces, effectively cutting off a large section of Imperial space. As no reinforces could breach this void, these planets were effectively dead unless one of the jaws of the Tyranids could be halted. This was not the most horrifying fact of the new assault, the invasion would eventually lead to the Halls of Terra and the Emperor himself.

 

On Tarsis Ultra, once again the Ultramarines stood in the path of the Tyranids, along with the brethren of the Mortificators chapter. The defending forces slowly withdrew from the outer parts of the planet in the face of the unimaginable vastness of the onslaught. Under siege for weeks, it looked like the planet would slowly fall as the Tyranids were without number, until a lictor was captured within the Hive itself. Magos Locard was able to reverse engineer a disease which would rip the Tyranids apart if injected directly into the Norn Queen. A death watch squad under the command of Captain Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines, were able to penetrate the Norn Queen and deliver the virus. As hope dwindled for the survivors of Tarsis Ultra, the Tyranids turned upon one another. Without the guiding synapse of the Hive Mind, they became bestial animals only thinking of their own survival. With one of the tendrils destroyed, Kryptmann switched his focus to the other.

 

As the shadow which had been casted between the two tendrils began to disappear, communication with these standard systems could be remade. In many cases, this was a mistake as system after system was wiped clean by the Tyranid advance. With Imperial morale failing on every world, Kryptmann devised a murderous theory. A band of worlds in the route of Leviathan would be evacuated, whilst any planet currently under invasion would be reduced to ashes. This single action was the greatest act of genocide by the Imperium on its own people since the Horus Heresy. As Orks took over many of planets abandoned by the Imperium, Kryptmann was declared a traitor and a Carta Extremis was issued, removing his rank of inquisitor.

 

Although he had been shamed, Kryptmann’s plan had succeeded as Leviathan halted to a trickle of movement. During this time, they fought both the Orks on Tesla Prime and the Adeptus Mechanicus on Gryphonne IV. The Mechanicus fell within days and with them the titan legion of the War Gryphons. The Orks held on for longer, with a massive war exploding between the two aliens which spread to nearby worlds. This was the key to Kryptmann’s final gamble.

 

The exiled Inquisitor and a squad of Deathwatch still loyal to him, advanced deep into the catacombs of Carpathia to capture a most deadly of foes, a live genestealer. Placing the specimen in a stasis field, Kryptmann was able to place the cargo into a passing space hulk. Exploding a nearby moon, Gheist, the space hulk was redirected into the ork held empire of Octavius. Within weeks, the genestealer had infected a large number of rks within the system and their psychic imprint was large enough to call Leviathan to this new feeding ground. The two species are still locked in bitter combat, and what the outcome for the Imperium will be is unknown. If Leviathan is able to win, that it will become stronger, absorbing the DNA of the orks that makes them great survivors. The Imperium now waits, preparing for the next onslaught of the Great Devourer.

 

Books featuring the Tyranids

Caiphas Cain “For the Emperor”

Caiphas Cain “Duty Calls”

The Ultramarines “Warriors of Ultramar”

[Ferrata]

The Badab War

 

901-912.M41

The largest Astartes rebellion since the Horus Heresy, with four chapters turning against the Imperium. The rebellion was initiated by the Astral Claws under the command of Huron Blackheart. The Mantis Warriors, the Executioners and the Lamenters side with the traitorous chapter but are defeated by a number of loyalist chapters including the Salamanders, Space Sharks and Howling Griffons. The Astral Claws flee to the Maelstrom and begin a pirate campaign against the Imperium under the name of the Red Corsairs. The other three chapters are each sent on Penance Crusades.

 

"The Badab War" Librarium Article by SCC

[Ferrata]

The Fall of Medusa V

 

Unknown but between 999.M41 - 006.M42 The Fall of Medusa V

A small planet of the Eastern Fringe comes under the assault of many of the major foes of the Imperium. An array of Space Marine chapters are involved in the turning back of the enemy but their lives were in vain as the planet was consumed by warp storms.

[Ferrata]

The Old Foes

 

Eldar Related Events

 

Ork Related Events

[Ferrata]

The New Enemies

 

Necron Related Events

666.M40 First contact with Necron Fleet. Imperial Navy patrol encounters Necron ships in the Yuctan system with only a single cobra escort escaping. All others presumed dead.

 

897.M41 First recorded contact with Necrons

 

T'au Related Events

M41 First contact with the advanced T’au

After being discovered as a primitive race some six thousand years before, they had evolved at an unbelievable rate. Now space borne they came into conflict with the Imperium.

742.M41 Damocles Crusade against the T'au

The First major campaign against the T’au. Five chapters of the Astartes and the Imperial Guard are sent to free the Damocles of the T’au. The Imperium loses the crusade and an uneasy peace is signed between to the two forces. The Imperial forces retreat to prepare for the onslaught of the Tyranids.

[Ferrata]

Other Imperial Events

 

392.M41 Lord Solar Macharius begins his crusade

 

944.M41 Balur Crusade

Marneua Calgar elected leader of a crusading Space Marine force operating against worlds along the Eastern Fringe. Operations began with the scouring of Ork-held Balur and ended with the devastation of Boros

[Sigismund Himself]

The Armageddon 3 Exorcists page. It doesn't mention that anything about them being founded then, though. Especially since we know the 21st is in 100 M36, you'd be inclined to think that the Thirteenth would be earlier.

[Sigismund Himself]

Check out the Librarium article on them.

[Dosjetka]

I just thought that I would point out that the Founding of the Howling Griffons is now 3rd and not 10th (see IA 9).

 

Ludovic

[Ecritter]

Well, first contact with the T'au is listed as 789.M35 in C:T

[strongbow]

I think that was when they had barely discovered fire. They were supposed to be exterminated but warp storms appeared meaning that the Imperium never returned. In the space of however many thousand years the Tau became what we know them as in M41. In other words, they weren't a known threat to the imperium until after the last founding.

