Some say that the zenith of the Imperium of Man was the period of The Great Crusade. It represented an era of unmatched potential which led to almost inevitable strife and destruction.
Lore via our friends at Lexicanum
The Great Crusade (beginning c. M30 and continuing for around two hundred years) was a brief age of rebuilding and reunification following the complete regression of mankind during the Age of Strife. It was a time when the Emperor still lived in the conventional sense and led his race in person.
The Early Crusade
Part of the Emperor’s vision of human unification was the Primarch Project, meant to be the creation of 20 superhumans to lead the Emperor‘s forces to reclaim the galaxy in his name. It also saw the creation of the Space Marine Legions from the gene-seed samples that survived the scattering of the Primarchs by the Chaos gods. These forces would play the major role in the Great Crusade.
The subsiding of the warp storms plaguing much of the galaxy coincided with the end of the Age of Strife. With warp travel feasible again, the Emperor was able to begin the Great Crusade which would create the Imperium.
Even before the warp storms and the Age of Strife had ended, the Emperor had begun to make plans for the Great Crusade. These plans included the creation of a far more advanced form of power armour required for the conditions of deep space and alien worlds.
After securing Luna and then Mars, he began a great building project, reconstructing the industries and production facilities he would need to construct and maintain a great space fleet, sufficient to carry his legions all the way to the edges of the galaxy. Mars, due to its advanced technology and manufacturing infrastructure, became the center of this development, producing, along with ships, the arms and armor his warriors would be equipped with. Saturn, Neptune, and Jupiter fell to the Emperor next, its inhabitants liberated from cruel alien overlords. Finally, the Imperial War Fleet broke out of the Sol System system after completely annihilating the “false world” of Sedna.
The Crusade Begins
The Emperor and his Space Marines
His fleet constructed, he forged out into the depths of space, seeking out his Primarchs and spreading the name of the Emperor. Throughout the following millennium, he gradually reclaimed his Primarchs, and slowly united humanity under the Pax Imperialis. World after world fell to the Emperor’s forces, at first the Legio Astartes and Custodian Guard and later the Imperial Army, Sisters of Silence, Collegia Titanica, Legio Cybernetica, and others. Tyrants and false-rulers of thousands of worlds were overthrown by Imperial forces, who quickly outlawed religion and dogma by decree of the Emperor himself. Orks, Eldar, Hrud, Slaugth, hideous Warp entities, and many other lesser alien races were all defeated and driven back in a seemingly unstoppable tide of conquest. Worlds whose human population had become too corrupted or mutated were simply exterminated from orbit.
As each Primarch was discovered, he was given control of his own Legion of Space Marines. As more of the Empire was carved, the Emperor’s forces were spread more and more thinly. Eventually the need for Space Marines was greater than the supply. As such, Accelerated Gene Culturing was necessary to provide sufficient legions. Unfortunately, this process was unstable and led to flaws in the gene seed of the legions. This would lead to such afflictions as the Black Rage and various mutations in the Space Wolf gene seed.
The Crusade lasted for around two hundred years. Towards its end came a period of political consolidation. The Legions were at this point dispersed across the galaxy, many acting as garrison forces rather than campaigning armies. The Legions had been battling constantly, especially the Iron Warriors, struggling under the monotony of siege warfare and garrison duties. Also, the Primarchs that had previously friendly rivalries were beginning to develop into dangerous feuds. Some of the Primarchs had reached the point of intolerance with one another, others like Magnus the Red had simply become isolated in the confusion of the Great Crusade. Perturabo was shunned by most due to the nature of his hand in the Crusade and was in turn envious of Rogal Dorn. Konrad Curze also had a disagreement with Dorn that escalated into a brutal surprise attack that left Dorn badly injured and unconscious. This mistrust and hatred would form the linchpin of the Horus Heresy.
Noteworthy Battles & Campaigns of the Great Crusade
- First Pacification of Luna – The first major battle of the Great Crusade
- The Battle of Keylek – The Luna Wolves exterminate the keylekid.
- Battle of Sixty-Three Nineteen – Horus brings the world of Sixty-Three-Nineteen into the Imperial fold.
- Fall of the Lords of Gardinaal – The 413rd Expeditionary Fleet and Ferrus Manus subdue the advanced human world of Gardinaal
- Battle of Gyros-Thravian – The Emperor, Rogal Dorn, Mortarion, and Horus defeat one of the most powerful Ork Warbosses in recorded history, Gharkul Blackfang.
- Conquest of Galaspar – The Death Guard conquers the world of Galaspar.
- Cleansing of Laeran – The Emperor’s Children annihilate the Laer.
- Golgothan Slaughter – The World Eaters battle the Brotherhood of Ruin and Orks on Sarum.
- Battle of Gate Forty-Two – Horus leads four Legions in a major assault that sees heavy Raven Guard losses.
- Ullanor Crusade – Horus defeats the empire of Ork Warboss Urlakk Urg.
- Battle of 47-16 – The Word Bearers sack the world of 47-16.
- Interex Conflict – Horus invades the advanced human civilization Interex.
The End of the Crusade
The age of the Great Crusade ended with the virus bombing of Isstvan III. The loyalist legions were recalled to Terra to defend against the traitor Warmaster Horus, but not all of the Legions were able to return. The Ultramarines were mired in the Ultramar system fighting Kor Phaeron and his retinue of Word Bearers that had come to destroy them. The Space Wolves were finishing their battle at Prospero with the now openly traitorous Thousand Sons and the Dark Angels were in the midst of a civil war on Caliban.
In many ways the Emperor was now gone, The Imperium suddenly finding itself without the great leadership of the Guardian of Mankind. The brief age of recovery which the Great Crusade represented was over, and mankind began to decline into the state it is now, with fear and chaos rife, Inquisitors seeking out heresy at every corner and billions of people living in forced, and willing, slavery to their God-Emperor.
Castles made of sand….
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
