40K Lore: Armageddon
Today, Loremasters, we learn about a legendary, war-torn Hive World…
Armageddon is a Hive World in the Imperium, and has been the site of some of the largest wars in the Imperium‘s history.
The Armageddon System
There are ten planets in the Armageddon system, although not all of them are inhabitable.
The inner two planets, Kernbright and Verity are too close to the system sun to be colonised. This is not true of the third world, Gaval, which sports an Imperial mining colony. The inhabitable area of the system continues with the fourth world, Armageddon itself, fifth the Ice World Chosin and sixth the Imperial Navy-dominated world called St. Jowen’s Dock. Two gas giants, Namara and Gramaul follow, with the ninth world being the curiously xeno-terraformed Pelucidar. Pelucidar is considered suspect and is largely off-limits to Imperial citizens. The tenth and final world is Iandai, a ringed gas giant.
The Third War for Armageddon resulted in status changes in the system. The system Monitoring Stations Mannheim, Dante and Yarrick were all destroyed, while Chosin became completely Ork infested. St Jowen’s Dock was heavily assaulted by the Orks, who also attempted to land on Pelucidar. Their force vanished without trace and the world remains uninhabited.
Armageddon was formerly Ullanor until the Cult Mechanicus used Ork-based technology as part of their Grand Experiment to teleport the planet into the system. They sought to hide it in this to be colonized planet so they could plunder the world of any remaining technology.
Armageddon
Armageddon can be roughly divided into six distinct areas: the Fire Wastes, the Deadlands, Armageddon Prime, Armageddon Secundus, the Equatorial Jungle, and Phoenix Island.
The Fire Wastes are located in the far north of Armageddon, where one would expect a cold region of the polar north, possibly indicating that it is not in fact the furthest northerly region and perhaps it is a region that cross the equator of the plane. Regardless of its position, it is the location of many of the ore mines that supply the main Armageddon region with resources in order to create the weapons it needs to survive.
The Deadlands are split into two areas, the Deadlands and the Netheria Peninsula. The entire continent is far enough to the south that it is completely covered by ice and as such is used primarily as a water creation and purification site. It was attacked with unexpectedly heavy forces.
Armageddon Prime is the western half of the main Armageddon continent, joining to Armageddon Secundus via the Equatorial Jungle. It has three large Hives including Hive Tempestora, Hive Death Mire and Hive Volcanus, with the possibility of a forth, long destroyed Hive in the Plains of Anthrand, possibly Hive Anthrand or Hive Blackfire.
Armageddon Secundus is the eastern half of the main Armageddon continent, joining to Armageddon Prime via the Equatorial Jungle. It has five large Hives including Hive Helsreach, Hive Infernus and Hades Hive, Hive Acheron and Hive Tartarus, although Hades Hive was destroyed in an orbital bombardment near the beginning of the Third War.
The Equatorial Jungle is the region between Armageddon Secundus and Armageddon Prime and consists mainly of large forested areas. It is bridged by a long, straight motorway and leads to the Minos Bridge, which crosses the Minos River into Armageddon Secundus. The motorway also passes through Cerbera Base, the home of the Armageddon Ork Hunters, from which they launch their assaults on the Orks within the jungle. The Orks were left over after the first Ork invasion and have reverted to a feral state.
Phoenix Island is a large mining area similar in design to the Fire Wastes, in that it has a mine, refinery and storage facilities. It has two large docks as well as a Spaceport used to house Thunderbolts and Furies.
History
First War of Armageddon
The First War for Armageddon is perhaps the least known, and probably for good reason. In 444.M41 Cultists worshiping the Chaos god Khorne broke out in rebellion during a Warp storm. Soon, a great Space Hulk appeared over the planet, containing none other than Angron, the Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters.
The daemonic legions quickly pushed the defenders back in an orgy of bloodshed, until help arrived in the form of the Space Wolves and the Grey Knights.
With the Wolves bolstering the defences, the Grey Knights teleported to the centre of the Daemonic horde. The Grey Knights eventually banished Angron and his army from the material world, leaving the cultists to be crushed by the Imperial counterattack. Victory was imminent, but one final tragedy was to strike the planet.
In order to preserve the secret of the Daemon Primarch and the Grey Knights, the entire population of Armageddon, as well as all the surviving soldiers, were rounded up, sterilized, and sentenced to work camps for the rest of their lives while a new population was brought to re-settle the planet. Despite these cautions, several thousand Guardsmen managed to slip through the containment action, forcing the Inquisition to take more drastic measures in order to preserve the secrets of the daemons and the Grey Knights. Many Imperial Guard troopships were destroyed as they departed by Grey Knight Strike Cruisers, and in the Tremayne sector, three entire worlds were put to the sword to ensure the silence of a single company of Storm Troopers who had fought at Helsreach Hive alongside the Grey Knights.
Second War of Armageddon
The Second War for Armageddon featured a huge force of Orks in 941.M41 led by the mighty Warboss Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. The Overlord of the planet, Herman von Strab, was completely unprepared for the attack and his own pride and incompetence only made matters worse. Eventually, the defence of the planet was taken over by Commander Dante of the Blood Angels. The forces involved were the Salamanders, Blood Angels, Ultramarines, Imperial Guard and Squats. During the war an Imperial Commissar named Yarrick, who had been exiled by von Strab to Hades Hive, led a heroic defence of the Hive that eventually distracted Ghazghkull from the planetary battles. This infuriated him enough to send more and more forces against Hades Hive. The battle escalated to such proportions that Ghazghkull considered the fight a matter of personal pride, and took command of the forces assaulting Hades himself. Although the Hive eventually fell, the distraction gave the Imperial forces enough time to mount a counterattack that finally broke the back of the Ork invasion force. Yarrick survived and would clash with Ghazghkull again. Von Strab escaped from his jailers, and the Orks were forced away, humiliated in their defeat. They would have to return to avenge their failures.
Third War of Armageddon
The Third War for Armageddon occurred fifty years after the Second War. Ghazghkull Thraka returned, leading a second Waaagh! smashing into Armageddon. Commissar Yarrick and many of the heroes who fought for the planet before were called into battle again.
Armageddon isn’t quite the end of the world…but you can certainly see it from there.
