Tallarn History

As promised in the previous article covering spoilers from the Journal Tactica: The Battle of Tallarn part 1, I thought I should briefly go through the history of the Tallan Desert Raiders.

It has been speculated that the Tallarn Desert Raiders are influenced by the depiction of Middle Eastern or Arabian warriors from the 1960s movie, Lawrence of Arabia. Of course, this is fan speculation, based on the aesthetics and appearance of the Tallarn Desert Raiders themselves. There are also clear visual cues from Dune, so yeah. Desert planet? Shemagh? Cloaks? Not to mentioned the curved ceremonial daggers they carry, called Khaligs.

If you've watched the Indiana Jones movie, you'll also know what I'm talking about. Anyway, before I get too ahead of myself, let's take a step back. The Tallarn Desert Raiders were introduced as far back as the 2nd edition, when the Imperial Guard codex was released in 1995 and they had their metal miniatures, just like all the other Imperial Guard regiments did. Despite the desert planet and Middle Eastern influences, as early as 2nd edition when they were first introduced, we already had the infamous Battle of Tallarn where their once-fertile homeworld was virus-bombed to oblivion by the Iron Warriors during the Horus Heresy. So this isn't a new thing. This lore has been around since 1995, and over 30 years! Now they're only starting to expand upon it. Incredible.

Funnily enough, though, the Khaligs were introduced in the 2005 Imperial Armor volume 3: The Taros Campaign. There were also Desert Raiders by Lucien Soulban and The Traitor Hand by Sandy Mitchell, featuring Ciaphas Cain. These novels portrayed the Tallarn Desert Raiders as spiritual and...quite frankly, they were based on the stereotypes of Middle Eastern Muslims, with tribes, conflicting sects, religious fanaticism...you know, the typical portrayal of Middle Eastern Muslims in the 2000s, which was particularly affected by the whole 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers and the guerilla warfare in Afghanistan...wait, that sounds familiar. Now, I'm not blaming either author because we are the products of our time, and...let's just say there have been political and social shifts since the 2000s, so Games Workshop appears to be moving away from these Middle Eastern Muslim stereotypes when writing about Tallarn Desert Raiders.

I think that's why we have the emphasis on the Horus Heresy era Tallarn, focusing on the largest armored conflict in the Horus Heresy. It's far more interesting than the whole Dune-inspired desert planet with clearly Middle Eastern Muslim warriors thing. I mean, look at this cutscene from the 1997 game, Final Liberation! So awesome.

Love the voice acting and the attempt at a Middle Eastern accent. And the headscarf, called Shemagth in Warhammer 40,000, or to be specific, in Tallarn.

That said, it's worth observing how these early stories tend to depict the Tallarn Desert Raiders because of how fascinating history is. In The Traitor Hand, the Tallarn Desert Raiders were so taken with Ciaphas's heroics that they began worshipping him, with a prominent Tallarn character, Alem Mahat, writing The Book of Cain, which contains his aphorisms. They view Ciaphas as the Prophet of the Emperor and the conduit through which His divine will is enacted. Of course, this is clearly a reference to the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad. In Desert Raiders, the central conflict - aside from the Tyranids, of course - stems from the differing faiths of two regiments, who have a conflicting interpretation of the Imperial Truth. Again, this is clearly inspired by the Sunni and Shia faiths in Islam.

The Tallarn Desert Raiders had more expansion on their lore and forces in the Taros Campaign, alongside the Elysian Drop Troops, who had their own Forge World line. Rest in peace, Elyisan Drop Troops. I wonder if they'll ever get a plastic refresh. It would be awesome. During that Imperial Armor volume, they even received a Rough Rider variant where Tallarn soldiers rode on Mukaali, and Forge World released the models in resin.

The Mukaali are xenos mounts, herbivores known as "Sand Pacers" indigenous to the Desert World of Goru-Prime. Imported to Tallarn because these xenos adapt well to arid climates and environments, they unfortunately can't deal with the cold. They are pretty good at bearing loads and traveling across sandy terrain, so that's their advantage.

Tallarn officers also wear sashes adorned with gems and treasures. Anyway, even after over 30 years, the doctrine of the Tallarn Desert Raiders have remained consistent. They are mobile guerilla fighters, a doctrine inherited from the days of the Horus Heresy where they would avoid meeting the Iron Warriors in open battle and instead struck at the flanks and launching ambushes before fading back into the sands. Their tribes live in domed towns or caverns hollowed out of Tallarn's crust, and their settlements are linked by a complex system of tunnels, enabling them to move between them without exposing themselves to desert environment.

The Tallarn infantry regiments are very mobile, as are their famed armored regiments, who fight differently from most armored squadrons across the Imperium. Instead of a slow moving wall of steel, Tallarn armored regiments - of which there are a lot, and you can even see in the Final Liberation cutscene above that the Tallarn Desert Raiders move across the desert in Leman Russ tanks! - coordinate lightning fast spearhead assaults, their swift-moving tanks striking unexpectedly at the foe's weak flanks before disappearing. The infantry also excel in tunnel-fighting because of the subterranean tunnels mentioned above.

