78,358
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
The '''Shadow Crusade''' was a campaign of the [[Horus Heresy]]. Making up the second theater of the [[Eastern Fringe]] campaign of the Heresy alongside the [[Battle of Calth|Calth Front]], it was a campaign by the [[Word Bearers]] and [[World Eaters]] against the 500 worlds of [[Ultramar]].{{Fn|1}}
During the [[Word Bearers]] offensive against the [[Ultramarines]] in the [[Battle of Calth]], [[Lorgar]] led another contingent of Word Bearers in conjunction with [[Angron]] and his [[World Eaters]] targeting the rest of [[Ultramar]]. The ultimate goal of Lorgar was to create a massive [[Warp]] storm known as the [[Ruinstorm]], which would create an impenetrable veil around Ultramar and the eastern half of the Galaxy, cutting off the largest of the [[Emperor]]'s [[Legions]] from [[Terra]]. The Ruinstorm had first been summoned by [[Erebus]] during the [[Battle of Calth]], but to mature it fully Lorgar needed to unleash a campaign of bloodshed and misery.{{Fn|1}} The Word Bearers and World Eaters launched a far bloodier and reckless offensive on their way across the eastern Galaxy, rampaging across the 500 worlds of Ultramar. Initially the two legions were on tense terms, as Angron delayed the advance by insisting on the butchering of entire worlds of little strategic value. The tensions between Angron and Lorgar boiled over to a standoff that was only interrupted by an attack by [[Dark Eldar]].{{Fn|4}} One of the most pitched of the campaign was the [[Battle of Armatura]], where the traitor fleet led by two gigantic [[Furious Abyss]]-class battleships smashed through massive Ultramarine defenses. During the butchery Lorgar realized that Angron's fury was consuming him as the [[Butcher's Nails]] could not handle a [[Primarch]]'s brain. Lorgar, wishing Angron be elevated to serve the [[Gods of Chaos|Dark Gods]], decided to journey to his homeworld of [[Nuceria]] to find the secrets of the Butcher's Nails. While Lorgar led a small force to Angron's world, the rest of the traitor fleet splintered into many small parties which brought destruction upon every Ultramar world they encountered.{{Fn|1}} [[Talassar]] and [[Percepton Campaign|Percepton]] are other worlds that are known to have been attacked by the traitors.{{Fn|5}} When the two Primarchs arrived at Nuceria however they discovered that the slave-lords of the world had massacred Angron's comrades and told the population that he had fled during their last stand. Infuriated, Angron ordered that the World Eaters and Word Bearers purge Nuceria of its population. During [[Battle of Nuceria|the ensuing battle]], the Ultramarines led by [[Guilliman]] arrived, determined to exact vengeance on the traitors for the Battle of Calth. The three immensely powerful but vastly outnumbered traitor Battleships (''[[Conqueror (Ship)|Conqueror]]'', ''[[Fidelitas Lex]]'', and ''[[Trisagion]]'') faced a rag-tag Ultramarines fleet of 40 smaller vessels. The ensuing battle in space was nearly even, in large part thanks to the vast power of the ''Trisagion''. However due to their numbers Ultramarines vessels were able to move past the traitor blockade and land forces on Nuceria. They also managed to bring down the ''Fidelias Lex'', losing twelve ships in the process.{{Fn|1}} On the ground, loyalist and traitor astartes and [[Titan]]s began to engage each other in pitched combat. Lorgar went on to duel Guilliman himself during the battle, and the two were largely evenly matched. However Angron then arrived, and defeated the Primarch in a furious rage. But while Guilliman managed to escape thanks to an intervention by nearby Ultramarines, this was precisely what Lorgar had wanted and the Word Bearers Primarch began a Khornate ritual. Using Angron's rage as a conduit, Lorgar channeled the power of Khorne and surged the Red Angel with the powers of Chaos. Angron was transformed into a hulking, even more bloodthirsty avatar of violence and rage that had overcome the debilitating effects of the Butcher's Nails. With his brother empowered and the Ruinstorm now at its crescendo, the traitor fleet withdrew.