Drop Site Massacre
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This article is about the Battle; for the novel, see Dropsite Massacre (Novel). |
The Drop Site Massacre is the most commonly used term for the Battle of Isstvan V, one of the first open military conflicts between the traitor forces of the Warmaster Horus and the loyalist forces of the Emperor. Occurring at the outset of the Horus Heresy it is considered a rubicon moment in Imperial history, as it marked the moment where the traitor legions were irrevocably committed to galactic civil war. The effects and aftermaths of the battle - particularly amongst the Legiones Astartes - would still be echoing ten thousand years later.
Contents
Prelude
Up until shortly before the battle of Isstvan V, Horus' rebellion was largely going according to plan. The first significant check to his scheme was met when Ferrus Manus, Primarch of the Iron Hands refused to join the rebellion, despite the entreaties of his close brother, Fulgrim. Manus' refusal forced Fulgrim and his small contingent of Emperor's Children marines to violently escape the rendezvous, a surprise action that inflicted considerable damage upon the Iron Hands' space fleet. Horus, accepting that Fulgrim could sway Ferrus Manus, had factored in the Gorgon's appearance on his side as part of his plans. This news - late in arriving as Fulgrim suffered delays caused by the warp while traveling from the meeting place to the Istvaan system - irritated the Warmaster as it meant Horus' forces would suffer additional and unplanned-for casualties, as well as those inflicted by the then-ongoing and also unexpectedly protracted Battle of Isstvan III. Horus subsequently ordered Fulgrim and his portion of Emperor's Children not assigned to Isstvan III to proceed to Isstvan V and create a fortified position there.[1a]
Fulgrim chose a ruined pre-Imperial fortress and defensive wall emplacement on the lip of the Urgall Plateau as the basis for his fortification. With the aid of Dark Mechanicum elements attached to Horus' forces he swiftly created a vast network of trenches, bulwarks and redoubts around this wall and fortress, emplacing anti-aircraft batteries and surface-to-orbit missile silos all along and behind the perimeter.[1b] The fortress itself he partially rebuilt, reinforcing it and even installing a protective void shield[2a] system. This would serve as Horus' command post in the battle to come.[1b]
Meanwhile, news of the rebellion reached Terra in 006.M31 thanks to the efforts of the Eisenstein, which had escaped Isstvan III under the leadership of Death Guard Captain Nathaniel Garro.[16b] Upon hearing the news Rogal Dorn, the Primarch of the Imperial Fists, was placed in command of the Imperial military by Malcador the Sigillite. Dorn organised a massive retribution fleet led by his own Imperial Fists to head towards Isstvan.[16b] In the meantime, he transmitted the order for a strike force of no less than seven entire nearby Legions - the Iron Hands, the Salamanders, the Raven Guard, the Word Bearers, the Night Lords, the Iron Warriors and the Alpha Legion - to travel to the Isstvan system and destroy the traitor forces as Dorn's fleet mustered at Terra.[16b] Unable to move his entire legion to Istvaan on time (due to the damage to his fleet inflicted by Fulgrim during his escape from their disastrous meeting), Ferrus Manus elected to travel in the largely undamaged vessel Ferrum, along with his entire Terminator elite, the Morlocks.[1c] Ferrus was soon appointed as the acting field commander of this massive Imperial Retribution Fleet by Dorn and Malcador.[16b]
At the conclusion of events on Istvaan III, Horus moved his forces to Istvaan V, taking up position in Fulgrim's defensive work. Horus' forces at this time included the majority of his own Sons of Horus legion, as well as those of the Emperor's Children, Death Guard and World Eaters legions. Alongside these Astartes units he also commanded millions of traitor Imperial Army forces under Lord Commander Fayle and Titans of Legio Mortis. Over the ensuing period they built up an immense network of trenches, bunkers, redoubts, gun emplacements, anti-aircraft, and anti-ship batteries all under the cover of Void Shield generators.[16b] One account of Horus' order of battle at Istvaan V puts his Astartes troop strength at around 30,000[1b] while others put them at over 150,000[16a] (accounts on the numbers of combatants differ[Notes]).