The current lore mentions how Tallarn was caught in a warp storm following the opening of the Great Rift and they were almost overrun by daemons. Fortunately, Roboute Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade Fleets appeared and saved them, and newly raised Tallarn regiments pledged themselves to his Crusade, usually fighting as diversionary forces who assault lightly defended outposts behind enemy lines. This forces the enemy to deploy reinforcements to these locations, but by then, the Tallarn have withdrawn to strike elsewhere. Called Siroccos, their objective is to spread the enemy army thinly, but the Tallarn guerilla warriors are so effective they end up crippling their targets permanently anyway.

Anyway, rather than the current core, I'm going to do a retrospective and talk about a very interesting account that was in the 2nd edition Imperial Guard codex, but not picked up again for a long time. Interestingly, while the lore on the Battle of Tallarn during the Horus Heresy has been expanded upon through John French's Horus Heresy Tallarn novels, novellas and short stories, and the newly published campaign books by Games Workshop - Legions Imperialis The Devastation of Tallarn and the Journal Tactica for Horus Heresy 3rd edition, The Battle of Tallarn Part 1, what is lesser known is the aftermath of the Battle of Tallarn, and what exactly is this Black Occulus or Cursus that the Iron Warriors were seeking.

The answer lies in the 2nd edition Imperial Guard codex.

Let me type everything out. It's a couple of pages long, but I think it's worth it. I'll just retype the story in the 1995 codex, to ensure it's not lost to the sands of time. In a way, I'm performing like one of Guilliman's historitors. Maybe he'll recruit me into the Logos Historica Verita...if I'm somehow still alive in the 41st millennium. Anyway...

TALLARN

The world of Tallarn was once a fertile planet bathed in the gentle orange light of its twin suns. Oceans, plains and lush jungles covered its surface, and its people prospered. All of this ended during the Horus Heresy.

CHAOS ATTACK!

In a devastating surprising attack, the Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marines struck the planet. Thousands of virus bombs rained down on Tallarn and the people ran to the enviro-shelters deep beneath the surface. As they hid, safe from the devastating bio-infestation, the deadly coils of DNA mutated as they were programmed to do. Animals, plants, even insects died as the virus did its work, destroying the planet's eco-system and leaving an empty shell.

After seven weeks of isolation, the virus had run its course and the remaining people of Tallarn emerged upon the surface. They found a world covered with the acrid slime of plants and corpses not yet decayed — for the world was completely sterile, without even bacteria to aid the decomposition of its dead.

The Iron Warriors sent their task-force to repossess the world for the Dark Gods of Chaos. From underground bunkers the Tallarn forces emerged to do battle with the invaders. Soon, reinforcements from both sides arrived, rival space fleets bringing vast armies to fight over the worthless remnants of the dead planet.

The Battle of Tallarn raged for many months and was the largest armored conflict of the Horus Heresy. Outbreaks of viral infection from rogue DNA residue made it almost impossible for infantry to operate outside their protective shelters. The battle was finally decided by armies of tanks. When the fighting ended, the empty, putrid wastes of Tallarn were littered with the wreckage of more than a million shattered vehicles.

A HOLLOW VICTORY

Chaos was driven from Tallarn at great cost, yet for all the millions that died there seemed little gained from the fight. The planet was destroyed and rendered useless for large scale habitation, industry or agriculture. The armies of the Imperium might well have given up Tallarn had their commanders realized the extent of the devastation, but once the armies were in motion there was no going back.

At the time, the Chaos attack made little sense. It seemed insane that even the fickle Gods of Chaos should expend such energy fighting over a devastated world of no particular strategic significance. But in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, there were few left to ponder such questions. Amongst the evil of the times, it was just another demonstration of the random destruction of Chaos.

TALLARN SURVIVES

Within a thousand years of the Horus Heresy, Tallarn evolved into a very different world from the prosperous planet of former times. Deserts of sulfurous sand stretched from pole to pole and all water disappeared, except for a thin residue in the atmosphere. No vegetation remained on the surface exposed to the blistering, wind-blown sands. All that grew was the carefully husbanded crops of the Tallarn themselves, sheltered in their protective horticultural domes.

The surviving Tallarn now lived in domed towns or in natural caverns hollowed out in the planet's rock. Fierce winds drove the Tallarn into their shelters, corrosive sulfur storms made all travel risky, and eventually, a system of tunnels was built to facilitate travel beneath the surface.

Above their settlements, the Tallarn built vapor traps to catch water from the thin atmosphere. The tall towers still stand above their domes to this day, and all the water they use is caught by these cunning devices and channeled into subterranean holding tanks.

