The growing pains and collective psychic flaws of the younger races threw the untapped psychically reactive energies of the Immaterium into disorder. The Blade of Infinity reemerged from the Warp several more times in subsequent years, always as a harbinger of further incursions into Imperial space by the Forces of Chaos from the Immaterium. This powerful church gains momentum until, in the 32nd Millennium, it is finally granted the status of the official state religion of the Imperium and the title of Adeptus Ministorum. Some historitors continue to seek knowledge, but their work can be compared to holding a candle against the dark abyss. The war was eventually won by humanity, but at a great cost. In the aftermath, and fearing the vengeance of the Old Ones, he and his brothers had hidden themselves away, hoping one day to find allies with whom they could finally bring the Old Ones to account. The man was mortally wounded, I had Chaplain Clausel hear his confession and administer the Finis Rerum, as befits a loyal servant of the Emperor, and we buried him with his kin! The combatants may have faced each other for mere solar days, or Terran years may have passed in the rest of the galaxy. ... A Bit of Peace and Silence . In the course of the C'tan's struggle against one another, whole planets were razed, stars were extinguished and whole solar systems were devoured by unleashed black holes. Moirae was eventually blasted into dust, but not before heretical writings from that world spread like wildfire through the domains of the Mechanicus even after Moirae was reduced to a cinder by the Fabricator-General of Mars' rectification fleet, but not before the schism spreads throughout the Cult of Mars, the Titan Legions and several Space Marine Chapters with close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus such as the Iron Hands. Most importantly, Abaddon and the Forces of Chaos were able to escape back into the Eye of Terror with one of the Blackstone Fortresses, which was then possessed by a splinter of the mind of the Chaos God Slaanesh. The Chronostrife is a bitter, ongoing internal conflict within the Ordo Chronos over the Imperium of Man's standard dating system that occurred during the first century of the 42nd Millennium. At the same time, they offered amnesty to any secessionist dynasties who willingly returned to the fold. ™ wwwwww..ggaammeess--wwoorrkksshhoopp..ccoomm TM W A R H A M M E R 4 0, 0 0 0 WARHAMMER 40,000 Condensed Rule book PRODUCT CODE 60010199005 www.games-workshop.com Printed in China ENGLISH The conflict saw the destruction of several planets and four of the six irreplaceable ancient alien artefacts known as the Blackstone Fortresses as well as the deaths of millions, if not billions, of Imperial citizens. There is no further information in Imperial records concerning this event. In the aftermath, the Ecclesiarchy was reformed, and the Brides of the Emperor were transformed into the Adeptus Sororitas, the Sisters of Battle, the armed forces of the Ecclesiarchy and the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition's new-formed Ordo Hereticus. Though the cost of victory was high -- millions of Necrons had been destroyed as a consequence of the rebellion, including all of the members of the Triarch save the Silent King himself -- the Necrons were once more in command of their own destiny. The vicious raids only cease upon the arrival of the Praxion Patrol. During the Age of Terra, or the Age of Progress as it is sometimes called by Imperial historians, the human race advanced beyond its ancient pre-industrial past to obtain spacefaring capability and began to slowly settle the habitable worlds in its own solar system and in the star systems near its homeworld using massive sublight starships. Various rival dating systems had evolved from the Imperial Standard, making a true chronicle of the human-settled galaxy almost impossible to construct. The defenders defeat this tendril with the use of a genetically-engineered biological plague, but the remainder of the enormous Hive Fleet rampages on unaffected. Likewise, their ruling dynasties were founded on the anticipation of demise, and the living were thought of as no more than temporary residents hurrying through the more permanent and lasting structures raised to honour the dead. In less than a standard year, every known sepulchre and shrine dedicated to the false saint is destroyed. Faced with the total collapse of their rule, the Triarch searched desperately for a means of restoring order. These nearly mindless automatons following