First War for Armageddon

The First War for Armageddon is the least well known of the three wars for Armageddon, and involved the forces of Chaos and the Imperium. It was the culmination of years of preparation by Angron, favoured of Khorne, to unify the World Eaters after the Battle of Skalathrax into a coherent force capable of turning on the Imperium. In the end, it was Angron's own foolish belief of victory before total conquest that led to the failure of the campaign and his banishment to the warp for one hundred years. This war is an example of how the forces of Chaos can slowly infiltrate a population to bring about a full scale invasion.

Pre Invasion
The war began within the hated region known as the Eye of Terror. The forces within, being devoted to Chaos, usually fight each other, but occasionally and inexplicably they put aside their rivalries to form an assault on their common enemy, the Imperium. In this case, the unity of the powers of Chaos was triggered by the arrival of the Space Hulk Devourer of Stars around a Daemon World. They are sufficient to carry huge numbers of troops but on an erratic course. This is how the forces of Chaos arrived on Armageddon in 444.M41.2

The arrival of Angron at Armageddon probably had nothing to with Angron himself, rather it was the currents of the warp which sent his Space Hulk to Armageddon, possibly at the whim of one of the gods of Chaos, probably Khorne. If it was nothing to do with the Chaos gods, then it is likely that the arrival at Armageddon was purely random.

Meanwhile, on Armageddon, a series of strange events culminated in armed rebellion breaking out in half a dozen hives. The revolts were quickly put down on Armageddon Secundus, but amongst the more widely scattered hives of Armageddon Prime they proved more difficult to eradicate. As the planetary defence forces seemed capable of dealing with the revolt, no additional units were sent from the Imperium. Armageddon was a very long way from the Eye of Terror, and no one suspected any more sinister cause for the revolts than civil unrest.

Busy containing the rebellion, Imperial forces were caught by surprise when the space hulk Devourer of Stars appeared in the Armageddon system.

The Threat Realized
On board was an enormous Chaos army led by the Daemon Primarch Angron. Chaos Marines from the World Eaters Legion and hordes of daemonic creatures poured from the space hulk and swept across the land.

The insidious effects of Chaos were quickly felt as nearly half the planetary army went over to the invaders. The few remaining loyal defenders were quickly routed from Armageddon Prime. Falling back through the jungles in the south, the survivors joined up with the units that had been left on Armageddon Secundus and prepared to make a last ditch defence along the rivers of the Styx and Chaeron.

Raising the Defenses
The Imperial defence was well organised. Unknown to the forces of Chaos, the Space Wolves Great Company led by Logan Grimnar had been assigned to this sector of the Imperium, and they moved quickly to help as soon as they received the distress messages from Armageddon.

They gained valuable time while Angron raised bloody monuments from the wreckage of the dead instead of pressing his advantage. When his army emerged from the jungles that separated Armageddon Prime from Armageddon Secundus they found the defenders ready and waiting, and reinforced by the Space Wolves.

Huge battles erupted along the entire front. In the east, along the river Chaeron, the Imperial forces held, but towards the west on the river Styx Angron led the way himself. He smashed through the Imperial lines and led his forces towards Hive Infernus and Hive Helsreach.

The Final Showdown
It was now that Logan unleashed his secret weapon. He had called for their assistance as soon as he had heard of the nature of the attacking forces. He had called the Grey Knights. Only the Grey Knights had the ability to truly defeat an entity such as Angron.

Teleporting directly into the presence of Angron at the centre of his Daemonic horde, the Grey Knights defeated the Daemon Prince, hurling his spirit back into the warp from where he did not return for over a hundred years. At the same time the Space Wolves launched a massive counter-attack. The forces of Chaos were routed and only the World Eaters managed to retreat back to the space hulk and escape back to the safety of the warp. The Imperial victory was complete and overwhelming.

The Final Twist
Although they had won, the victorious Armageddon soldiers were doomed from the start. They had gained knowledge of the existence of Chaos, and been exposed to its corruption. The Inquisition had all of the people who fought on the planet, except for the Space Marines, sterilized and placed in work camps, with their world being re-colonized by people from other regions of space with no knowledge of the war. Logan Grimnar battled long and hard to prevent this, but he failed and has never forgiven the Imperium for doing what Chaos had failed to. He saw it as betraying the people who had honorably fought for their homes and for the Imperium.