A SECRET UNCOVERED

During the construction of an arterial tunnel, Tallarn miners struck an outcrop of hard black rock. They were unable to break through this strange substance, which was quite unlike any other they had encountered. After some days, they decided to divert their tunnel to go around it. As they did so, they discovered something very strange. At first, the black wall seemed like a natural formation, but soon, they realized they had uncovered a deliberate construction.

The initial excavations revealed a huge wall of strange, black rock carved over its entire surface with weird, entwined figures. The figures were human sized yet not entirely human, possessing a grace and beauty which rendered their grotesquely inscribed cavorting all the more perverse. Giant earth movers were brought in to dig out the layer of sulfur sand in which the wall was buried, and bit by bit, it was slowly and painstakingly exposed to the daylight.

The Tallarn soon discovered the wall was not straight but curved, in fact, part of a huge circle. Carefully, their most skilled technicians worked to uncover the entire thing, a huge ring-shaped mound almost half a mile across.

THE DANGER AWAKES

It was not until the whole circle was exposed that the disaster happened. With a blast of power, the circle screamed and writhed, its inert form turned suddenly to moaning flesh. Where before there had been carvings, now there were the creatures themselves, Eldar creatures, yet twisted with an uncanny evil, locked together by some sorcerous bond into a sickening embrace of depraved passion.

Within the circle itself, blackness boiled and stars wheeled — stars that belonged in another part of the galaxy altogether.

THE DARK LIBRARY

In the Dark Library of the Eldar, a custodian shivered as he felt an unaccustomed surge of power. Adrift from time and space, his mind searched the endless strands of probabilities and found the thread that led to Tallarn. After so long, it had been discovered: the Cursus of Alganar, legend of evil from before the Fall, vortex of unimaginable power, one of the three mythical Gateways of the Gods.

His mind shifted into synchronicity with the Farseers of his race, tracing the paths that linked his mind to the Craftworlds of the Eldar. When that knowledge touched the Farseers, the Avatars of Khaine would wake. And Khaine would recognize the work of his ancient destroyer, Slaanesh — Bane of the Eldar, Prince of the Chaos Gods.

ELDAR ATTACK

The Eldar struck from the skies without warning or explanation. To the Tallarn, it was an unwarranted act of aggression. Little could they imagine that the fate of the entire Eldar race was bound up with their strange discovery. To the Eldar, there was no time for explanation or discussion. They couldn't know whether the Tallarn were in league with Chaos or whether the fierce desert people were unwitting pawns in the Dark Gods' game. As far as they were concerned, the only option was to attack, to destroy the Cursus if they could, before it was too late.

The Tallarn fought back with characteristic ferocity. Years of living upon the burning sulfurous deserts had honed them into resilient fighters. To the Eldar, the deserts were an unknown quantity. Even the hardy Aspect Warriors died under the heat of the sun, whilst the Eldar Guardians fell to the lightning raids of the human fighters. But the Eldar did not give up. They could not afford to abandon their attack. The survival of the galaxy depended on it.

THE DARK GODS AWAKE

But it was already too late. The gateway that was the Cursus grew in power by the minute. Its screams and wails filled the desert as the dark light brightened and fluxed within its core. Lights and stars swirled and clashed, fountains of spinning incandescence spat into the night sky. The laughter of gods rebounded across the sulfur dunes and Eldar and humans alike shuddered in terror.

From the Cursus poured the minions of Chaos. There were things indescribable to men. Things that awakened primal terrors in Eldar hearts — horrors of slime and flame that cackled and bounded into battle, transparent bodies of pure energy dividing and reuniting in a cascade of colors, vile fleshy things that pulsed with inner power and sucked at the air with poisonous lips. Long-legged abominations carried slender and elegant creatures upon their backs, beautiful and yet sickening to look upon. It was as if all the daemons of hell had fallen upon Tallarn.

THE BATTLE FOR THE CURSUS

The human commander called a truce and hurried to the Eldar lines where the alien Seers sat waiting. Knowledge had finally opened their eyes. The runestones lay cast upon the desert floor. Hope in union was predicted. Division would lead to damnation, darkness and death. With their fates so clearly predicted, the Eldar and Tallarn joined forces.

The two races fell back before the Chaos onslaught. Many were caught and destroyed in the early confusion, but the Chaos advance was slowed by the merciless hit and run tactics of the desert raiders. Humans led Eldar jet-bike riders into the attack, and soon the Tallarn and Eldar were able to regroup.

As the daemon hordes advanced beyond the Cursus, their power waned, as if they were dependent upon its proximity for their power. And so it was, for the tendrils of Chaos — though long — are very tenuous, and only blood-letting and victory can sustain the link between the Dark Gods and their minions.

