006.M31 · The Isstvan Massacre
Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V
Place: Isstvan System · Segmentum Ultima
Atrocity Three Legions are broken by the traitors’ second wave; Ferrus Manus is beheaded by Fulgrim.
Terra sent seven Legions to crush Horus on Isstvan V. The first wave — the Iron Hands, Salamanders and Raven Guard — landed and was betrayed by the second wave: the Alpha Legion, Night Lords, Iron Warriors and Word Bearers struck it in the back in the bloodiest three hours in the history of the Astartes. Fulgrim beheaded Ferrus Manus; the survivors became the Shattered Legions.
Sides
Loyalists
Special forces
Commanders
- Type
- Massacre
- Scale
- 5 of 5
- Casualties
- Of the ~172,000 loyalist Astartes, around 8,000 survived (as calculated from Journal Tactica); Ferrus Manus was slain.
Significance
The linchpin of the early Heresy: three Legions are struck down, the first loyalist primarch is slain, and Horus is free to advance.
Canon note
- The FW fractional date 566.006.M31 is the most precise; sometimes “005–006” or simply “006.M31”.
Sources
- Lexicanum: Drop Site Massacre
- FW Black Book II: Massacre
- Fulgrim (G. McNeill)
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