their lifeless protocols are brought online first, so that the way might be prepared for the more senior members of the dynasty. For a time the Imperium knew peace from the corrupted followers of the Chaos Gods. The messages are increasingly dire: Planetary Governors send desperate pleas for aid, Imperial Guard officers call for reinforcements, fleet commanders issue ominous warnings of enemy starship movements. According to some records, four times the number of psykers are sacrificed daily to maintain optimal levels of power to the Golden Throne. The news grows worse daily, the attacks on the Imperium steadily increasing. The Tyranid Hive Fleet was of such mass, even after its considerable losses, that it blotted the stars from the skies. In 221.997.M41 the world of Piscina IV is invaded by Orks under the joint leadership of Ghazghkull Thraka and the Bad Moons clan Warboss Nazdreg. Upon dying, the soul of all deceased, sentient beings traverse the bounds of the physical realm and go to rest within the hyperdimensional realm of psychically-reactive energy that undergirds all of reality known as the Immaterium or Warp. This becomes known as the Great Cull. Incomprehensible forces were compressed into the living metal of the necrodermis bodies which the Necrontyr had forged as the full power of the C'tan at last found form. During the 13th Black Crusade the Tau used the re-deployment of Imperial forces to the Segmentum Obscurus to initiate the Third Sphere Expansion of their empire in the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy, unleashing what became known in Imperial records as the Zeist Campaign, the Prefectia Campaign and the Second Agrellan Campaign. It was not long before word began to spread, as all those planets that could still receive astropathic messages hailed the return of a hero out of myth. With their god-like powers, it was only a matter of time until the C'tan succeeded and the greatest work of the C'tan was begun. For a time, all Warp travel is impossible and the far-spread planets of the Imperium are isolated, with no travel or astropathic communication between them. Once a human-settled world had been pacified, it was brought into "Imperial Compliance" by a new Imperial Planetary Governor chosen by the Emperor. As Szarekh watched the C'tan feast on the life essence of his people, he realised the terrible depth of his mistake. Taggarath is swiftly executed by the Inquisition for heresy -- and to keep his prophecies unknown by the wider Imperial public, but the doomsayer's cry is picked up by other psychic sensitives on planets beyond count across the human-settled galaxy. How the Necrontyr ever managed to communicate with them is unknown to the Adeptus Mechanicus. Ultramarine Primaris Space Marines of the Ultima Founding arrived not long after the successful completion of the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman's Terran Crusade from Terra aboard Fleet Avenger to reinforce their brethren, but even these transhuman reinforcements could only slow the attackers' progress. The constellations of the galaxy were changed forever when the Apostles purged the outer Segmentum Obscurus of human life using these weapons. In 992.999.M41, the Night of a Thousand Rebellions occurs. These portals connected all of the Old Ones' colony worlds across vast swathes of interstellar space. In 757.998.M41 Ghazghkull finally returns to Armageddon for his long awaited rematch in the Third War for Armageddon at the head of a new, even grater Ork WAAAGH! Yet the Webway is immeasurably vast, and even these sundered skeins allow the Necrons a mode of travel that far outpaces those of the younger races. In 509.997.M41 elements from the Ultramarines and Mortifactors Space Marine Chapters make a stand against one spur of Hive Fleet Leviathan on the world of Tarsis Ultra. In this way, the Eldar hoped to control the extreme emotional and psychic sensitivity that had left them open to corruption by Chaos in the first place. Snagrod rampages across the Loki Sector, culminating in an assault on Rynn's World that nearly wipes out the venerated Crimson Fists Chapter of Space Marines when an unfortunate accident destroys their fortress-monastery. New cities were built by the efforts of millions and then smashed down once more. However, as time wore on he grew weary of his burden but dared not sever the command protocols, lest his subjects turn on him seeking vengeance for the terrible curse he had visited upon them. Mid M34 - Late M35), Time of Ending (ca. No respite. Worse still, some of these Chapters have developed