CHAOS DEFEATED

With skill and cunning, the Tallarn drew out the Chaos battle lines. Choosing their targets carefully, the Tallarn launched one attack after another, always retreating before the Chaos hordes could turn to meet their fire. It was a tactic calculated to drain the power of the horde, and it worked better than even the wily sons of the sulfur desert could have hoped.

The Eldar Seers saw the runes change, saw the opportunity develop. The daemons were fading fast, their glittering bodies growing ever more transparent, their cries ever weaker. Now was the time to hit them hard.

With a furious charge, the Eldar and Tallarn threw their remaining strength against the gibbering horde. It was a last effort that would result in absolute victory or utter defeat. The Chaos hordes shuddered and the bodies of the daemons seemed to fade and dull. The crackle of energy died and the spark of life vaporized into the oily air.

Many lay dead, human and Eldar, gored by monstrous claws, crushed by the sensual caress of a poisoned tongue, or torn apart by razor sharp teeth. Many Eldar waystones were collected from the field, and many Tallarn taken back to their domes to surrender the water from their bodies to they hydro-tanks. But it was a victory nonetheless.

THE CURSUS

Once the Eldar had departed in peace, and the people of both races had exchanged their promises of friendship, the Tallarn returned to the Cursus. They found the black stone cold and lifeless once more, just as it was when they had first uncovered it. However, they knew now that the stone was not dead but merely sleeping, awaiting its time again, waiting for the call of its evil masters.

The Tallarn buried the Cursus beneath the sulfur sands once more and placed within its circle the mysterious devices that the Eldar had given them for that purpose. Then they sealed the surface with plascrete and turned their backs upon it.

That's from the Imperial Guard codex, second edition. That was kind of fun. It has all sorts of Imperial Guard lore and origins written in there, and if you guys are interested, I can also write articles based on the stories in here. There's one about Mordian Iron Guard, very interesting. Cadians have a short story too, and I also like the Valhallans. Obviously, there's the Catachan, who are the cover boys for this edition, but rather than story, it's more about their world - though I might talk about that Ork story, ha ha. Attilan Rough Riders too, who also have their cavalry metal miniatures in this edition, also have a description, but not much in the way of their feats and war stories.

Back to the Tallarn, though. You can see that while there has been a lot of familiar references that continue to today, over thirty years later, there have been more than a few changes and expansion. For example, the Iron Warriors attack that "made little sense" has been expanded in John French's Horus Heresy novels - the Tallarn books - as well as the campaign books for Legions Imperialis and Horus Heresy 3rd edition. We learn that Perturabo is seeking the Black Occulus, or the Cursus if you read the Tactica Journal The Battle of Tallarn Part 1. They're the same thing. As you can tell from this account, the Cursus is made from black rock. I almost thought they were blackstone, but that's a Necron thing, and it nullifies Chaos, so...I dunno.

It's also kind of weird, because the Iron Warriors are not a mono-God Legion, yet the Cursus is clearly Slaanesh. This has more to do with the Eldar jumping in than the Iron Warriors, but I'm surprised the Emperor's Children didn't show up. I think the Chaos Astartes Legions weren't as fully fleshed out in 2nd edition as now, so maybe that's why, and the Iron Warriors would be the most approrpiate Traitor Legion for a tank battle and armored conflict anyway.

The Black Library is mentioned here - clearly, the Dark Library is meant to be the Black Library. I'm not sure which Eldar Craftworld showed up, but I assume it's Biel-Tan, the most warlike of the Craftworlds, or Saim-Hann, who use jet-bikes heavily, and they mentioned jet-bikes. They're also the most similar to the Tallarn in terms of mobility, swift attacks and guerilla warfare, so thematically, the Saim-Hann makes more sense. Besides, Biel-Tan might be too aggressive and warlike to accept the Tallarns' truce.

They also expanded further on Tallarn's role during the Great Crusade. Originally, it was just a prosperous, fertile planet that happened to have enviro-shelters. In the new, updated lore, they explain that Tallarn served as a muster world, then as a supply hub, during the Horus Heresy, which justifies why there were so many enviro-shelters. They constructed subterranean shelters and facilities to house munitions, vehicles and machines, while simultaneously avoiding destroying the rich and vibrant biodiversity that Tallarn was famed for. As the Great Crusade moved on, it was too far from the frontlines to serve as a mustering world for the armies of the Imperium, and so instead the subterranean bunkers and facilities were used to store damaged Imperial Army assets and allowing those regiments who had been through brutal campaigns to rest and recover.

There's also a cute Dune reference in there (2nd edition), regarding how the Tallarns had to bring the bodies of their dead back to extract whatever water they could. Hah! Also, the seven weeks made it back here. In 2nd edition, the surviving Tallarn emerged from their enviro-shelters after seven weeks to find a dead world. In the most recent The Battle of Tallarn Part 1, the Iron Warriors spent eight weeks searching the toxic surface and got complacent before the Leman Russ tanks they thought were wrecks came to life and ambushed them. Lots of things made it to modern lore, and were expanded upon!

