Hive World

Galaxy Portal Planets

Galaxy Portal Moons

A typical Hive City

A η-class (eta class) or Hive World is a classification of Imperial world distinguished by vast, continent-spanning cities, often built high into the sky and deep beneath the earth.^[4a]

Overview

Hive Worlds are estimated to comprise between 10-25% of the total quantity of Imperial planets. The exact number is difficult to establish due to the bureaucratic features of the Imperium itself.^[5] The population of every Hive World is enormous, and almost all food needs to be imported. A Hive World rendered temporarily inaccessible through Warp space will suffer a devastating famine within a very short space of time. It will become a vast catacomb of lunatics driven to excesses of anarchic, urban savagery by starvation and claustrophobia. Hive Worlds are dangerous, being too large to monitor safely, and their citizens are typically unbalanced, if not utterly crazed. It has been known for the Adeptus Arbites to cull these planets in order to bring their populations down to manageable levels.^[1]

Hive Worlds have a population far too numerous to be fed or supported on their own, often exceeding a trillion inhabitants on a planet the size of Terra. These planets often have no more natural ground surface left, having become a giant urban agglomeration, with new construction happening on top of old ones.^[7] Billions of people can live crowded together in a single Hive city.^{[Needs Citation]} Each of these Hive Worlders is a potential soldier for Imperial forces, including the Imperial Guard^[4a] and the Space Marines. Hive Worlds contribute the vast bulk of the recruits for the Imperial Guard. The violent gangland lifestyle which most residents are forced to live means they are already hardened and experienced in warfare. Almost every recruit will already know how to handle a gun. Hive Worlds also serve to populate newly discovered planets. Imperial citizens are gathered from various Hive Worlds (willingly or unwillingly) and shipped off to distant colonies. An example of this would be Medusa V. Hive Worlds have huge import/export ratios, exporting a vast range of materials, and relying on imports of food and water. In common with most other Imperial worlds, Hive World society has distinct classes, with a ruling class and a working class. Invariably the lower classes inhabit the lower and more decayed and polluted levels of the Hive.^{[Needs Citation]}

There are approximately 32,380 Hive Worlds in the Imperium.^[2a] Most consist of various enclosed Hive cities or Hive clusters surrounded by wasteland, jungle, ice, plains, etc. In the most extreme examples the Hive World has developed beyond the point of separate Hive clusters - the planet's surface instead is completely urbanised with hundreds of stacked layers of arcologies, covering the entirety of the planet. Holy Terra is an example of this "city-planet". The sheer numbers of workers in a Hive makes them hard to control. Gangs grow up and control sections, fighting among themselves and millions subsists on scraps. Further up power reaches the ancient lighting system, while even further up, air circulation systems clean the air for those rich enough to afford it. It is a hierarchical system, and a ruthless one, but given sufficient forces to keep the populace down, it is a very efficient way of housing billions of people. If each person had a house on the ground, the entire planet would be overrun with living quarters and no room for production facilities.^{[Needs Citation]}

Hive Worlds are important due to their output. They don't reach anywhere near the production of a Forge World, but the number of workers give out a huge quantity of materials. Hive Worlders, being just as brutal and savage as those on Feral Worlds also provide the best fighting material to the Imperium.^{[Needs Citation]}

