Armageddon
From Warhammer 40k
| Armageddon | |
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==  Hive World: Armageddon | |
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[edit] Overview
[edit] The World of Armageddon
Located ten thousand light years to the galactic northeast of Holy Terra, the world of Armageddon is the fourth in its system of ten planets, is classified as a Hive World of the Imperium, and is the industrial hub of both the Armageddon sub-sector and the greater region. Many worlds within a several light-year radius of Armageddon rely on the world for its industrial output.
Hundreds of centuries of industry has reduced the world to barren wastelands and polluted oceans; humans can only survive within the artificial environment of the hive cities (massive arcology-like structures that stand several kilometers tall) and Imperial facilities. Food must be imported from off-planet, and clean air and water are precious commodities.
Because of the inhospitable conditions outside of the hive cities, almost all regiments of the Armageddon Steel Legion are trained as mechanized infantry.
[edit] Landmasses
There are three main landmasses on Armageddon. Most human life is located on the main continent, which is split into two parts, Armageddon Prime and Armageddon Secundus, separated by the thick band of jungle known simply as the Equatorial Jungle. The bulk of Armageddon Prime and Secundus is covered in ash wastes, aftereffects of millennia of industrialization. Several hive cities house the population and industry of Armageddon; Tempestora, Death Mire and Volcanus on Prime, Infernus, Hades, Acheron, Helsreach and Tartarus on Secundus.
To the north of Armageddon Prime and Secondus are The Fire Wastes, which is home to the mining and resource gathering industries that support the industrial factories. This is an extremely arid region, which has been strip-mined far beyond the point of any sustainable ecosystem.
To the south is the ice-covered Deadlands. The polluted ice is melted and heavily purified to provide a source of drinking water to the inhabitants of the hive cities.
[edit] Military Conflicts
Three major wars have been fought on and around the planet. -
[edit] First War of Armageddon
The first war fought for the planet is perhaps the least known, and probably for good reason. 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 defenses, the Grey Knights fought through to the center of the Daemonic horde, eventually banishing Angron and his army from the material world, leaving the cultists to be crushed by the Imperial counterattack.
But one final tragedy was to strike the planet. In order to preserve the secret of the Daemon Primarch, the entire population of Armageddon, as well as all the surviving soldiers, was 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. Logan Grimnar, the Great Wolf of the Space Wolves, has never forgiven the Administratum for carrying out such a betrayal of the men and women who fought for their world.
The events of the First Armageddon War are told in Chaos Attack, an expansion game for Battle of Armageddon (see below).
[edit] Second War for Armageddon
The second invasion of Armageddon was a massive force of Orks in M40.941 led by the mighty Warboss Ghazkull 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 defense of the planet was taken over by Commander Dante of the Blood Angels. During the war, an Imperial Commissar named Yarrick, who had been exiled by Von Strab to Hades Hive, led a heroic defense of the hive that eventually distracted Ghazkull, infuriating him enough to send more and more forces against Hades Hive. The battle escalated to such proportions that Ghazkull considered the fight a matter of personal pride, and took command of the forces of Hades himself, blinding him to the other battles on the world. 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 Ghazkull again. Von Strab escaped from his jailers, and the Orks would come once more...
In 1992, Games Workshop released Battle for Armageddon, a board game detailing the events of the Second Armageddon War. Also the events of this war formed the main background for the Warhammer 40,000 second edition box set.
[edit] Third War for Armageddon
Fifty years after his first attempt, Ghazkull Thraka led a second "Waaagh" smashing into Armageddon. Commissar Yarrick and many of the heroes who fought for the planet before were called into battle again.
In 2000, Games Workshop held a worldwide campaign for Warhammer 40,000, Epic 40,000, and Battlefleet Gothic, where the results of battles could be sent in from all over the world. Each country or region corresponded to sector of the planet (for example, Great Britain represented Hive Infernus, while the area around Helsreach Hive was fought over in the United States). A Codex was also released for the campaign, which included army lists for the Armageddon Steel Legion, Ork Speed Freeks, the Black Templars and Salamanders Space Marine chapters and Planetary Defence Forces (bases on the Imperial Guard army list).
[edit] Aftermath
Although the 3rd Armageddon War is over (with the Imperium winning a narrow victory), fighting still continues on the planet. Ghazkull has left the planet, pursued by High marshal Helbrecht accompanied by Yarrick with a full Black Templars crusade at his back. The Orks have come to regard Armageddon as a kind of Valhalla, where they can always come to find a good fight, and the Imperium must still send more troops to battle to keep the planet in Imperial hands.