Despite the Horus Heresy background in 2nd edition, up until the 2010s, Tallarn was always depicted as a monolith. That is to say, like Lucien Soulban and Sandy Mitchell's novels, and even in official Games Workshop artwork, they were essentially the stereotypical guerilla Middle Eastern warriors as popularly portrayed by 2000s media in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Afghanistan war, and taking references as far back as the 1960s Lawrence of Arabia, and Gulf War (this probably is what happened with 1997's Final Liberation). I mean, they aren't alone, just watch Indiana Jones...

Tallarn characters would have clearly Arabian or Middle Eastern or Muslim inspired names, if you read the novels. Jal-Gada of the Tallarn, in Final Liberation. Alem Mahat, from The Traitor's Hand. General Akkir. General Hasso Ras-Aziz. Sabaak. Nisri Dakar. Hell, we even had rules for a character named Captain Al'Rahem of Tallarn in the 2nd edition codex. He has a plasma pistol and a Claw of the Desert Tigers power sword. I mean, c'mon...

I do like the part where the victorious Al'rahem and his regiment were given the rights to settle on Thoth and rule it. This ties into the rights of conquest or settlement, where successful Imperial Guard regiments are allowed to retire and garrison a world, thus effectively becoming the rulers of that world. Very cool.

Anyway, the good news is that current Games Workshop is moving away from the stereotypical Middle Eastern/Arabian/Muslim characters for Tallarn in Horus Heresy. While you still have Susada Syn and Jasira Sannoval, who could...yet at the same time, aren't typical Middle Eastern names, you also have many different ethnicities and cultures from many different worlds and regiments congregating in Tallarn for the Horus Heresy battle, such as the Cinder Born who formed the core of the Tallarn Reborn Cohort. Tallarn has become more multicultural, and a mustering world for many different people to show up, not just the hooded desert warriors that dominated their image during the late 1990s and 2000s. I do like this, though at the same time, I feel like there's an effort to preserve that cultural direction while not reducing them to stereotypes for modern 40K. But it does mean the modern Tallarn receives less of a spotlight than their Horus Heresy counterparts.

I am unsure if Tallarn is one of the more popular regiments - most people prefer Armageddon Steel Legion, Mordian Iron Guard, Praetorians, maybe Valhallans and Vostroyan Firstborn, and even the Elysians. However, the Horus Heresy solves that by saying, there's no monoculture in Tallarn, and Heresy-era Tallarn is multicultural because you have musters of regiments from many different worlds all coming together to fight for a single purpose - to drive the Iron Warriors from an Imperium-held planet. Plus, if you're all fighting in tanks, the whole stereotypical image is less visible. Hence the direction toward Heresy-era Tallarn instead.

That said, I do think there's a high possibility that Games Workshop will revisit Tallarn at some point. With Pertarubo emerging from the Eye of Terror and constructing his Infinite Citadel to choke the Imperium, there's no reason he wouldn't return to Tallarn to settle his grudge to a world he believes he could have conquered if Horus Lupercal hadn't ordered him to withdraw for pursuing his own agenda. He will want to finish what he started back in the Horus Heresy and claim the Cursus/Black Occulus once and for all. Eldrad Ulthran is also wary of Perturabo's plans, and seeks to stop them, so this might set up another Tallarn-Eldar alliance against Chaos. Maybe the Craftworld from back then was neither Biel-Tan nor Saim-Hann, but Ulthwe? That makes sense.

And also, just like Armageddon, the Tallarn Desert Raiders (though they'll receive a plastic refresh and be featured in animated trailers and artwork, unlike the poor Armageddon Steel Legion, who get sidelined in their own planet and didn't get featured much in the Return of Yarrick books, 11th edition, and the CGI trailer, instead being replaced by Krieg and Cadians) will probably not fight alone, but receive tons of reinforcements from across the Imperium. Just like The Battle of Tallarn, where regiments and Space Marine Chapters (instead of Astartes Legions) show up piecemeal to oppose the Iron Warriors. Wouldn't be surprised if a new Tallarn campaign for 40K is released in the future.

That will both avoid the whole Arabian/Middle Eastern stereotypes complaints, as well as bring back a fan-favorite storyline. While I don't know about the Desert Raiders being a popular miniature line, I do know that the Battle of Tallarn is popular among a lot of Imperial Army and Solar Auxilia in the Horus Heresy. I mean, it is the largest armored conflict in the Heresy, so of course everyone will be enamored with it. Or perhaps Games Workshop will keep Tallarn in the Heresy spotlight and avoid returning to it in the 41st Millennium, aside from Tallarn regiments fighting in the Indomitus Crusade. Who knows?

