Horus Heresy · atlas

Campaign · Segmentum Ultima / Nikaea (Solar) · 964.M30 — 001.M31

Ullanor Triumph and the Council of Nikaea

From the ashes of Monarchia through the Ullanor Triumph to the Edict of Nikaea: the Imperium is still celebrating victory, yet it is already choosing a Warmaster, banning combat psychic powers and leaving Lorgar with a secret pantheon.

Outcome The Imperium at its visible peak. In fact three mines have been laid: the XVII’s secret cult, Horus’s sole command, the ban on psychic powers.

Commanders

Imperium

Commanders

Opponents

Commanders

Theatre
Segmentum Ultima / Nikaea (Solar)
Period
964.M30 — 001.M31
Legions
Systems

Analysis

This stretch of the map is easy to dismiss as “peacetime”, and that is exactly where its danger lies. The razing of Monarchia (964.M30) does not open fire — it sets off a forty-year theological war waged by the XVII Legion, invisible to the staffs. The Ullanor Triumph (000.M31) fixes the political architecture of the catastrophe: the Emperor withdraws to Terra (the Webway), Horus gains the right to gather Legions that are not his own, and the primarchs see for the first time that the “first among equals” is now a single man. Nikaea (001.M31) is the second pillar: the Legions lose their lawful Librarians, Magnus is publicly humiliated, and Russ receives a moral mandate as executioner. None of the three points looks like a battle of the Heresy, yet without them Isstvan does not come together. Read this theatre as the laying of mines: Monarchia mines Ultramar, Ullanor mines the chain of command, Nikaea mines Prospero and the Webway. The date of Monarchia relative to Ullanor drifts slightly between sources; the atlas holds 964.M30 as the Black Library canon for the Razing.

Order of battle

Formally, all 18 Legions are loyal. At Ullanor: Horus’s strike group (the XVI and allied contingents) against the orks. At Nikaea: not armies but delegations — Magnus and the Thousand Sons against a coalition of Russ, Mortarion and Dorn, with the Emperor as judge. The XVII have already withdrawn in secret, but in the order of battle they still carry the aquila.

Turning points

  1. 964.M30 The Ashes of Monarchia — Razing of Monarchia

    Guilliman carries out the order. Lorgar receives not a lesson but the foundation of a religion of Chaos.

  2. 000.M31 The Title of Warmaster — Ullanor Triumph

    Horus lawfully becomes the one who can summon Ferrus, Vulkan and Corax to Isstvan V.

  3. 001.M31 The Edict of Nikaea — Council of Nikaea

    The ban on Librarians disarms the loyalists and pushes Magnus towards a forbidden warning.

Events of the campaign

  1. 964.M30 Razing of Monarchia Loyalist victory

    At the Emperor’s command the Ultramarines razed Monarchia to the ground — the “Perfect City” on Khur, raised by the Word Bearers as a shrine to the worship of the Emperor.

  2. 000.M31 Ullanor Triumph Loyalist victory

    At the height of the triumph after the crushing of the ork empire of the overlord Urlakk Urg, the Emperor proclaimed Horus Warmaster — supreme over all the primarchs and expeditionary fleets — and…

  3. 000.M31 Chondax Campaign Begins Inconclusive

    Immediately after the Triumph on Ullanor the White Scars were sent to cleanse the Chondax system of the orks who had fled the empire of Urlakk Urg.

  4. 000.M31 The Great Work: founding of the Webway project · Malcador as Regent Inconclusive

    After the Triumph on Ullanor the Emperor handed supreme command to Horus and secretly returned to Terra to pursue his “Great Work” — the project of the Imperial Webway beneath the Palace, with the…

  5. 001.M31 Council of Nikaea Inconclusive

    The Emperor convened a great council on Nikaea to judge whether psychic powers were a boon or a blight.

Significance

Without this “peaceful” arc the Heresy has neither a lawful commander-in-chief, nor disarmed Librarians, nor the priest who will bring Horus to Davin.

How to look in the atlas
  • Press “Show on the map” — the atlas will set itself to t = −1.6 and show the whole theatre of the campaign: Monarchia, Ullanor and Nikaea — three points with not a single battle between them.
  • In the “Legions” rail keep only the XVII and see where it STILL carries the aquila: before Isstvan the map does not tell it apart from the loyalists.

Show on the map

Open in the atlas

Sources

  1. Horus Rising (D. Abnett)
  2. The First Heretic (A. Dembski-Bowden)
  3. A Thousand Sons (G. McNeill)
  4. Forge World Black Book I: Betrayal
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