When Dorn's own fleet finally got underway, it found itself victim to Warp turbulence that prevented much of it from ever reaching Isstvan. Most of the fleet became becalmed in the Phall System, where they would subsequently come under Iron Warriors assault.[16b] Already the loyalists were being manipulated, with Alpharius and Omegon having Operatives sabotage anAstropathic Relay Station to block a message by Vulkan urging caution. This helped ensure that the more hot-headed Ferrus Manus, driven for a desire by vengeance against Fulgrim, would take command and rush into an assault on Isstvan III.[18h]
Battle
Preparations
The first loyalist vessel to reach the Isstvan System was the Raven Guard Symphalia-class reconnaissance vessel Ad Temperesta -399 hours before the first wave would make planetfall. Ranging far ahead of the rest of the loyalist fleet, it identified Isstvan V as Horus' base of operations and was able to identify that most of the Traitor forces were mustered at the Urgall Depression which would require a ground assault to eliminate. Surprisingly, the stealth ship was unopposed and found little sign of Horus' own armada.[16b] The Raven Guard and Salamanders fleets arrived next in full, followed by the Iron Hands.[1d]
Achieving orbital superiority uncontested, further loyalist reconnaissance was able to map out Horus' formidable defensive network along the Urgall Depression that was heavily Void Shielded to prevent its destruction by orbital bombardment. Ferrus, Corax, and Vulkan held their own council of war aboard the Ferrum at -242 hours before planetfall to discuss how best to assail this formidable 100 km-long defensive network.[16b] The three Primarchs hesitated, both as their orders apparently stipulated that the seven Legions should attack together and because they realised that they could not ensure victory without additional support. Upon learning that the four remaining Legions were mere hours away from translating in-system, Ferrus Manus convinced his brothers Corax and Vulkan to attack immediately, secure in the knowledge that they would receive reinforcements in the field from the inbound Legions. The more hesistant Corax and Vulkan were reluctant to rush into battle, and forced Ferrus to admit he was being driven in part in a rageful vengeance against Fulgrim.[18a] Nonetheless the plan for an immediately attack was still decided upon; Corax was to secure the right flank of the battlefield, Vulkan the left and Ferrus Manus would push through the centre of the enemy line.[1d]
Upon the surface, the traitor Astartes assembled in line formation in front of the defensive wall, with Army artillery and other long-ranged support units kept to the rear. A notable exception to this was the Imperator Titan of Legio Mortis, the Dies Irae, which took up position near to the Astartes, intent on performing a close-support role.[1d]
Even before the first Drop Pod wave was launched, initial skirmishes took place between the outer Traitor defenses and Raven Guard scouting parties that had stealthily landed to conduct additional reconnaissance.[16b]
The First Wave
The loyalists commenced the attack by initiating a short orbital barrage all along the length of the traitor line. This proved almost totally ineffective due to the strength of the void shielding (as indeed the loyalists had earlier realised) but succeeded in throwing off the anti-air platforms long enough for an immediate massed drop pod assault to hit the Urgall Plateau directly in front of the traitor position. Ferrus and his elite Iron Hands retinue was the first to be launched from the Ferrum. The Iron Hands were to land at the Malleus Sector of the Urgall Plateau, the Salamanders at Ignis Sector, and the Raven Guard at Umbral Sector.[16b] One account places the total amount of loyalist marines hitting the dirt in this assault as over 40,000.[1d] Other sources state that in this initial wave on the Urgall Plateau 10,000 Iron Hands, 83,000 Salamanders, and 79,000 Raven Guard faced 150,000 Emperor's Children, World Eaters, Death Guard, and Sons of Horus.[16a][Notes] So many loyalist Drop Pods were launched in the first wave that it darkened the sky across the battlefield, and many were subsequently shot down by traitor anti-aircraft fire.[16b] The first Drop Pods to land contained Salamanders Lord Commander Cassian Dracos and his elite.[18a]