...I just realized that for some reason, I did not write an article on The Devastation of Tallarn. I don't know what happened, but I assume I was too busy back then...which, I think I was, as I was preparing to return home from the US and everything when the book was released back in August 2024. I think I was too busily packing up stuff and shipping them home, and there was a time when I panicked because they didn't arrive for a while. I apologize for the oversight, and the next article will cover the lore in The Devastation of Tallarn.

Honestly, though...I don't know why I'm writing these articles. Actually, wouldn't it be better if someone like Arbitor Ian or a Warhammer 40,000 Youtuber cover all these Battle of Tallarn lore and history? I can imagine Arbitor Ian tracking down the history of Tallarn Desert Raiders and how their lore and origins evolved over the last 3 decades, and he'll do a much better job than me. Sigh.

The Battle of Tallarn

The Battle of Tallarn tells the tale of the Rise of the Reborn. Quite frankly, we all know what the whole Tallarn saga is about, having read about it in various forms, whether it's John French's Tallarn novels and novellas and short stories in the Horus Heresy series, or Imperial Guard codex of various editions. If you're familiar with the Tallarn Desert Raiders, the codex across all editions cover their origins and the Battle of Tallarn (though the 2nd edition codex has a more detailed account of what happens after the Battle of Tallarn). Back to this Journal Tactica: There is a short summary for those who haven't read those, so maybe it's worth repeating.

To sum it up, Tallarn was once a verdant, abundant and beautiful world with fertile biomes, and was regarded as a jewel in the Trailing Tempest region in the Segmentum Tempestus. It was designated as a supply hub, then as the Great Crusade expanded further, it served as a harbor for damaged, recovering or recuperating assets. Not wanting to destroy the beautiful biosphere, they instead built a lot of subterranean caverns to store Imperial Army assets such as vehicles, tanks, munitions, supplies, etc., many of which were brought along by these resting and recuperating units who needed a break after serving in lethal campaigns of the Great Crusade.

Then everything changed when the Iron Warriors attacked.

The IV Legion fleet translated deep into the Tallarn system, led by Perturabo's flagship Iron Blood, and unleashed a planetwide barrage of virus bombs. These differed from the life-eater virus that consumed Isstvan III, this virus was re-engineered into a more complex strain that caused necrotic decay and mutated to corrosive compounds that permeate and linger for centuries.

Though billions on Tallarn died, many made it to the underground shelters, which were militaris-grade rad/chem sealed, and this was where they staged their retaliation and vengeance. As for the Iron Warriors, after virus-bombing the surface of Talalrn, they landed armored battalions, comprised of Predators, Vindicators, Sicarans and Kratos tanks from Stormbirds, Thunderhawks and other heavy drop ships. Their objective was singular: to locate the Cursus, which is some MacGuffin thingy that you'll read about in John French's Tallarn novels and novellas and short stories. Check out Tallarn: Executioner, Tallarn:Ironclad, Tallarn: Siren and Tallarn: Witness for more details. And Black Oculus and Iron Corpses for more. Epsecially Ironclad. Oh, and the 2nd edition Imperial Guard codex would talk about this Cursus turned out to be a gateway for Slaanesh Daemons to invade Tallarn, and how the Tallarn Desert Raiders - with the assistance of the Eldar - were able to drive them off and seal the Cursus. You know what, I'm gonna write a separate article on this.

The Cursus is also known as the Black Oculus, by the way. Yeah, I know it's confusing, but the Cursus and Black Oculus are the same thing.

For eight weeks, the Iron Warriors combed Tallarn for the Cursus. There were bitter rivalry and intense competition between them, and nothing happened, so they got complacent, especially since they saw no signs of life, and nothing but wrecks.

However, the Tallarn Reborn retaliated, seeking revenge. Under the command of Cohort-Marshal Jasira Sannoval, the 71st Cinder Born Cohort of the Solar Auxilia took charge and distributed their veterans among crews made up of civilian volunteers, to deploy their squadrons of tanks into the now toxic surface of Tallarn. Other cohorts include Sapphirine Ghosts, Ithak-Nur and these fall under the Crescent Province Command.

There's also mention of Astartes Legions joining them piecemeal, with forces from the White Scars, Space Wolves, Imperial Fists, Blood Angels, Iron Hands and Ultramarines present, as well as other Legions who had cast off their old colors in the wake of Horus's betrayal and pledged to fight for the Imperium. Loyalist Thousand Sons armored companies, anyone?

The Iron Warriors comprised of what were the core of the 125th Expeditionary Fleet. Mostly armored battalions, they fell under the command of Tetrarch Forrix and were made up of a lot of Inductii crew, led by various veterans who survived the attritional campaigns of the IVth Legion. Apparently, they were reorganized into Grand Battalions, with Armor companies built from Armor Centuries leading Patrol Sections. They were accompanied by their Selucid Thorakite Legiones Auxilia and even the Mechanicum Taghmata of Incaladion. The Iron Warriors deployed in Legion strength, apparently, with the bulk of their Legion arriving in Tallarn.