Notable Hive Worlds

Planet name	Segmentum	Sector	Subsector	System	Population	Notes
Absolom Reach (former)						Now — Daemon World, also former Desert World
Acheron IV						Also — War World; Imperium fought with Orks
Aerius (former)						Now - status unknown. Suffered great losses due to the plague.
Agrellan (former)	Ultima					Was captured by T'au and renamed to Mu'gulath Bay, then subjected to Exterminatus by Imperium, though part of the Tau population survived.
Algol					18 billion
Amarah Prime	Tempestus	Orpheus	Capitoline	Amarah
Anshur (former)						Status unknown, former Imperium
Aralan		Aralan
Arcadia
Archaos	Obscurus	Calixis	Drusus Marches
Armageddon	Solar	Armageddon Sector	Armageddon Subsector	Armageddon System
Aryand						Now — Necron world
Ashek II	Pacificus	Sabbat Worlds				Attacked by Chaos with unknown result
Atoma Prime	Solar	Moebian Domain			90 Billion	Experiencing a Chaos Cult and Traitor Guardsmen uprising and being addressed by Inquisitor Grendyl's retinue.
Auxilion						Now — Dead World
Avalan						Also — War World
Avellorn	Solar[3]
Badab Primaris	Ultima	Badab Sector		Badab System	5,170,000,000	Former Adeptus Astartes Homeworld (Astral Claws)
Bakus III
Baraspine	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Adrantis Nebula	Baraspine System	2,000,000,000
Belecane	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Markayn Marches	Belecane System	2,700,000,000	Also — Forge World
Belial						Also — Industrial World
Beta-Garmon III	Solar	Beta-Garmon Cluster		Alpha-Garmon System		Devastated during the Horus Heresy
Black Reach (Blackreach)	Ultima
Bront	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Golgenna Reach
Caldera						Also — Death World
Canopus	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Josian Reach
Carcharias						Also — Adeptus Astartes Homeworld (Crimson Consuls)
Chima Lomas	Obscurus
Clove	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Hazeroth Abyss
Coronis Agathon[2c]	Obscurus				120,000,000,000[2c]	Also — Fortress World
Corvus Majoris	Ultima		Corvus Sub-Sector
Crixos
Cthonia (former)	Solar			Cthonia system		Now - destroyed
Cyclopean Prime
Cyclopia	Obscurus	Calixis Sector
Delaphina
Derdoni (former)						Primary Hive was destroyed, status unknown
Don-Croix	Ultima
Drachu	Tempestus
Ephisia	Tempestus					Site of rebellion
Falchat (former)						Hives were stormed by Chaos, current status unknown
Fell Core (former)	Ultima					Now — Dead World
Fenksworld	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Josian Reach		1,000,000,000
Formal Prime	Pacificus	Sabbat Worlds
Fornax Aleph	Pacificus	Sabbat Worlds	Newfound Trailing Group
Forsarr (former), now - (Garaghak's World)	Tempestus	Forsarr Sector		Forsarr System		Now — Ork World
Galaspar				Galaspar System	Billions
Gantor Terentes
Gehenna Prime				Gehenna System
Gethsemane	Obscurus	Gothic Sector	Gethsemane sub-sector	Gethsemane System
Greyshroud
Gunpoint	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Hazeroth Abyss
Guytoga	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Hazeroth Abyss
Hamclov
Harakon
Hazhim	Ultima
Hermetica	Solar	Chonma Sector		Hermetica System
Hexis Alpha
Hranx						Also — War World, divided the planet between the Imperium and the Alpha Legion
Hredrin	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Josian Reach
Ichar IV	Ultima			Ichar System	500,000,000,000
Ichorax (former)					None, former billions	Now — Dead World
Ishraq	Ultima		Corvus Sub-Sector			Though polluted by Chaos, the Imperium thinks that the population may be cleansed of its filth.
Isstvan III (former)	Ultima			Isstvan system	None, was 12 billion pre-Heresy	Now — Dead World, site of the famous Battle of Isstvan III
Japheth						Now belongs to Chaos
Jones Crispin World	Ultima	Charadon sector		Eydolim System
Kado						Also — War World. Imperial forces fought here against Chaos forces.
Khadenghast						Also — War World. Imperialforces fought here against renegade PDF.
Kiavahr	Tempestus	Forsarr Sector		Kiavahr System		Also — Adeptus Astartes Homeworld (Raven Guard)
Krieg (former)	Tempestus	Uhulis Sector				Now — Death World
Lakadamon	Tempestus
Landunder	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Malfian Subsector	Landunder System	<1,000,000,000
Lastrati[6]
Lavantia	Tempestus					Also — Desert World and Adeptus Astartes Homeworld (Night Swords)
Lethe Eleven (former)	Obscurus	Scarus Sector	Helican Subsector	Thracian Primaris system		Now — Ork World
Levion Gamma						Suffered great losses through Ork invasion
Lo	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Drusus Marches
Lystra (former)						Overwhelmed by a Poxwalkers epidemy.
M'kond
Malfi	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Malfian Subsector	Malfi System	23,000,000,000
