Horus Heresy · atlas

Campaign · Molech · Segmentum Solar · 009.M31

The Battle of Molech

Horus takes a world where the Emperor once struck a bargain behind the veil of the warp. House Devine splits apart. The Warmaster emerges with a power that makes him a vessel of the gods, and not merely a general.

Outcome A traitor victory. The price is time and blood; the prize is metaphysical, not cartographic.

Commanders

Loyalists

Participants not reconciled.

Traitors

Commanders

Theatre
Molech · Segmentum Solar
Period
009.M31
Legions
Systems

Analysis

The year of Molech is not in dispute: the FW Black Book VI: Retribution timeline gives 009.M31, and no publication giving 010.M31 has been found.

Order of battle

Traitors: the XVI (the core) and the XIV, Horus and Mortarion in person, attached renegade knights of House Devine, forces of the Dark Mechanicum. Loyalists: the Imperial garrison of Molech, loyal Devine knights, Excertus formations. There are no loyalist Legiones Astartes on the spot.

Turning points

  1. 009.M31 The Devine Schism — Battle of Molech

    A feudal house breaks from within. A knightly defence loses its meaning when half of the thrones fire on the other half.

  2. 009.M31 The Gates of Molech — Battle of Molech

    Horus enters where the Emperor once entered. He returns changed.

  3. 009.M31 The Fall of a World — Battle of Molech

    Solar loses a bolt on the road to Beta-Garmon.

Events of the campaign

  1. 009.M31 Battle of Molech Traitor victory

    Horus led the Sons of Horus and the Death Guard to the fortress world and knight world of Molech to reach the hidden Warp Gates once used by the Emperor.

Significance

Turns Horus from Warmaster into a vessel with whom the Emperor will later be unable to speak as with a son.

How to look in the atlas
  • Time slider at 009.M31 and search → “Molech”. Look not at the system but at its place in the chain Isstvan → Molech → Beta-Garmon → Sol.
  • Molech is in Segmentum Solar: measure on the map how close to Terra Horus has already come here.

Show on the map

Open in the atlas

Canon note

  • The Battle of Molech is dated 009.M31 by the FW Black Book VI: Retribution timeline and the official Heresy timeline, and likewise by Lexicanum and Fandom. No publication giving 010.M31 has been found; “009–010.M31” in Lexicanum’s battle list is a range. See the dispute “The date of the Battle of Molech”.

Sources

  1. Vengeful Spirit (G. McNeill)
  2. Lexicanum: Molech
  3. WH40k Fandom: Battle of Molech
Open in the atlas

Permalink: https://astart.es/en/campaigns/molech/