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{{Battle
|Name ={{PAGENAME}}
|Image =Hive Thoraddis.jpeg
|Image caption=
|Conflict =[[Third War for Armageddon]]
While initially a conflict between the [[Imperium]] and [[Orks]], by the end of the [[41st Millennia]] and the formation of the [[Great Rift]] the Forces of [[Chaos]] had come to [[Armageddon]]. A seething [[Warp]] fissure erupted in the planets northern polar region which became known as the [[Angron|Red Angel's]] Gate. From this blight in realspace came not only [[Daemon]]s but [[Cultist]]s, [[Mutant]]s, [[Chaos Space Marine]]s, and other assorted heretics.{{Fn|1}}
[[Hive Thoraddis]] was amongst the earliest settlements on Armageddon to suffer at the hands of this new enemy. While many of the traitors succumbed to the toxic ash and conditions, many more reached the Hive City only to be greeted by its defensive guns. Behind the initial wave came Chaos Space Marines as well as tanks and [[Daemon Engine]]s. Yet these all paled in comparison to the [[Traitor Titan Legions|Traitor Titan]]s that followed in their wake. Thoraddis was a relatively small Hive and had been spared the worst of the fighting thus far, and thus the defending 473rd [[Armageddon Steel Legion]] Regiment found itself woefully unprepared to meet the threat. The commanding officer, [[Colonel]] [[Berkant]], was a veteran of the wars against the Orks and nonetheless organized organised a defense. He kept the majority of his transports hidden around Thoraddis' southern gates and prepared a defense of heavy ordnance to greet the traitors as he commandeered the Hive's factories to reinforce materials previously assigned for export to the defenders.{{Fn|1}}
As the heretic army swept into range, they were pounded with artillery. The traitors advanced heedless of their losses as the Chaos Space Marines swept around to the eastern flank while in the west the Traitor [[Titan]]s advanced. Berkant kept up the artillery bombardment until the Chaos mortal forces reached the outer walls, whereupon they were met with stiff [[Lasgun]] fire from the battlements. Berkant knew the outer wall would never hold for long, and ordered the first of his prepared redeployments after the sixth volley. The walls fell quickly as predicted as the Chaos Space Marines smashed through the gates. 200 [[Guardsmen]] known as ''Berkant's Forlorn Hope'' formed makeshift lines and rained fire on the invaders. A handful of heretics fell, but they nonetheless made short work of the force. With the outer area cleared, the traitors pushed on through the hive but were met with heavy weapons fire. This proved to delay the enemy advance.{{Fn|1}}