unexpected genetic idiosyncrasies, mutations that strain the tolerance of the Inquisition and threaten the Chapter's survival. To external observers, the behaviour of awoken Tomb Worlds must seem eclectic almost to the point of randomness. In 801.M41 a brief flicker in the Astronomican throws thousands of ships off course, dooming them to destruction in the Warp. Warhammer 40,000, known informally as "Warhammer 40K," "WH40K," or just plain "40K," is a miniatures-based tabletop war game released by Games Workshop in 1987. Knowledge of the long ages of human history has been wreathed in shadow, buried beneath the aeons or simply lost over the expanse of time. Five Chapter Masters fell in that bitter fighting, three in the Battle at the Dome of Angels alone. Ultimately, beset by the implacable onset of the C'tan and the calamitous Warp-spawned perils they had themselves mistakenly unleashed, the Old Ones were defeated, scattered and finally destroyed. In 941.M41 the Second War for Armageddon began when the largest and most powerful Ork in millennia, the Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, leads a vast WAAAGH! In this way the men and women of the Imperium could face the new post-Heresy realities of an interstellar government where the Emperor was no longer capable of carrying on the day-to-day tasks of interstellar governance. Some Tomb Worlds were destroyed by the retribution of marauding Eldar, their defence systems overmatched by these ancient enemies of the Necrons. When a Space Marine's wounds are beyond the Apothecary's skill to heal, he will speak a few words of comfort to his dying brother before delivering a merciful coup-de-grâce that will end his suffering. This update's song is The Earth Refused to Die This iconic line originated from Warhammer 40K, and after understanding the races and conflicts from that universe, it is easy to see why. The Imperium has bought itself a century at least to prepare for the next attack, but there is no telling how the Tyranids may evolve thanks to the newly-harvested Orkoid DNA. Upon Ecclesiarchy Cardinal Worlds, Arch-Deacons to lowly pilgrims claim to have seen statues of the On Ghreddask, the intervention of a Black Templars strike force destroyed the Soul Harvester mobile fortress-factory that had left the Imperial defenders at a loss, though the suicidal counterassault cost the life of the Astartes commander, Castellan Dramos. Others are bellicose and impatient, launching a string of attacks before those other starfaring races settled in the region discover the Tomb World's awakening. Itis a bastardisation of the High Gothicterm Finis … While many dynasties have never awakened and, due to a variety of disasters never will, many are slowly piecing together their former domains. For eight days and nights, the orgies of blood continue, each fresh death luring yet more daemons to the mortal world as the barrier between the Materium and the Warp breaks down. Other than tales of great suffering, little information concerning these long years survived this dark time to be known to the men and women of the Imperium. The Age of Redemption marked the era when the Imperium recovered from the sins of apostasy in a rain of blood and tears. But the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar was able to land a blow on the Crimson King, allowing the Daemon Hunters of the Grey Knights to work their rites of banishment. Without a backward glance, Szarekh, the last of the Silent Kings of the Triarch, took ship into the starless void of intergalactic space, there to find whatever measure of solace or penance he could. The Night Lords then took the spoils and reaped with great pleasure the terror of their victims. With the C'tan and the Necrons fighting as one, the Old Ones were now doomed to defeat. Through it all, the only dissenting voice was that of Orikan, the court astrologer, who foretold that the alliance between the Necrontyr and the C'tan would bring about a renaissance of glory, but destroy forever the soul of the Necrontyr people. The year 757.M41 saw the first recorded incidence of the dread Zombie Plague erupting on the world of Hydra Minoris. Some have still never awoken. When the conflict awakened the Necrons whose tombs were hidden on Malbede, the Ultramarines joined the Tau in a temporary alliance to defeat the emerging Necrons. The resulting battle does much to heal the remaining wounds in the Imperial body politic that had been opened by Goge Vandire's treachery. The Emperor of Mankind leads the Space Marine Legions personally during the Great Crusade.