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The Horus Heresy series logo

The Horus Heresy, known colloquially by fans as "Warhammer 30,000" or simply "30k," is a supplement and expansion of the base Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game by Games Workshop set in the early 31st Millennium during the events of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.

The Horus Heresy is developed and published by Forge World, a subsidiary of Games Workshop that creates and maintains various specialty games and high quality miniatures. The Horus Heresy first began publication in 2012, and as of 2023 consists of nine main campaign books and six army list books.

During the Horus Heresy Weekender 2017, Forge World revealed that the series was original intended to consist of between 15 to 20 books in total. Unfortunately, the premature and unexpected death of the series' primary author Alan Bligh in 2017 and the introduction of The Horus Heresy 2nd Edition specialty game in 2022 with an altered rules set made these books obsolete. Forge World decided to discontinue the series following the publication of the ninth and final book in the series.

Titles[]

The following is a list of the current titles in the The Horus Heresy series:

Black Books[]

Number Title Author
1 The Horus Heresy: Book One - Betrayal Alan Bligh and John French
2 The Horus Heresy: Book Two - Massacre Alan Bligh, John French, Andy Hoare and Neil Wylie
3 The Horus Heresy: Book Three - Extermination Alan Bligh, John French, Andy Hoare and Neil Wylie
4 The Horus Heresy: Book Four - Conquest Alan Bligh, Andy Hoare and Neil Wylie
5 The Horus Heresy: Book Five - Tempest Alan Bligh
6 The Horus Heresy: Book Six - Retribution Alan Bligh
7 The Horus Heresy: Book Seven - Inferno Alan Bligh
8 The Horus Heresy: Book Eight - Malevolence Neil Wylie and Anuj Malhotra
9 The Horus Heresy: Book Nine - Crusade Forge World Staff

Red Books[]

Number Title Author
1 The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Crusade Army List Alan Bligh
2 The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Isstvan Campaign Legions Alan Bligh
3 The Horus Heresy: Mechanicum - Taghmata Army List Alan Bligh
4 The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List Alan Bligh
5 The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Legions Alan Bligh
6 The Horus Heresy: Crusade Imperialis - Army Lists Alan Bligh

Art Books[]

Number Title Author
1 The Horus Heresy: Illuminations - The Art of the Isstvan Trilogy Alan Bligh

Core Books[]

The core campaign books of the Horus Heresy Series, known informally among fans as the "Black Books," are black in colour and leather-bound with embossed metal corners and are lavishly printed in full colour. These books detail the background of the Horus Heresy and the Great Crusade, the various armies and factions involved and the battles in which they fought. These books also include the Battles in the Age of Darkness expansion rules, army lists, unit profiles, full campaign systems, missions and more.

1. The Horus Heresy: Book One - Betrayal
HorusHeresyBookOneBetrayal00

The Horus Heresy: Book One - Betrayal is the first book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. Betrayal spans events from the end of the Great Crusade to the beginning of the Horus Heresy, mainly the Istvaan III Atrocity. The book contains rules and special characters for the pre-Heresy Sons of Horus, World Eaters, Emperor's Children, and Death Guard Legions as well as a Space Marine Crusade Legion army list. Betrayal is part of a trilogy that spans the events that make up the beginning of the Horus Heresy, including the Istvaan III Atrocity, the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V, the Battle of Phall, and the Battle of Paramar.


2. The Horus Heresy: Book Two - Massacre
HorusHeresyBookTwoMassacre00

The Horus Heresy: Book Two - Massacre is the second book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. Massacre is the first book that involves the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V. The book contains rules and special characters for the pre-Heresy Iron Hands, Salamanders, Night Lords, and Word Bearers Legions as well as a Space Marine Crusade Legion army list. Massacre is part of a trilogy that spans the events that make up the beginning of the Horus Heresy, including the Istvaan III Atrocity, the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V, the Battle of Phall, and the War for Paramar.