As part of the first wave, Ferrus Manus personally led his elite Iron Hands units directly into an incoming storm of gunfire at the Malleus Sector of the Urgall Depression. The Iron Hands were backed by heavy armour landed via dropships led by Spearhead-Centurion Castrmen Orth from the Fellblade Rashemion.[18b] Many of the initial waves of Loyalists landed at precise locations thanks to beacons placed by the Raven Guard scouting parties, using Deathstorm Drop Pods to clear a path.[16b] Dies Irae opened up, eliminating hundreds of loyalist marines in these first moments. Under cover of this mammoth weight of fire a unit of around a hundred traitor marines - made up of units from the Death Guard and Sons of Horus - sallied out to close and engage with Ferrus Manus' advance unit, but were quickly decimated and forced to retreat in the face of the primarch's rage. At roughly the same time the lead element of the Salamanders under Vulkan hit their portion of the enemy line. The traitors responded with a pinpoint artillery strike directly upon Vulkan's position which barely fazed the Salamanders primarch, although it did slay several of his Firedrakes. With two primarchs penetrating the traitor defences and shrugging off everything thrown at them, the initial stage of the battle is considered to be tilted in the loyalists' favour.[1d][Notes]
Further improving the loyalist situation, the support elements of the loyalists' first wave chose this time to land on the planet. Touching down in a pre-arranged landing zone at the other side of the Urgall Plateau from the traitor position, further loyalist Astartes forces moved out from their Thunderhawk and Stormbird transporters, while heavy landers beached Imperial armour units (including Super Heavy Tanks) and artillery. With casualties taken into account, it's now reckoned about 60,000 Astartes are engaged in the battle.[1d]
The traitor line bent like a bow under the weight of this attack, with Ferrus Manus' spearhead pushing in the furthest. At this point of wavering strength on the part of the defenders, Corax and the Raven Guard made their move, slicing into the traitor flank at the Umbral sector[16b] with a massed jump pack and Skimmer assault. However, this tactic was met with a riposte organised by Angron, primarch of the World Eaters, who had secreted many units of his legion in ambush positions, apparently for just this eventuality. His brutal warriors managed to slay many Raven Guard, shooting them out of the sky along with their speeders. The impacts from these craft caused an avalanche of rock that buried Raven Guard squads advancing below and halting the advance of the black-armoured Astartes. Corax himself appeared to lead an attack by Dark Fury's and Mor Deythan, stabilizing the situation but making little gains.[16b] Emperor's Children Chief Apothecary Fabius Bile unleashed horrors upon the loyalists, such as brand-new Kakophoni led by Appius Calpurnius, whose psychic screams crippled the loyalist Vox network.[18b]
In the Ignis Sector, Vulkan himself led his sons through open terrain under heavy fire. They were met by the Death Guard in heavily prepared positions under Mortarion. But with their Primarch at their head, the Salamanders were indomitable in their assault and managed to suppress many of the Death Guard gun emplacements with the appearance of their Saturnine Pattern-clad Terminators. Companies of Vulkan's elite Pyroclasts burnt the Death Guard from their bunkers, but even in the face of this assault the Death Guard did not yield. They activated Rapier teams that had lain in wait, decimating the Salamanders with preprepared fields of fire. The sheer tenacity of the Salamanders assault managed to see slow gains, but it was then that the Dies Irae appeared alongside a cohort of Warhound Titans. Even faced with these foes, the Salamanders fought on.[16b]