No wonder they were in pretty bad shape by the time they reached Terra. They lost a lot of tanks in Tallarn before the Siege.

Anyway, there is only one battle in this particular Journal Tactica, and it tells of how Iron Warriors patrol section Scorn Two-six, under the command of Armor-Commander Vanko Graxxis aboard a Spartan Command Tank, fell into an ambush from the Tallarn Reborn. As mentioned above, the Iron Warriors grew complacent after seeing wrecks for eight weeks, so when they drove straight into a convoy littered with Imperial Army wrecks, they thought nothing of them...until the Leman Russ tanks came to life and blew them up. There was also clever use of mines to trap the entire armored command in the canyon, and though the Solar Auxilia crews in those damaged tanks lying in weight were succumbing to prolonged exposure to the environmental toxins, they were more than happy to make that sacrifice.

More advanced tanks, such as Thunderers and Destroyers and Malcadors emerged from nearby subterranean shelters and hangars to join them. Graxxis called for reinforements, with a reactionary force of Sabres and Sicarans arriving to surprise one side of the Tallarn Reborn tanks from behind and wipe them out. While trading fire with the other side of the Tallarn tanks, several super-heavy tanks arrived - the Falchion, Crucible, accompanied by a Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer, and a Typhon Siege tank.

Outmatched, the Tallarn Reborn tanks were forced to retreat, losing lots of tanks to the Iron Warriors super-heavies...but Iron Hands Thunderhawk - the Medusan Sun - and two Xiphon fighters showed up to join the party, and they blew up the Falchion, which resulted in a catastrophic explosion that annihilated not just a lot of Iron Warriors tanks, but also the Cerberus and Typhon. Take that, Iron Warriors scum!

With the Iron Warriors armored squadrons mortally wounded and in disarray, the Tallarn Reborn retreated under the cover of the Iron Hands. Though merely mortal and outmatched in firepower by transhuman Astartes, the Tallarn Reborn learned how to retaliate through guerilla tactics and warfare, ambushing their superior foe from subterranean shelters and disappearing before the IVth Legion could muster enough strength to destroy their foes. In this way, Tallarn was clawed back from the iron grip of Perturabo's invaders, and the Imperium eventually won...but that is a tale to be told in another expansion, for this is merely "Part One" of The Battle of Tallarn.

If you want more Tallarn lore, the fall of the Sapphire City is detailed in The Devastation of Tallarn, the Legions Imperialis expansion. I also recommend you get this book!

Oh, right. The Solar Auxilia get a new Dracosan Command Tank, yay! Just rules, though. Oh, well. However, there are a few confusing points about the rules. There's no Transport Capacity, but there's a Command Transport rule that says he can only transport units that have at least one model with the Command Sub-Type. HUH?! But how, when there's no transport capacity?!

That second rule opens up even more confusion for me because the only units that have the Command sub-type are the Legatine Command Section and Tactical Command Section. All the other command sections are Sergeant sub-type only! Maybe the Veletaris has Champion sub-type too, but basically it means I can't embark my Veletaris Command Section in a Dracosan Command Tank because they lack the Command sub-type. Lame.

A third point of confusion is that the Dracosan Command Tank is a High Command Choice. Basically your equivalent of a Legate Marshal or Praetor. You can use him to unlock Apex Detachments - and I'll be talking about one in a bit - but it also means that the only unit you can transport with this guy, assuming that the - transport capacity is a typo/error, is the Tactical Command Section. Unless you decide, for some inane reason, that you absolutely have to take both of Legatine Command Section and a Dracosan Command Tank, and you use the Special Assignment Prime Trait for one of them (likely the Legatine, since you would prefer unlocking 2 armored detachments with the Dracosan Command Tank, and the Legatine Command Section has no special rules aside from Line 2).

But you're wasting a Command slot when you might as well take Tactical Command Section to unlock 2 more auxiliary detachments, as well as a Prime slot. And if you're taking an allied Solar Auxilia detachment, then the Dracosan Command Tank is pretty much...useless, since if you try to take him via Special Assignment, you lose the Command Tank (2) ability that unlocks 2 armored detachments.

...yeah, this is just weird.

However, if you choose to take Solar Auxilia as your primary detachment and bring a Dracosan Command Tank, then you can unlock two auxiliary detachments, but they must be either the Armored Support detachment or the Armor Tercio detachment. But I'd take the opportunity to unlock the Apex Detachment, Armored Command Squadron, which gives you 3 Armor slots with 2 Prime Traits to choose from - Hardened Systems, which lets you make Repair tests in both Start and End phases, and Suspensor Web Stabilizers, which grants you benefit from Heavy even though you moved.

But another point of confusion arises here. Rules as written, if you take an Apex detachment with the High Command slot of a Dracosan Command Tank, you can't take auxiliary detachments anymore. So you either choose one Apex or two auxiliary detachments, but not one Apex and one Auxiliary. Is that intended? So if I choose an Apex detachment of Armored Command Squadron, I can't take an Auxiliary even though Tank Commander (2) normally allows me to take 2 Auxiliary detachments?