3. The Horus Heresy: Book Three - Extermination
HorusHeresyExtermination

The Horus Heresy: Book Three - Extermination is the third book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. Extermination is the second and final book that involves the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V. The book contains rules and special characters for the pre-Heresy Iron Warriors, Raven Guard, Alpha Legion, and Imperial Fists Legions as well as a Space Marine Crusade Legion army list. Extermination is part of a trilogy that spans the events that make up the beginning of the Horus Heresy, including the Istvaan III Atrocity, the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V, the Battle of Phall, and the War for Paramar.


4. The Horus Heresy: Book Four - Conquest
Horus Herersy Conquest Cover

The Horus Heresy: Book Four - Conquest is the fourth book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. Containing no new Space Marine Legions or Primarchs, Conquest instead features updated army lists for the Mechanicum, Dark Mechanicum, and the Space Marine Legions including the ability to field a Shattered Legions army and additional new Legion units and vehicles. The book does, however, contain two new Horus Heresy era army lists, the Solar Auxilia of the Imperial Army, and the Knight Houses of the Questoris Familia. The book details Horus' war on the Northern Imperium, including the following battles and campaigns: Battles of the Cyclops Cluster, The Siege of Mezoa, Conquest of Manachea, and the Defence of Agathon.


5. The Horus Heresy: Book Five - Tempest
HorusHeresyVTempest

The Horus Heresy: Book Five - Tempest is the fifth book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. Tempest covers the Battle of Calth between the Word Bearers and the Ultramarines Legions. The book is to be part of a duology, with book 5 covering the Battle of Calth, and a later book covering the Shadow Crusade, the Battle of Armatura, and the Underworld War. This book will feature one new Legion in the Ultramarines, new units for the Word Bearers, new units for the Imperial Army (Warp Cultists and Imperial Militia), Mechanicum and Dark Mechanicum units, and new Space Marine Legion units and vehicles.


6. The Horus Heresy: Book 6 - Retribution
HorusHeresyRetributionCover

The Horus Heresy: Book Six - Retribution is the sixth book in the Horus Heresy Series by Forge World. This book takes place during the Shadow Wars of the Age of Darkness and follow the exploits of the Shattered Legions and the Knights-Errant during their campaign of vengeance against the Traitor Legions. The forces of the Blackshield Factions, the Forge World of Xana, the Knight Houses of Malinax, and the Warmaster's Traitor Legions will also be included. The Legion traits for the Dark Angels, Blood Angels, and the White Scars Legions, along with new rules, units, and characters for the already released Legions and Factions are also included. The Primarchs, Characters, and special units for unreleased Legions will be released in later volumes.


7. The Horus Heresy: Book 7 - Inferno
HorusHeresyBook7InfernoCoverSideways

The Horus Heresy: Book Seven - Inferno is the seventh book in the Horus Heresy Series by Forge World. The book covers the Fall of Prospero and features the Thousand Sons and Space Wolves Legions along with the Prospero Spireguard, the Arkhadine Mechanicum, the Legio Titanicus. Inferno also covers the Talons of the Emperor, two completely new Horus Heresy era factions: the Legio Custodes and the Sisters of Silence.  Before the release of Inferno Games Workshop proper released a new Horus Heresy era set called Burning of Prospero, this set helps with the abundance of new units needing released all at once, with new Thousand Sons, Space Wolves, Sisters of Silence, and Legio Custodes units.


8. The Horus Heresy: Book 8 - Malevolence

MalevolenceCover

The Horus Heresy: Book Eight - Malevolence is the eighth book in The Horus Heresy series by Forge World. This book covers the Blood Angels and White Scars Legions. Malevolence explores the rest of the Blood Angels' battle on Signus Prime against hordes of Chaos Daemons and the White Scars' Chondax Campaign. Malevolence includes additional information and rules for the Alpha Legion and additional rules for Chaos Daemons


9. The Horus Heresy: Book 9 - Crusade

The Horus Heresy: Book Nine - Crusade is an upcoming book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. This book will cover the Dark Angels Legion. Crusade will explore the Dark Angels' Thramas Crusade against the Night Lords Traitor Legion. Crusade will include additional information and rules for the Night Lords Legion. The release date is unknown at this time, but it is most likely sometime in 2020.