The loyalist push as a whole slowly ground to a halt at this point, as Mortarion stiffened the resolve of his Death Guard and Ezekyle Abaddon and Horus Aximand moved amongst the Sons of Horus, inspiring them by slaying any Imperial who got within their reach. Ferrus Manus' own constant forward movement finally ended when his Iron Hands ran directly into the waiting formations of Emperor's Children Noise Marines, who devastated the attacking Morlocks with their sonic weaponry.[1d] Meanwhile at the Malleus Sector Ferrus was able to use his Avernii Clan veterans to tear through unprepared traitor Imperial Army troops, reaching Traitor gun batteries and super-heavy tank positions of the now-debased Emperor's Children.[16] Their heavy weaponry scattered the Noise Marines and freed up the Terminators to continue their advance. Changing target, the massed Imperial armour units then concentrated their firepower on the ravening Dies Irae, stripping its voids and forcing it to cease firing upon infantry and switch to retaliatory tank-busting. Vulkan's own forces were able to move on the Dies Irae, forcing it to withdraw. During the fallback of the Legio Mortis the Warhound Titan Eschatae suffered a reactor overload to Salamanders boarding parties, creating a massive explosion that consumed warriors of both sides.[16c]
By one hour into the battle the loyalists had managed to land their own artillery, using them in direction with augur squads to begin to silence the traitor guns.[16c] After two more hours of fierce fighting, the traitors were finally being forced back and their defensive positions were being captured one by one at great cost to the loyalists. Not even the presence of Angron and Mortarion could stem this advance, forcing Abaddon to arrive with their reserves to take up the high ground along the Malleus Sector to rain fire down upon the Iron Hands in conjunction with more ambushes launched from hidden bunkers. In other places, prepared explosive traps were detonated, including warheads that contained chemical and biological payloads. Horus hoped to wound as many loyalist Astartes as possible with this action, slowing down their advance as they attempt to evacuate their own wounded. The loyalists were seriously hindered by this subsequent counterattack, and both the Raven Guard and Salamanders were forced to dig into their own trenches to avoid total destruction. In the Malleus Sector, the Iron Hands continued their advance and did not falter despite atrocious losses.[16c]
Around this time of fragmentary combats, First Captain Julius Kaesoron of the Emperor's Children met First Captain Gabriel Santar of the Iron Hands in single combat, with Kaesoron emerging triumphant.[1d]
The Second Wave
With combat seeming about to enter a disorganised phase, the loyalists were once again bolstered with reinforcements. It was at this time, about three hours after the beginning of the battle[1e], that the second-wave Legions arrived. The Word Bearers, Iron Warriors, Night Lords and Alpha Legion executed successful combat landings into the already-established imperial drop zone on both sides of the Urgall Depression[16c], immediately fortifying it and securing the flanks of the plateau itself. The Night Lords and Alpha Legion took the flanks, the Iron Warriors moved on the high ground behind the drop zone and set up prefabricated defensive barriers, the Word Bearers formed up on the newly wall.[2b] The sight of this massive force - more than doubling the Imperial presence on Istvaan V in one stroke - appeared to force a general fighting retreat on the part of the traitorous forces, with even Angron, Mortarion and the Dies Irae seen pulling back from combat.[1e] The Legio Mortis was set upon by the loyal Legio Atarus, but the maddened Mortis Princeps Jonah Aruken attacked both sides, and in the chaos the loyalist Titans were forced into a rout.[18d]
Just at this moment, Ferrus Manus located Fulgrim's command position in the centre of the traitor line and ordered his Morlocks to assault it, despite Corax's urgings to fall back. Corax believed that the battered first-wave Legions should take advantage of the lull in fighting to resupply in the drop zone encampment and return with the fresh second wave, and in fact both the Raven Guard and the Salamanders took this course of action. When Ferrus Manus refused to follow them, his two brothers apparently chose to leave him unsupported rather than reinforce his sudden forward push.[1e]
The heavy Terminator elite of the Iron Hands struck the Emperor's Children command redoubt hard, engaging in battle with the significantly outnumbered Phoenix Guard. At the other side of the battlefield, the Salamanders and Raven Guard, low on ammunition and having suffered heavy casualties, got to within a hundred metres of the landing zone fortifications when vox-contact with the second wave abruptly went dead. At nearly 4 hours into the battle[16c] a single flare was fired from Horus' command post: a signal to the second wave legions, now revealed as traitors, to open fire.[1e] Horus' gave but a single order: "illuminate them".[18f]