Medusa V (former)	Ultima			Medusa system	None	Now — Dead World, also formerly Mining World
Mefara Secundus (former)						Now — Desert World
Megheim
Meridian	Ultima	Korianis	Subsector Aurelia		32,000,000,000
Meridian (Maiden World)						Former Maiden World
Merov	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Golgenna Reach
Merovincha	Obscurus	Ixaniad Sector	Crassan Subsector
Methalor	Solar
Methusela	Ultima			Bane's Landing System
Minea[2a]	Ultima[2a]				154,000,000,000[2a]
Mitra Prime	Solar					Now belongs to Chaos
Mordian	Obscurus			Mordian system
Morrigar (former)					None	Now — Dead World, also — Tomb World
Necromunda	Solar			Necromunda System
Nonimax	Pacificus	Sabbat Worlds
Nostramo (former)	Ultima					Destroyed, also - former Adeptus Astartes Homeworlds (Night Lords)
Nova Sulis	Solar
Nova Terra (Constantinium)	Pacificus	Viridis Sector
Nucon VI					At least 100 Billion	The planet was plagued by Nurgle. Current status unknown
Optima Prima						Also — War World and Mining World. Forces of the Imperium fought here against Chaos Space Marines of Nurgle.
Orar	Obscurus	Gothic Sector	Orar Subsector
Orphidia Delta	Solar
Orphidia Prime
Pandora Prime
Paraghast
Persepolis	Pacificus
Phaenon Prime (former)	Obscurus				None, formerly 14 billion	Destroyed, also former Penal World and during some time belonged to Chaos
Piety	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Drusus Marches
Port Maw	Obscurus	Gothic Sector	Port Maw	Port Maw System
Praedis Zeta	Ultima	Vidar Sector				Also — Adeptus Astartes Homeworld (Imperial Reavers)
Praetoria	Tempestus			Praetoria System
Prol IX	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Markayn Marches	Prol System
Pyros
Radnar (former)	Ultima					Now — Dead World
Raxos (former)						Was invaded by Daemons, current status unknown
Rebas (former)						Now — Dead World
Regallus						Now belongs to Chaos
Rora				Eudymimous System
Saint Marduk's Bane (former)						Now — Dead World
Samson IV	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Hazeroth Abyss
Schrödinger VII (former)	Ultima	Vidar Sector				Tomb World, Ice World, also former Mining World. Now belongs to the Necrons.
Scintilla	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Golgenna Reach		25,000,000,000
Sephlagm						Also — War World where Imperium fought with rebels
Septius VII
Shardenus			Contqual
Shroud					Millions	Also — Mining World, Ice World
Siprix
Solomon	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Markayn Marches	Solomon System	13,000,000,000
Stalinvast (former)					N/A	Noe — Dead World
Subiaco Diablo (former)	Obscurus	Belis Corona Sector		Belis Corona System		Now — Dead World
Tanis (former)	Obscurus	Calixis		Tanis System		Now — Dead World
Targus VIII	Tempestus
Temperis[2b]	Pacificus[2b]			Cabulis System[2b]		Also — War World. Attacked by Orks
Tephaine	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Adrantis Subsector	Tephaine System
Terra	Solar	Sector Solar	Sub-Sector Solar	Sol System	Billions
Thical	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Drusus Marches
Thracian Primaris	Obscurus	Scarus Sector	Helican Subsector	Thracian Primaris system	22,000,000,000
Thranx (former)	Solar			Thranx System		Now — Dead World
Thridia						Also — Tomb World
Tobias Halt				Halt System
Tranch	Obscurus	Scarus Sector	Adrantis Subsector
Turren Primus
Urlon IV
Vanqualis		Scaephan Sector		Obsidian System
Vaust	Pacificus
Vaxanide	Obscurus	Calixis Sector	Malfian Sub-Sector	Vaxanide System	3,000,000,000
Vendettum[4b]	Ultima			Bane's Landing System
Verghast	Pacificus	Sabbat Worlds	Newfound Trailing Group
Vigilus	Obscurus		Nachmund Gauntlet	Vigilus System	~167,000,000,000	Key route through the Great Rift
Volcanis Ultor	Solar			Volcanis System
Vorlanthus IV
Vorsk (former)			Vorsk Subsector	Betalis System		Now — Ork World
Vyaniah	Ultima	Khymaran Drift			2,500,000,000	Early stage Hive World

Sources

This article needs work on its citations. For help on citation see the citation guidelines. You can help Lexicanum by fixing it.

• 1: Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, pg. 134
• 2: Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition Rulebook
  • 2a: pg. 115
  • 2b: pg. 116
  • 2c: pg. 138
• 3: Codex: Chaos (2nd Edition), pg. 48
• 4: Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition Rulebook
  • 4a: pg 32
  • 4b: pg. 166 — The Blood Crusade
• 5: Urban Conquest, pg. 9
• 6: Words of Blood (Short Story) - Let the Galaxy Burn (Anthology)
• 7: White Dwarf 130 (UK), pg. 11 — Confrontation

Uncited

This article purports to rely on sources which are not cited in the body of the text. For help on citation see the citation guidelines. You can help Lexicanum by fixing it.

• Warhammer 40,000 3rd Edition Rulebook, ^{[Needs Citation]}