Army Lists[]

The Horus Heresy Army Lists, known informally by fans as the "Red Books," are collections of the most up-to-date various army lists and unit profiles from across the campaign books. These books are in regular hardback format and are an indispensable reference when planning armies and playing games.

1. The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Crusade Army List
HorusHeresyLegionesAstartesCrusadeArmyListCover

The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Crusade Army List is the first red book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. This red book contains the complete profiles, special rules and wargear, compiled and updated, for the core Legiones Astartes Legion Crusade Army List for Warhammer 40,000 and the Battles in the Age of Darkness gaming expansion. The contents of this book have been drawn from across the three volumes of Forge World's Horus Heresy Isstvan Trilogy series. This book is considered outdated and is no longer in print, the updated version is the The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List.


2. The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Isstvan Campaign Legions
HorusHeresyLegionesAstartesIsstvanCampaignLegionsCover

The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Isstvan Campaign Legions is the second red book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. This book collects together the Space Marine Legions appendix entries from the first three of Forge World's Horus Heresy books - The Isstvan Trilogy. As such it is intended to be used alongside its companion book The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Crusade Army List. This book is considered outdated and is no longer in print, the updated version is the The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Legions book.


3. The Horus Heresy: Mechanicum - Taghmata Army List
HorusHEresyMechanicumTaghmataArmyListCover

The Horus Heresy: Mechanicum - Taghmata Army List is the third red book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. This red book brings together the Mechanicum units and rules from the first five Black Books, including all of the units available to the Mechanicum Taghmata, Legio Cybernetica and Ordo Reductor armies as well as support aircraft, seven classes of Imperial Knights, the Warhound, Reaver and immense Warlord Titans and introduces powerful new units such as the Ordinatus Macro Engines.


4. The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List
HorusHeresyAgeofDarknessArmyListCover

The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List is the fourth red book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. This red book contains the complete non-Legion specific unit profiles, special rules and wargear, compiled and updated, for all Space Marine Legion armies in Horus Heresy games using the Battles in the Age of Darkness gaming expansion for Warhammer 40,000.


5. The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Legions
HorusHeresyAgeofDarknessLegionsCover

The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Legions is the fifth red book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. This red book collects together and updates the Space Marine Legions appendix entries from the first five of Forge World's Horus Heresy books, and is intended to be used alongside its companion book, The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List. This book contains the Legion specific rules, units and special characters – including the mighty Primarchs – for 13 of the Space Marine Legions.


6. The Horus Heresy: Crusade Imperialis - Army Lists
HorusHeresyCrusadeImperialisArmyListCover

The Horus Heresy: Crusade Imperialis - Army Lists is the sixth red book in the Horus Heresy Series by Forge World. This book contains the unit profiles, characters and special rules for the three armies originally published in The Horus Heresy: Book Four - Conquest, and The Horus Heresy: Book Five - Tempest, each fully revised and updated. Also included is the Battles in the Age of Darkness expansion rules.

Art Lists[]

Each book within the Hours Heresy Series contains a large amount of original artwork, both drawn and photographed using real models with added computerised effects. This is a list of all released Horus Heresy Series art books by Forge World.

1. The Horus Heresy: Illuminations - The Art of the Isstvan Trilogy
TheHorusHeresyIlluminationsCover

The Horus Heresy: Illuminations - The Art of the Isstvan Trilogy is the first art book in the Horus Heresy series by Forge World. This 48 page art book contains artwork from the first three books in the Horus Heresy Series - The Isstvan Trilogy. This book was only available to those who purchased the limited print collector's edition of The Horus Heresy: The Isstvan Campaign.

Sources[]

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