Battle of the Coronid Deeps
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The Battle of the Coronid Deeps and the subsequent Manachean War was a campaign of the Horus Heresy waged between 006 and 008.M31. Led personally by Warmaster Horus himself initially, the traitor lord sought to conquer the valuable industrial sectors of the Coronid Deeps.[1a]
Overview
Cut off from the Ruinstorm created by the Word Bearers, the Imperial worlds of the Coronid Deeps had little time to prepare for the traitor attack and little hope of outside aid. The traitors struck first at the Gethsamaine System. They then struck at the Cyclops Cluster, where Dark Mechanicus ambassadors convinced the Forge World of M'Pandex to join Horus' cause. However on the Forge World of Mezoa the ruling Tech-priests judged the traitor Mechanicum ambassadors to be Hereteks, forcing Horus to blockade the planet.[1b]
Letting Mezoa sit and rot in its isolation, the Warmaster began with the next stage of his plan. He dispatched the Death Guard led by Mortarion across the Cyclops cluster, where they captured the worlds of Lascal and Dominica Minor with the help of the traitor Knight House House Makabius.[1b]
Horus next struck at the Manachean Commonwealth, a loyalist independent dominion within the Imperium to the galactic east of the Cyclops Cluster. As the traitors approached, insurrection and rebellion (perhaps instigated by the Alpha Legion) began to plague Imperial authorities throughout the commonwealth. To the further detriment of the Commonwealth, Imperial command at Port Maw dispatched the bulk of their fleet to deal with a nearby Ork force. Meanwhile, the defenses at Port Maw were undermined by sabotage thanks to the treacherous Archmagos Leit Mercuric, who hid his true allegiance until it was too late. With communications and defenses in complete chaos, the traitor forces swiftly captured the base from brave but outclassed Solar Auxilia troops and what active Imperial Armada warships remained loyal. When Horus' own flagship, the Vengeful Spirit arrived, the battle in space was decided in the traitors favor.[1c][1d]
Near-simultaneously, the Sons of Horus began their assault on Manachea. Striking at Hive Ilium on Manachea Vysidae, Horus' forces under Abaddon defeated the shocked but tenacious Imperial Army resistance. After capturing the Palace of Light, the Manachea Commonwealth folded to the traitors.[1c][1d] It was then that Horus, the Death Guard, and the majority of the traitor forces left the region to conduct campaigns elsewhere, leaving a smaller garrison to oversee the Commonwealth's subordination. Meanwhile, the Iron Hands ship Red Talon of Clan Morragul under Autek Mor had arrived in the system, exacting vicious retribution on traitors and their collaborators wherever they could be found, striking at Gethsamaine Colonus in the Grail Abyss.[1d]
While the ruling traitor Magos under Draykavac was still busy mopping up the last remnants of resistance in his newly conquered sectors, a loyalist reinforcement fleet from the nearby Agathean Domain arrived under Lord Marshal Ireton MaSade. MaSade struck at the recently captured world of Numinal, creating a vicious battle where his Solar Auxilia battled traitor Mechanicum forces. Knights, used by both sides, proved the decisive factor in the battle. However the loyalists held firm and slowly began to overwhelm the traitor forces, and aided by local rebellions and small amounts of Imperial Fists and Raven Guards were able to win the day. Numinal had fallen to the loyalists.[1d]
But despite the liberation of Numinal, much of the region still lay in traitor hands. Stalemate erupted, and the Manachean Commonwealth was devastated in a series of attacks and counterattacks.[1d]
The Siege of Epsilon-Stranivar IX
Epsilon-Stranivar IX, known during the Great Crusade of Fortress Stranivar, was a world found at the edge of the Coronid Deeps. By the time of the later stages of the Coronid Deeps campaign, the world had served as the last loyalist stronghold of Horus' flank, garrisoned by a force of small force of Imperial Fists, Raven Guard, Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Blood Angels. Refusing to yield, the traitors were faced with no other option but a major assault. But while the loyalists were united in a common cause, the traitors were divided among their own agendas.[2]
Thus a force of Iron Warriors of the 114th Grand Battalion, Alpha Legion companies, and Death Guard host began their poorly coordinated push. Time and time again the Alpha Legion allowed the Iron Warriors to attack unsupported into guns and dug-in loyalist positions while using the confusion for their own pin-point raids. During the climatic battle of the campaign, the Siege of Vharna, the Traitor Host broke on the Loyalist lines. The 114th Grand Battalion was effectively abandoned by the Alpha Legion and Death Guard, left to act as a sacrificial rearguard. Of the 6,000 Iron Warriors who took to the field, less than a third would leave alive. The highest ranked surviving Iron Warriors Nârik Dreygur, swore that his fallen brothers would be avenged.[2]
However the loyalist victory was short-lived as less than a year later the Sons of Horus launched a renewed attack that captured the planet.[2]
Related Articles
Sources
- Battles (Horus Heresy)
- Battles (Imperial Army)
- Battles (Adeptus Mechanicus)
- Battles (Black Legion)
- Battles (Iron Hands)
- Battles (Imperial Fists)
- Battles (Raven Guard)
- Battles (Death Guard)
- Battles (Dark Mechanicus)
- Battles (Salamanders)
- Battles (Iron Warriors)
- Battles (Night Lords)
- Battles (Alpha Legion)
- Battles (Knights)