{{Fn|1}} Thanks to the mass carnage and pain unleashed, the Word Bearers were successful in strengthening the Ruinstorm, creating havoc across [[Ultima Segmentum]] and effectively dividing the Imperium in half.{{Fn|2}} Those loyalist legions now isolated from Terra; not only the Ultramarines but also [[Dark Angels]] and [[Blood Angels]], were forced to muster at [[Macragge]] where Guilliman eventually formed [[Imperium Secundus]].{{Fn|3}} The Dark Angels continued to purge traitor forces from Ultramar during the hunt for [[Konrad Curze]], most notably during the [[Battle of Zepath]].{{Fn|6}}
*The [[Battle of Armatura]]
*The purging of [[Nuceria]]
*The [[Percepton Campaign]]
*The [[Battle of Zepath]]
*[[Battle of Anuari]]
*[[Argolian Massacres]]
Quarantine imposed
{{Battle
|Name =The Shadow Crusade
|Image =Betrayer finalUnknown.jpg|Image caption=Angron and Lorgar battle Ultramarines in the Shadow Crusade]|Conflict =[[Horus Heresy]]|Date =007-008.[[M31]] (Main Phase, conflict rages throughout the entire Heresy)|Location =[[Ultramar]], [[Nuceria]]|Outcome =Strategic Traitor Victory<br>-Ruinstorm created<br>-Ultramar isolated<br>Tactical Loyalist Victory<br>-Ultramar mostly defended|Combatant1 =Traitors|Combatant2 =[[Imperium]]|Commanders1 =[[File:WB Icon.png|20px]] [[Primarch]] [[Lorgar]]<br>[[File:WE Icon.png|20px]] [[Primarch]] [[Angron]]<br>[[File:Machina Opus.png|20px]] [[Vel-Kheredar]]<br>[[File:WB Icon.png|20px]] [[Erebus]]<br>[[File:WE Icon.png|20px]] [[Kharn]]<br>[[File:WB Icon.png|20px]] [[Argel Tal]] (KIA)<br>[[File:WE Icon.png|20px]] [[Vorias]] (KIA)<br>[[File:WE Icon.png|20px]] [[Centurion (Rank)|Centurion]] [[Delvarus]]<br>[[File:Collegia-Titanica-Symbol.jpg|20px]] [[Princeps]] [[Venric Solostine]](KIA)|Commanders2 =[[File:UL Icon.png|20px]] [[Primarch]] [[Roboute Guilliman]]<br>[[File:DA Icon.png|20px]] [[Primarch]] [[Lion El'Jonson]] (Later){{Fn|6}}<br>[[File:UL Icon.png|20px]] [[Orfeo Cassandar]](KIA)<br>[[File:Collegia-Titanica-Symbol.jpg|20px]] [[Princeps]] [[Maxamillien Delantry]] (KIA)|Strength1 =[[File:WB Icon.png|20px]] 100,000 [[Word Bearers]]{{Fn|4}}<br>[[File:WE Icon.png|20px]] 150,000 [[World Eaters]]{{Fn|4}}<br>[[File:Collegia-Titanica-Symbol.jpg|20px]] [[Legio Audax]]<br>Two [[Furious Abyss]] class Battleships<br>[[File:NL Icon.png|20px]] [[Night Lords]] elements|Strength2 =[[File:UL Icon.png|20px]] [[Ultramarines]]<br>[[File:DA Icon.png|20px]] [[Dark Angels]] (Later){{Fn|6}}<br>[[Ultramar Auxilia]]<br>[[File:Collegia-Titanica-Symbol.jpg|20px]] [[Legio Lysanda]]<br>[[File:Collegia-Titanica-Symbol.jpg|20px]] [[Legio Oberon]]|Casualties1 =At least 50,000 Word Bearers{{Fn|8}}<br>Tens of thousands of World Eaters<br>[[Gloriana Class Battleship|Fidelitas Lex]]
|Casualties2 =Heavy losses for the Ultramarines<br>~100 worlds ruined{{Fn|7}}<br>
}}
==Overview==
Even after [[Terra]] became the focus of the war and the Primarchs left to wage battle elsewhere, fighting continued to rage in Ultramar from remnants of the Shadow Crusade. These included the [[Butcher Fleets]] of the [[World Eaters]] and the [[Argolian Massacres]] of the [[Word Bearers]].{{Fn|11}}
===Notable Individual Actions of the Shadow Crusade===
*The [[Crusade of Iron]]{{Fn|9}}
**[[Betrayal at Ithraca]]{{Fn|10}}
**[[Doom of Bormina]]{{Fn|10}}
**[[Purging of Haverlund]]{{Fn|10}}
==Related Articles==
==Sources==
*{{Endn|1}}: [[Betrayer (Novel)]], {{Cite This}}*{{Endn|2}}: [[Vengeful Spirit (Novel)]], {{Cite This}}*{{Endn|3}}: [[The Unremembered Empire (Novel)]], {{Cite This}}*{{Endn|4}}: [[Butcher's Nails (Audiobook)]]{{citethis}}
*{{Endn|5}}: [[The Purge (Novella)]], Chapter 1
*{{Endn|6}}: [[Angels of Caliban (Novel)]], Chapters 3-6{{citethis}}
*{{Endn|7}}: [[The Laurel of Defiance (Short Story)]]
*{{Endn|8}}: [[The Horus Heresy Book Five - Tempest]], pg. 81
