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The Background of the Thramas Crusade

The new Horus Heresy campaign book focuses on the Thramas Crusade. Today, we’re taking a look at the background and lore of this most bitter campaign.

The Thramas Crusade is the name commonly given to the war for the Eastern Fringe during the Horus Heresy. The most intensive fighting focused mainly around the Thramas system itself and the crucial trio of Forge Worlds at Triplex. Horus knew that if he could capture these, then the men and materiel that would flow into the clutches of the Traitors could tip the balance of the entire civil war. To this achieve this end, he unleashed the entire Night Lords Legion.Across the Eastern Fringe, the defenders knew that surrender to the Night Haunter and his sons would mean death, but if they could hold out until reinforcements arrived, it could change the course of the entire war. Fear and terror fell upon the Thramas system, and into this maelstrom came the Lion and the Dark Angels.

The Eastern Fringe

The bitter war between the Dark Angels and the Night Lords spread across several key sectors.

While not a formal sector, the area of space known as the Tithe Road linked the distant Nostramo sector to the Thramas sector. It was valuable only for the stable warp route that ran through it and was often ignored by the warring hosts as they clashed over the more valuable sectors that surrounded it.

The most populous of the sectors of the Eastern Fringe, Thramas was home to many hive worlds and played host to the serried ranks of the Nightwatch, a formidable military force. The masses of potential recruits made it a prime target for the warring Primarchs as they sought to replenish their ranks.

While much of the Triplex sector was barren rocks whose only value was in the minerals at their core, the vast Mechanicum fief of Triplex sat at its heart, the true prize of the Eastern Fringe. This enormous industrial powerhouse was capable of outfitting entire armies, and as such it was vital to the plans of both Loyalist and Traitor, worth any price to acquire.

The fertile agri-worlds of the Aegis sector were the breadbasket of the Eastern Fringe, the food reaped from their wide, open fields feeding the hungry hive cities and forge worlds of the nearby sectors. By the end of the war, these worlds were reduced to ruin, firestorms leaving little but ash, while bio-phage munitions poisoned what little remained. Their plunder only fuelled the chaos that took hold of the Eastern Fringe.

Gulgorahd remained stubbornly Loyalist throughout the Thramas Crusade. As one of the most militarised regions of the Eastern Fringe, any assault into its closely guarded borders would invariably turn into a gruelling test of endurance for the armies involved, with sheer bloody-minded determination meaning more than superior skill.

You’ll be able to learn more about the Thramas Crusade and the battles between the Dark Angels and Night Lords Legions in The Horus Heresy Book Nine – Crusade, which is available to pre-order from Friday. It also features missions that let you replay this crucial campaign and full army lists for both Legions so that they can unleash their might in the Age of Darkness.