Gothic Sector

Galaxy Portal

Map of the Gothic Sector showing Port Maw.

The Gothic Sector is a sector of the Imperium located within the Segmentum Obscurus close to the border of the Ultima Segmentum ². The sector was the arena of Abaddon's 12th Black Crusade otherwise called the Gothic War.

The Gothic Sector and the Gothic War are the focus of Games Workshop's Battlefleet Gothic game released in 1999.

The Gothic War

Main article: 12th Black Crusade

The Gothic War was Abaddon's 12th Black Crusade which saw the ravaging of the Gothic Sector and the capture of two Blackstone Fortresses.

In the lead up to the Gothic War during 142.M41, a cataclysmic shockwave passed through the warp and the entire sector was engulfed in a warp storm cutting it off from outside help. Battlefleet Gothic, the Imperial Navy Battlefleet of the Gothic Sector, fought against many Chaos fleets led by individual Warmasters - estimates vary from eight to twenty or more Chaos fleets present, each capable of rivaling an Imperial battlegroup - as well as pirates of the Eldar and the unconfirmed presence of a Craftworld, Ork pirates, and also human pirates. The death toll on both Imperial and Chaos sides ran into the millions; planets were invaded and recaptured and bases attacked all the while the sector was isolated from outside Imperial help.¹

In 151.M41, almost ten years later, did the warp storms finally begin to abate allowing reinforcements to arrive. With an alliance between the Imperium and the Eldar, Abaddon's fleet was located and pursued to the Schindlegeist system where the deciding battle of the war took place, seeing Abaddon beaten.¹

It wasn't until 160.M41, almost twenty years after the start of the war, that the sector recovered its planets and trade routes from the threat of remaining Chaos fleets, pirates and Orks.¹

Blackstone Fortresses

Main article: Blackstone Fortress

The Gothic Sector was the location of the Blackstone Fortresses, ancient abandoned space stations created as weapons against the C'tan which were found and refitted into Imperial naval bases. In the Gothic War Abaddon captured three out of the six still existing. He went on to use them to wipe the atmosphere off an entire planet, and even push a star to super nova and annihilate an entire star system.¹

At the ending of the Gothic War, Abaddon managed to remove two of the fortresses into the warp. The third Blackstone Fortress Abaddon had control over was boarded by Imperial forces where they met no resistance nor found any crew. Roughly an hour after the Imperium recaptured the fortress it self-destructed mysteriously along with the four other fortresses under Imperial command.¹ Abaddon later resurfaced with the two lasting Blackstone Fortresses in his 13th Black Crusade.

Known subsectors and systems/planets

Below is a list of the known subsectors and systems/planets of the Gothic Sector. The systems may contain more than one world but the political power and the bulk of resources will be concentrated on the type of world listed below.^1a

Bhein Morr Subsector

Planet name	System	Population	Type of World	Notes
Krool	Unknown	Unknown	Agri World
Oechalia	Unknown	Unknown	Civilised World
Fularis	Unknown	Unknown	Civilised World	Was the location of Blackstone I before the War. The planet Fularis II was the first demonstration of the power of the Blackstones under Abaddon's control, in which two Blackstones stripped Fularis II of its atmosphere and reduced its surface to a rocky plain 1
Balaam	Unknown	Unknown	Agri World
Kharlos	Unknown	Unknown	Mining World
Bhein Morr	Unknown	Unknown	Civilised World
Elysium	Unknown	Unknown	Civilised World
Mastado	Unknown	Unknown	Mining World
Luxor	Unknown	Unknown	Mining World
Stranivar	Unknown	Unknown	Hive World
Duran	Unknown	Unknown		Uninhabited system

Cyclops Cluster Subsector

• Denerair - Agri-world.
• CCX-104 - Uninhabited system.
• Misere - Mining world.
• Thanet - Mining world.
• Mezoa - Forge world.
• Moab - Civilised world.
• Slade - Penal world.
• Lithore - Mining world.
• Numitor - Agri-world.
• Halemnet - Hive world.
• Rebo - Civilised world. Was the location of Blackstone IV before the War.
• Platea - Mining world.
• N'man - Uninhabited system.
• Verstap - Agri-world.

Gethsemane Subsector

• Toya-Tama - Mining world.
• Lashattau - Mining world.
• Gath - Agri-world.
• Gethsemane - Hive world.
• Fier - Mining world. Was the location of Blackstone III before the War.
• Cherys - Hive world.
• Zpandex - Forge world.
• Erebus - Agri-world.
• AFR-74 - Uninhabited system.
• Drakulu - Agri-world.
• Yama Enda - Agri-world.

Port Maw Subsector

The headquarters of Battlefleet Gothic is at Port Maw, the largest naval base in the sector.

• TR/052/GS/PW-L - Uninhabited system.
• Acre - Agri-world.
• Bretz - Civilised world.
• Electris - Agri-world.
• Kueghan - Agri-world.
• Port Maw - Hive world. Location of the Battlefleet Gothic naval base.
• Marinas - Mining world.
• Lethe - Civilised world.
• Aeolus - Mining world.
• Ortho - Mining world.
• Kiliman IV - Uninhabited system.
• Walpurgis - Penal world.

Quinrox Sound Subsector

• Phroti - Uninhabited system.
• Naxos - Mining world.
• Melos - Mining world.
• Thera - Mining world.
• Delos - Mining world.
• Corilia - Hive world.
• Eziam - Agri-world.
• Brigia - Civilised world. Was the location of Blackstone VI before the War.
• Savaven - Cardinal World of the Ecclesiarchy. In the opening of the Gothic War, Savaven was the first planet destroyed by the Chaos Planet Killer ship. ¹
• Loac - Mining world.

Lysades Subsector

• Skagerrak - Mining world.
• Sicyon - Mining world.
• Tarantis - Mining world. The entire Tarantis system was destroyed during the Gothic Was when Abaddon combined three Blackstones to unleash an energy wave into the system's star, causing it to eventually super nova and resulting in the annihilation of the full system. ¹
• Saviour - Civilised world.
• Schindlegeist - Civilised world. Was the location of Blackstone V before the War. Was also the location of the deciding battle of the Gothic War which saw the defeat of Abaddon's fleet. ¹
• Boetia - Agri-world.
• Vindalex - Forge world.
• Corlina - Agri-world.
• Bladen - Hive world.
• Arimaspia - Civilised world.
• Coimbra - Agri-world.

Orar Subsector

• Skargul - Mining world.
• Helwurld - Penal world.
• Bligh - Agri-world.
• 201/23/GS/N.35/4 - Uninhabited system.
• Orar - Hive world.
• AG106/GS/N - Agri-world.
• Corain - Mining world.
• Gile's World - Agri-world.
• Anvil 206 - Hive world. Was the location of Blackstone II before the War.
• D'Gruppa - Mining world.
• Lemnos - Mining world.
• Picus - Agri-world.

Unknown position

• Graildark Nebula - The hiding place of Eldar pirates during in the Gothic War. Even following the War, the Graildark Nebula still contains worlds that await freedom. ¹
• Lukitar system - During the Gothic War, home to an Adeptus Mechanicus facility on a moon orbiting a gas giant where experimental upgrades were made to Imperial ships.
• Hammerhead Deeps

Sources

• ¹: Battlefleet Gothic Rulebook, p.92-102

^a, p.158-159

• ²: Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition Rulebook, p.116-117