/tg/ Heresy Timeline

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

For information on the previous ages of the universe, see the Chronology of Events on the Warhammer 40k Wiki. The /tg/ Heresy does not diverge from the main timeline until the Age of the Imperium. This is the time in which the Emperor launches his Great Crusade, the Warmaster Hektor Cincinnatus betrays the Imperium, and the Loyalist Primarchs reform and rebuild their father's realm.

mid-M30: The Unification Wars

After the Fall of the Eldar and the Birth of Slaanesh, the long Warp Storms that had blighted the Galaxy receded. The Emperor began to unfurl His plans to unify the human race and extend its dominion to the stars, beginning by conquering Terra itself. In this period the last Terran church was eliminated, making way for the Imperial Truth's doctrine of rationalism and atheism. The Emperor's forces would also overcome the forces of the Techno-Barbarian states that had long warred over humanity's cradle.

Much of the fighting was undertaken by the doomed Thunder Warriors, but the Emperor also implemented the great Primarch Project to craft super-human generals and statesmen to spearhead his Great Crusade. When all but one of the Primarchs was lost, the Emperor improvised the Space Marines from the genome of his lost creations. This new generation of enhanced warriors formed the Sacred Band of Hektor Cincinnatus. As their numbers swelled, the Space Marines were divided into the Legiones Astartes.

In the last years of the Unification Wars, the fighting spread to Luna. The conquest of the sophisticated gene-forges of the moon allowed for a great increase in the number of Space Marines.

798.M30 to 005.M31: The Great Crusade

Following His victory in the Unification Wars, the Emperor launched an immense campaign to unite the scattered human race. His mighty Space Marine Legions would play the foremost role in the Great Crusade, but they were accompanied by the auxiliary formations of the Imperial Army. The Treaty of Mars in 805.M30 brought the Mechanicum of Mars and the warhosts of the Taghmata Omnissiah into the Crusade. The forces of the Imperium were organised in great Expedition Fleets and dispatched to every sector of the Galaxy.

At its height, the Great Crusade threw down mighty star empires such as the Core Worlds Confederation, Harakien Eldar Empire, and most startlingly of all, Khork's Ork Empire of Ullanor. These great victories, led by the Emperor and his Primarchs, put humanity ascendant in the Galaxy.

The Great Crusade would end neither in victory nor defeat, but in treachery and civil war. The Warmaster Hektor Cincinnatus took up arms against the government of the Imperium and allied himself with the Ruinous Powers of Chaos, beginning a horrific war that would leave trillions dead.

005.M31 to 014.M31: The Hektor Heresy

Hektor had won the allegiance of half the Space Marine Legions, with their vast networks of influence and throngs of sworn mortal soldiers. He also benefited from rebellion in the Solar System itself, as the Autopostates of Mars rose up against Fabricator-General Kalkas Tygian during the civil war. Adding to his material advantage were divisions within the Loyalist camp caused by the absence of the Emperor. For much of the conflict, the Loyal Legions were defined more by opposition to Hektor than common cause, and even as the war drew to its end they were still split between forces under the leadership of Alexandri of Rosskar based at the Solar System and a great armada following Roman Albrecht from the Segmentum Pacificus.

Despite these advantages, Hektor was unable to overcome the defenders of the Imperium and was forced to risk his campaign on a desperate gamble. Though he was finally slain by the Emperor, the Warmaster's rebellion gravely wounded the Imperium and her master, forever altering the destiny of mankind.

014-021.M31: The Great Scouring

The Loyalist forces that stormed towards Terra from the Segmentum Pacificus arrive relatively fresh and ready for the counter-offensive against the Traitors. The Void Angels, Silver Cataphracts, and Steel Marshals lead the Loyalist's campaign of vengeance, harrying all those who rebelled against the Emperor back to the Eye of Terror.

Some of the Traitor Legions go down hard in big battles. The Life Bringers fight the Entombed, bolstered by Void Angels, at the Battle of Rai. Others flee and leave their homeworlds to be razed. The Lions Rampant race to the galactic fringe to rebuild and prepare their revenge.

In the closing days of the Scouring, renegade warriors who took advantage of the civil war face the wrath of the Imperium. Most notably, The Bulwark, a splinter from the Heralds of Hektor, face the Steel Marshals and Silver Cataphracts in a brutal campaign known as The Crucible, leading to the disappearance of Roman Albrecht and wounding of Alexandri of Rosskar.

First through seventh centuries of M31: Imperial Reformation

Following the crisis of the Heresy, Gaspard Lumey leads the Imperium for a decade as the First Lord of the High Lords of Terra. His tenure is marked by military consolidation and the formation of Segmentum Commands under his remaining brothers, Arelex Orannis (Lord Pacificus), Brennus (Lord Obscurus), Onyx the Indestructible (Lord Ultima), and Shakya Vardhana (Lord Tempestus). In 031.M31, Lumey appointed Arelex Orannis as his successor and took up the post of Lord Pacificus. During the transition period the two Primarchs presided over the sundering of the Legiones Astartes and the foundation of the Imperial Navy, Imperial Guard, and Space Marine Chapters.

Orannis's rule as First Lord was characterised by a remarkable period of rebuilding, particularly in the war-ravaged Sol system. Unlike Lumey, who had avoided humanity's cradle and ruled more often than not from the command centre of his flagship, Orannis brought the seat of Imperial government back to Terra. The sire of the War Scribes oversaw the construction of whole hives dedicated to the administration of the Imperium. He also smoothed the constant religious struggles between Mars and her daughter worlds, ensuring that the Red Planet received aid from the younger Forge Worlds so that it, too, could be restored to something of its pre-war glory.

Following the regimes of the Primarchs, control of the Imperial administration was passed over to the High Lords of Terra. For two centuries, these mortal men and women gradually took up the task of running the Imperium while the sons of the Emperor defended the frontiers and occasionally travelled to Sol to impart their wisdom to the council. But by the third century of M31, the Loyalist Primarchs had all departed the scene of history and the Imperium of Mankind would finally be ruled by mortals.

Eighth Century of M31: Second Vetrovnak Incursion

The earliest encounters with the sinister Vetrovnak were during the Great Crusade, but they arrived in force during the Eighth Century. During the terrible struggle against the invaders, the Imperium began to field new formations of troops inspired by the trans-stellar religions of the day.