 

As is said above in post #11:

 

M41 First contact with the advanced T’au

After being discovered as a primitive race some six thousand years before, they had evolved at an unbelievable rate. Now space borne they came into conflict with the Imperium.

 

6000 years before they were discovered as a primitive race. I.e. one that you don't need a chapter to deal with. :P

[Dosjetka]

I think that was when they had barely discovered fire. They were supposed to be exterminated but warp storms appeared meaning that the Imperium never returned. In the space of however many thousand years the Tau became what we know them as in M41. In other words, they weren't a known threat to the imperium until after the last founding.

 

As is said above in post #11:

 

M41 First contact with the advanced T’au

After being discovered as a primitive race some six thousand years before, they had evolved at an unbelievable rate. Now space borne they came into conflict with the Imperium.

 

6000 years before they were discovered as a primitive race. I.e. one that you don't need a chapter to deal with. :)

Correct.

 

Ludovic

[Heru]

I got a whole bunch of Foundings listed in the IA 9 and 10 books for your list Ferrata.

 

 

8th Founding:

Founding: ... 8th [circa mid-m.34]

The earliest extant record likely to pertain to the Mantis Warriors can be found in the Libris Gloriana - a seven-hundred and seventy-seven volume treatise on the state of Imperial power commissioned for the ascension of High Lord Gogol after the Nova Terra Interregnum in 093.M36. The massive accumulation of knowledge in the Libris Gloriana represents a rare resource, but one that has been repeatedly suppressed and censored, and many doubt its veracity in general. Further difficulties in the text are raised by the particularly obscure dialect of High Gothic in which the treatise is written, which had been popular at the Terran court of the time. It mentions in bombastic terms a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes "...warrior legion of the Mantis (or 'prophecy', the language is unclear)" of the 8th Founding (which would place its origins in the mid M34) of "...the line of the great Khan, by his sons the Marauders".

 

 

10th Founding:

Founding: ... 10th [circa mid-m.35]

The Astral Claws Chapter of old is believed to have been part of the 10th Founding although some sources differ on this (see addendum). Created amid the dark times of the Nova Terra Interregnum. Few records remain surrounding this Founding, which was believed to be created to try to counteract the rapid erosion and contraction of the Imperium's borders during the period.

 

 

This one pushes allot of your approximate founding dates around:

13th:

Founding: ... 13th [records sealed, circa late m35/early m36]

 

 

21st Founding:

Matters pertaining to the exact nature of the 21st Founding of Space Marine Chapters to which the Lamenters belong, carried out on the cusp of M.36, have long since become shrouded in secrecy and myth.

 

 

23rd Founding is listed in IA 9 as late M.37 and then in IA 10 as early M.38 in the latter it is given the title of "Sentinel".

Founding: ... 23rd [m37]

A star-spanning Chapter of noble renown, the Marines Errants' own histories record themselves as one of the 23rd Founding of Adeptus Astartes, which many sources place in the latter part of M.37. The 23rd is generally believed by Imperial scholars to have been one of a series of linked Foundings around this period designed to repair the power and reach of the Imperium's Space Marine forces which had suffered considerable losses in the preceding millennia. By the evidence of the Requiem Malesent of Saint Kybra, no fewer than fifty-seven Space Marine Chapters had been destroyed outright, turned renegade or declared as lost during this troubled period, which had seen calamities such as the horrors of the Reign of Blood, the Plague of Unbelief, the disastrous Cursed Founding and the forces of Chaos and the orks rampage almost unchecked along the Imperium's fringes.

+

Founding: ... 23rd (Sentinel) founding, circa early M38

The origins of the Star Phantoms lie in the 23rd founding of early M38, known in some sources as the Sentinel Founding as it was created to aid in the Imperium's defences in numerous ill-starred and vulnerable areas of the galaxy.

 

 

25th Founding:

Founding: ... 25th [m.40]

The Fire Angels' origins lie as one of a series of Chapters founded in the latter half of M.40 by the order of the High Lords of Terra.

[Ferrata]

Thankyou. The Time Line is on my list of things to update, once I get my current task done with.

[Dosjetka]

Thankyou. The Time Line is on my list of things to update, once I get my current task done with.

Ok, thanks :D

 

Ludovic

[NightrawenII]

This one pushes allot of your approximate founding dates around:

13th:

Founding: ... 13th [records sealed, circa late m35/early m36]

 

21st Founding:

Matters pertaining to the exact nature of the 21st Founding of Space Marine Chapters to which the Lamenters belong, carried out on the cusp of M.36, have long since become shrouded in secrecy and myth.

EPIC FAIL on the ForgeWorld part.

If the above is true, then how did they squashed 8 or so Foundings in less than 500* years?

The FW did exactly what I feared they will do, ie. took the fallacious date of 13th Founding from Armaggedon article and put it in there without much thinking.

 

*Edit: The Cataclysm of Souls in the Rulebook timeline is placed right before Age of Apostasy, in 975.M35. The Plague of Unbelief is in second half of Age of Apostasy in 310.M36.

*IF* the 21st Founding was prior to the Age of Apostasy, then the information about the 13th Founding in late M35/early M36 is inconsistent with the studio material.

[Heru]

EPIC FAIL on the ForgeWorld part.

If the above is true, then how did they squashed 8 or so Foundings in less than 500* years?

The FW did exactly what I feared they will do, ie. took the fallacious date of 13th Founding from Armaggedon article and put it in there without much thinking.

Actually if you ask me the wording is kind of awkward in regards to the 13th, as in:

"Was the 13th Founding in that time period, or is that just when they sealed the details on it?"