Massacre
Technically, the first act of treachery took place even before this when the Alpha Legion warrior Hesperides killed his Salamanders friend Xaliscus, causing the Dracosian to collide with an Iron Warriors vessel.[18c] Around the same time, Alpha Legion First Captain Ingo Pech met with the Iron Warriors Consul Grelth aboard the Battleship Cautra to "coordinate" the second wave. They ordered a cassation of all supporting orbital bombardment as the true loyalist forces drove deeper into the trap.[18e] Pech activated embedded Operatives across the fleet which began to loyalist vessels. Pech also sought to ensure that some loyalists survived the battle in order to play both sides in the coming greater galactic civil war. To that end, he allowed loyalist commanders such as Admiral Klave to escape.[18f]
In the moments before the traitors revealed their true colors, Corax and Vulkan had both been leading their forces towards the lines of what they had thought had been their allies in order to consolidate their positions and reprieve from the intense battle. As was typical of their landing operations, the Iron Warriors had erected a prefabricated defensive structures around their beachhead and had linked up with the Word Bearers. It is said that some Raven Guard got close enough up the Urgall Depression's incline to identify the Word Bearers and hail them by name before the slaughter began. In a single moment, the Iron Warriors, Word Bearers, Night Lords, and Alpha Legion had revealed their true colors and opened fire. The carnage was immediate and total as the shocked Raven Guard and Salamanders were cut down in droves. Mere moments after the massacre commenced, Night Lords gunships appeared over the battlezone to rain down Phosphex and cluster bombs. Alpha Legion Apothecary stations erected ostensibly to provide aid to the first wave threw off the charade and butchered any loyalist they came across. The artillery batteries of the Iron Warriors opened up, decimating stunned Imperial Army.[7d]
Holding an immediate conference, Corax and Vulkan found themselves disagreeing over what to do; Vulkan advocated making their way to their own dropships and digging in to resist an attack, while Corax insisted that they should take whatever means possible to immediately evacuate the area. Unable to agree a unified plan, Corax - realising the battle was lost - turned from his brother and ordered his legion to retreat by any means necessary.[3a]
On the other side of the battlefield, the supposedly retreating traitor legions about-faced and threw themselves at the Iron Hands, apparently slaughtering them to the last marine. Ferrus still refused any idea of retreat and flew into a rage as to the treachery that had befallen him and his Legion. It was at that moment that he spotted the mocking Fulgrim ahead[7d], and in the midst of this carnage, Fulgrim and Ferrus Manus, once the closest of brothers, dueled to the death. After a titanic conflict Fulgrim emerged the victor, and beheaded Ferrus Manus. Immediately afterwards, the horrified Primarch of the Emperor's Children, seeking oblivion for his sin, gave in to daemonic possession, for a time effectively ceasing to exist as an independent entity.[1e] The Avernii Clan veterans that witnessed his death were quickly killed soon after by charging Sons of Horus[7d], leaving his fate a mystery for a time.[1f]
The general advance of the traitors included the newly revealed second wave forces, with Lorgar, Kor Phaeron and Erebus of the Word Bearers in the vanguard. Due to the positioning of the legions, the Word Bearers primarily found themselves facing Raven Guard marines, and it was in the midst of this fighting that the hardest hitting units of both legions would meet in brutal combat. The Gal Vorbak - the Word Bearers' elite Possessed formation - leapt upon Corax, attempting to swarm him in close combat. The Primarch of the Raven Guard proved so formidable a warrior however, that even Astartes enhanced by daemonic possession were no match for him and he slew them freely. In an attempt to stop this slaughter of his favoured sons, Lorgar used his normally stunted and weak psychic powers to charge through the throng of warriors, arriving just in time to prevent the deaths of such Gal Vorbak as Argel Tal. Corax and Lorgar then dueled, with Corax swiftly gaining the upper hand over the less warlike Lorgar and preparing to execute him. Lorgar was only saved from death by the sudden intervention of Konrad Curze, the Night Haunter, who threw himself at his Raven Guard brother. Fresh to the battle and a lethal warrior, Curze proved superior to the tired and wounded Corax and drove him off.[2c]
