The Lord Militant Hechtor Dravere was one of the senior Imperial commanders that served under Warmaster Slaydo and Warmaster Macaroth during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Dravere was passed over by Slaydo for promotion to the position of Warmaster after the latter's untimely death in 765.M41. A bitter man, Dravere met his ultimate fate during the assault on Menazoid Epsilon in late 765.M41, less than eight solar months after Slaydo's death.
History[]
Lord Militant Hechtor Dravere
Hechtor Dravere was an Imperial commander who adhered tightly to Imperial tactical tradition and for a long time he was the most heavily decorated officer within the Segmentum Pacificus. Prior to his involvement with the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, Dravere had achieved numerous victories with the aid of his favoured Imperial Guard regiment, the Jantine Patricians. Often characterised by peers and subordinates as a boastful and self-important egomaniac, Warmaster Slaydo believed that Dravere's competency in command was spotty at best, and that many of his numerous decorations were undeserved. Like his contemporary Cybon, Dravere was known to be a brutal man, and was disposed to use the regular infantry as cannon fodder to achieve his strategic objectives. But one cannot overlook the string of achievements over his long career as a commander of men; he won Parfelis from the Orks in 730.M41, subjugated the Frateris Uprising on Skolnik in 737.M41, orchestrated the Balance Wars in the Kartheope System in 740-743.M41, and was one of the first Imperial commanders to encounter and survive the menace of the Tyranids.
Dravere's main failing as a commanding officer was his tactical rigidity and failure to grasp the importance of mobility. He notoriously wasted many men's lives because of these failings and his self-righteous attitude made him few friends within the ranks of the Segmentum Pacificus High Command. He participated in the Khulan Campaign (752-754.M41), though only in a supporting role, and fully expected to rise to become the Warmaster of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade as a result of his efforts and accomplishments. He was deeply dismayed when Slaydo was appointed as the Warmaster of the Crusade instead. Slaydo loathed Dravere, though he had political sense enough to treat Dravere with apparent respect. Even a great man such as Slaydo was not infallible, as he once rejected the world of Ambold Eleven as a primary assault target for the Crusade simply because Dravere had championed its significance. Ambold Eleven simply did not fit neatly into the Warmaster's long-term plans for the reconquest of the Sabbat Worlds, and Slaydo did not want to embellish Dravere with any credit whatsoever for the opening assault. During Operation Redrake the Warmaster charged Dravere (along with General Akkensor) with obtaining control of the easy objective at Long Halent.
Notoriously ambitious, Dravere needled Slaydo right up to his heroic death in 765.M41, and then bitterly fought other potential contenders, such as Cybon, for the position of Warmaster after Slaydo's death and his appointment of Macaroth as his successor. It is even rumoured that Dravere became involved in some form of conspiracy to overthrow Macaroth soon after his appointment. Though there is no evidence to prove such a notion, evidence of such a conspiracy would have most likely been suppressed by the Commissariat. A bitter man as a result of being passed over for the coveted position of Warmaster a second time for a man he respected even less than Slaydo, Dravere met his own ultimate fate during the Imperial assault on Menazoid Epsilon in late 765.M41, less than eight months after Slaydo's death.
Sources[]
- First and Only (Novel) by Dan Abnett
- Sabbat Worlds Crusade (Background Book) by Dan Abnett