The retreating Salamanders, Raven Guard, and Iron Hands soon became bogged down in a pre-prepared network of Tarantula and Araknae sentry guns across the Urgall Depression.[15] It was at this point in the battle that the day could truly be called a massacre. Massively outnumbered, the Raven Guard and Salamanders were dying, but dying slowly. Until that is, the return to the field of Mortarion, Angron and the Dies Irae, who caused tens of thousands of deaths. Fulgrim - now secretly possessed by a daemon - quit the field completely, leaving the Emperor's Children to be commanded by Eidolon and Lucius. Finally, Horus himself entered the slaughter, leading his own Terminator elite; the Justaerin of Captain Falkus Kibre.[1f] At the climax of the massacre Iron Warriors under Forrix[18g] launched a devastating artillery barrage including tactical nuclear missiles at Vulkan's position, annihilating those Salamanders with him and ending Vulkan's participation in the battle.[1f]
The hopes of Imperial retreat were largely quashed when the Iron Warriors turned their guns on the loyalist dropships, destroying them; in addition, the orbital battle between the fleets of the various Legions resulted in the almost total destruction of the surprised loyalist vessels.[2c] A seemingly endless tide of Alpha Legion warriors flooded the battlefield in unadorned and near-universal Mk.IV Power Armour, confounding any attempt to identify their rank, role, or even Legion of origin.[17] The Iron Warriors oversaw the annihilation of mortal loyalists, overrunning the loyalist rearguard, which was held by the Saturnyne Rams Solar Auxilia.[18i]
Despite this, small pockets of Raven Guard and Salamanders managed to break out of the massacre site, boarding whatever vessels they could find and taking off. More Raven Guard than Salamanders escaped, although the Salamanders did manage to take some surviving Iron Hands marines away with them. Corax managed to get aboard a Thunderhawk[1f], but it was shot down almost immediately, crashing outside the Urgall Plateau.[3a]. The Alpha Legion deployed many Seeker Squads in an attempt to catch Corax.[17] Meanwhile, regenerating from his wounds due to being a Perpetual (a fact unknown to the traitors), Vulkan ended up a prisoner to Konrad Curze aboard the Nightfall, Curze's flagship.[5]
It is said that the Alpha Legion were the first to quit the field of battle, seeing their job done. Meanwhile, the guns of the Iron Warriors were the last to go silent when they could not identify anything left to pulverize. As the Urgall Depression went silent, the traitors took their fill of trophy taking while the Word Bearers enacted dark rituals upon the dead.[7c][7d]
In orbit, a group of Custodes originally assigned to monitor over Lorgar under the command of Aquillon attempted to flee the Isstvan System to warn of the unfolding treachery. However their craft was downed over Isstvan and the Custodes were all killed by the superior numbers of the Gal Vorbak in a vicious melee. The Custodians did not go down easily, slaying all the Gal Vorbak save Argel Tal.[2d]
The Raven's Flight
Corax survived the crash and quickly managed to regroup his Raven Guard survivors, where much to his dismay he discovered that the casualty estimate for his entire legion was between 75 and 90 percent.[3a] He assembled these survivors (numbering four thousand; see Notes) atop a highlands hill, but a roving Iron Warriors armour column threatened to unmask his position. Electing to destroy them, he swiftly organised an ambush with his surviving tactical and assault units and wiped it out, before moving his hiding place.[3b]
Thirty days after the drop-assault, the hiding Raven Guard had heard no word from either the Salamanders or Iron Hands and felt that their future looked bleak. Corax ordered that his men should move to an area known as the Lurgan Ridge and dig in there, whilst he undertook a solo reconnaissance mission of the drop site. Even though it was still being used by traitor units, Corax was able to completely escape detection by using his 'invisibility' or psi-clouding power. While recon may have been his stated purpose for this dangerous mission, Corax spent most of his time on the Urgall searching for the corpses of his brothers. He did not find them.[3c]
Ninety-eight days after the massacre, the Raven Guard were pinned down by their hunters; Angron and his World Eaters. The World Eaters force (massively outnumbering the three thousand surviving Raven Guard) hit them with a Whirlwind artillery bombardment, but before they were able to follow this up and close in for the kill they came under concentrated orbital bombardment and air-to-surface missile strikes from suddenly appearing Raven Guard dropships. These dropships, under the command of Imperial Army Praefactor Marcus Valerius and part of a mission led by Raven Guard Commander Branne, quickly managed to evacuate the Raven Guard survivors in the brief window they fought for themselves, allowing Corax to finally leave Istvaan V, but with only three thousand of the eighty thousands marines he initially landed with. Unknown to either Horus or Corax, Alpharius had allowed the Raven Guard's escape as part of his own plans regarding the Legion.[3d][4]
Aftermath
With Horus' victory at Isstvan V, the loyalists were forced on a defensive footing that would remain for the remainder of the conflict. However small pockets of loyalists managed to escape the massacre. These included Cadmus Tyro, who commanded a mixed group of survivors on the ship Sisypheum[6], as well as Artellus Numeon, leading a force of Salamanders aboard the Fire Ark.[5]
Horus had effectively crippled three full loyalist legions, and in the aftermath of the battle all nine traitor Primarchs oversaw a great parade where captured loyalist banners and wargear were displayed. Fulgrim presented the head of Ferrus Manus as a trophy to Horus.[1f]
Following these festivities, Horus held a council of war with his eight other brothers where he outlined his plans for a quick victory, dispatching his Legions across the galaxy for their respective tasks.[8] With Roboute Guilliman and his Ultramarines mauled by the betrayal at Calth[9], the Space Wolves reeling from ambush[10], Lion El'Jonson and the Dark Angels chasing the Night Lords[11], the Blood Angels either destroyed or converted at Signus[12], and the White Scars deployed far away[13] the Warmaster hoped to be able to quickly drive on Terra with only concentrated opposition from Rogal Dorn and the Imperial Fists.[14] However, what would instead follow would instead be years of grueling war.[7c]
Notes
Astartes Numbers
The main sources for the Drop Site Massacre contradict the numbers of Astartes present at the battle. Fulgrim by Graham McNeill gives 30,000 marines for the traitor legions total and 40,000 marines for the first wave loyalist total, resulting in total involvement of 70,000 Astartes from 7 legions before the second wave drops.
On the other hand, Raven's Flight by Gav Thorpe states that the number of Raven Guard present was 80,000, meaning that in one source the number of marines in one legion alone is more than the total initial number of combatants in the other. In Deliverance Lost by Gav Thorpe, Corax states that he left Istvaan with 5,000 warriors and confirms that at least 75,000 Raven Guard died on Istvaan which proves Corax started with at least 80,000 warriors. This figure was indicative of Black Library's decision to retroactively (and drastically) increase the size of the Space Marine legions.
Journal Tactica states that the first wave of the battle saw 10,000 Iron Hands, 83,000 Salamanders, and 79,000 Raven Guard face 150,000 Traitors, though this was only in the Urgall Depression region. This same source also outlines that 50,000 Emperor's Children, 35,000 World Eaters, 25,000 Death Guard, and 60,000 Sons of Horus were lost, but this was in the entire Isstvan Systems campaign and also included the Battle of Isstvan III.[16a]
See also
Sources
- 1: Fulgrim (Novel) by Graham McNeill
- 2: The First Heretic (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
- 3: Raven's Flight (Audio Book) by Gav Thorpe
- 4: Deliverance Lost (Novel) Chapter 2
- 5: Vulkan Lives (Novel)
- 6: Angel Exterminatus (Novel)
- 7: The Horus Heresy Book Two - Massacre
- 8: Aurelian (Novella) - Chapters 1-2
- 9: The Horus Heresy Book Five - Tempest, pg. 39
- 10: Wolf King (Novella) - Chapter 1
- 11: The Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, pg.17
- 12: The Horus Heresy Book Eight, pg. 44
- 13: The Horus Heresy Book Eight - Malevolence, pg. 80
- 14: The Crimson Fist (Novella) - The Eve of the Battle of Phall
- 15: Warhammer Community: Saturnine: Araknae quad-accelerator kit focus (posted 20/6/2025) saved page, original link: https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/hg33jiei/saturnine-araknae-quad-accelerator-kit-focus/ (last accessed 24/6/2025)
- 16: Journal Tactica: The Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre - Part One
- 17: Liber Hereticus (3rd Edition), pg. 301
- 18: Dropsite Massacre (Novel)
- 19: Journal Strategia: The Ruin of the Salamanders
| Battles of the Horus Heresy | |
|---|---|
| 005-006.M31 | Battle of Isstvan III • First Battle of Prospero • War Within the Webway • Battle of the Somnus Citadel • Unrest on Caliban • Schism of Mars • Battle of Diamat • Drop Site Massacre • First Battle of Paramar • Manachean War • Signus Campaign • Treachery at Advex-Mors • Siege of Cthonia • Battle for Felweather Keep |
| 007-008.M31 | Battle of Phall • Broken Key • Devouring of Antarras • Battle of Ravendelve • Ruin of Maerdan • Battle of the Alaxxes Nebula • Pale Stars Campaign • Breaking of the Perfect Fortress • Silencing of Galanta • Chondax Campaign • Second Battle of Prospero • Kolarne-Distal Incident • First Siege of Hydra Cordatus • Battle of the Furious Abyss • Battle of Calth • Shadow Crusade • Battle of Armatura • Betrayal at Ithraca • Death of Canopus • Crusade of Iron • Doom of Bormina • Defence of Tyros • Defence of the Three Planets • Battle of Ulixis • Ambush at Espandor • Battle of Aquila Atoll • Battle of Drooth II • Percepton Campaign • Battle of Iydris • Thramas Crusade • Fall of Baztel III • Battle of Vannaheim • Second Battle of Paramar • Battle of Constanix II • Harrowing of Lastrati • Mezoan Campaign • Battle of Bodt • Battle of Dwell • Erellian Subjugation • Siege of Baal |
| 009-010.M31 | Battle of Molech • Breaking of Anvillus • Xana Incursion • Carnage of Morox • Sangraal Campaign • Battle of Arissak • Battle of Perditus • Battle of Sotha • Drussen Atrocity • Scouring of Gilden's Star • Battle of Nyrcon • Battle of Tallarn • Cataclysm of Iron • Battle of Nocturne • War of Drakes • Battle of Pluto • Siege of Inwit • Burning of Ohmn-Mat • Bitter War |
| 011-012.M31 | Sacking of Sarcosa-Omikron • Reaving of the Xibana Reaches • Lorin Alpha Campaign • Subjugation of Tyrinth • Malagant Conflict • Battle of the Kalium Gate • Battle of Catallus • Axandrian Incident • Battle of the Haddon System • Jarrazr Incursion • Battle of Tralsak • Tarren Suppression • Siege of Stromhelm • Balthor Sigma Intervention • Battle of Absolom • Scouring of the Ollanz Cluster • War for Xythera • Battle of Zepath • Second Battle of Zaramund • Battle of Anuari • Battle of Pyrrhan • Second Battle of Davin • Argolian Massacres • Battle of Trisolian • Battle of Yarant • Battle of Krade • Battle of Deluge • Battle of Heta-Gladius • Battle of the Aragna Chain • Battle of Kalleth • Battle of the Diavanos System • Battle of Desperation |
| 013-014.M31 | Battle of Beta-Garmon • War for Agarops • Defence of Ryza • Battle of Thagria • Passage of Angels • Thassos Incident • Battle of Zhao-Arkhad • Serpent's Coil • Blight of Horstax • Siege of Barbarus • Foricaan Campaign • Battle of Vezdell • Burning of Vrexor • Dawn of Desolation • Death of Chemos • Battle of Luth Tyre • Ydursk Incident • Fall of Tenzebar • Battle of Cambrae • Solar War • Raid on Luna • Siege of Terra • Great Scouring |
- Battles (Chaos)
- Battles (Alpha Legion)
- Battles (Sons of Horus)
- Battles (Death Guard)
- Battles (Emperor's Children)
- Battles (Horus Heresy)
- Battles (Imperial Army)
- Battles (Iron Hands)
- Battles (Iron Warriors)
- Battles (Night Lords)
- Battles (Raven Guard)
- Battles (Salamanders)
- Battles (Space Marines)
- Battles (Word Bearers)
- Battles (World Eaters)
- Battles (Dark Mechanicus)
- Battles (Adeptus Mechanicus)
- Battles (Collegia Titanica)