I guess I have to assume that's the case, in which case, it...sucks. But it does make sense somewhat. I would go with a single Dracosan Command Tank, maybe the Apex Armored Command Squadron of 3 Valdor Tank Destroyers, all with Hardened Systems (since I don't really need the Heavy as the Mechanized Cohort gives me that with 4", and their weapons are Ordnance, not Heavy, anyway). Then I'll take an Armored Command Section and 2 Armored Tercios, plus one Super-heavy. That's like 11 tanks, plus one super-heavy. If I really want to, I can throw in a Tactical Command Section, and bring two squadrons of Aethon Heavy Sentinels with the rest of the points.

Realistically speaking, I don't have that many tanks (nor am I planning to buy that many tanks), but you see where I'm going with this. That is a lot of tanks! Also, you can only use this Apex Detachment in Armored Spearhead missions. From what I understand, this dilemma will not arise for normal missions or standard Horus Heresy campaigns, unless you are specifically running Armored Sperhead missions during a campaign. That sort of sucks, but...whatever.

We do have a new Cohorts Vagus: Itinerant Cohorts where automata show up out of nowhere and either help you or fight both you and your opponent. Very cool. Though I think it's a cool concept, I won't be using this as the rules don't really appeal to me and I prefer to just run Legio Cybernetica. However, I like the narrative fluff and the idea of having robots show up on your side all of a sudden. It'll be fun.

Solar Auxilia Rapiers

I assembled my Solar Auxilia Rapiers. They look really cool! I actually intended for them to be for my Imperial Militia, but I need 2 more guys for the 2 militia gunners per carrier, rather than the current 1 per carrier. Oh, well. We'll see how it goes.

I chose the laser destroyers. I needed anti-tank since my Imperial Militia is full of volkite, and we don't have anything that can deal with vehicles. So laser destroyers are perfect for that. I think.

The Rapier kit is also a wealth of bits. I feel like I can kitbash infantry squads for Imperial Militia with the arms and lasrifles! If I do anything with them, I'll show you guys in future, but for now I need a break. And to read the Tallarn book! I'll do a write up for that soon!

The Return of Yarrick Lore

As usual, I'll write a short summary of the lore in The Return of Yarrick. I'm exhausted, so I won't write much, and I won't write in detail. Maybe I'll just do a bullet point list. I've been regularly working until 9pm everyday and reaching home past 10pm for the last few weeks. I even had to forfeit a planned paid leave because I had to work. Oh, well. It is what it is. Honor and duty, just like the Imperial Knight scion I am. Speaking of which, we have Knights in this book! Not a lot of Space Marines - only a few Space Wolves who show up at the beginning, and are barely metioned again (Yarrick musing to himself how they must have succeeded in protecting Armageddon's water supply), but this book is entirely dedicated to the Imperial Guard...plus their Knight allies. Just the way I like it! The Adeptus Astartes will get their chance to shine in 11th edition anyway, so let the Astra Militarum hog the spotlight for once.

- Yarrick chases Ghazghkull to Icaria, where the latter got Orkimedes and Nazdreg to build a mass tellyporta that went out of control and broke the planet apart.

- Yarrick gets his skull caved in and bones broken after poking Ghazghkull with his power claw.

- The survivors flee Icaria, and thinking Yarrick is dead, spread the news.

- But the Space Wolves save Yarrick, bring him back to life, and tell him he is important to the fate of Armageddon.

- They return on a frigate, Ice Troll, and Yarrick prepares to descend on a Thunderhawk along with a handful of Space Wolves.

- After the season of Blood, which was the whole Angron invasion of Armageddon in the last Crusade supplement, Armageddon receives reinforcements during the long months of Season of Fire, including several Order of Our Martyred Lady preceptories, led by Canoness Preceptor Mercia and Intranzia Fraye (who now has a model). Oh, and Inquisitor Ynigoh Kroyle of the Ordo Xenos too, who also has a model.

- The planetary governor, Agmund von Ruger, calls for an offensive to wipe out the Orks, but General Tybault Locke of the Armageddon Steel Legion wisely thinks it's a bad idea. Reckless and impractical.

- Unfortunately, Commissar Graves - and I think someone in the writing team named her Graves on purpose - steps in and practically threatens everyone at gunpoint to go along with von Ruger's crazy plan.

- Left with no choice, Locke forms army-sized Purgation Corps to burn down the forest, but while they're spread thin (and having success in incinerating lots of Orks), Waaagh! Ghazghkull teleports straight into the Armageddon system, smashes apart Battle Fleet Armageddon and drops billions of Orks onto Armageddon.

- With that mass tellyporta thing causing disruptions in the warp, Armageddon can't send out an astropathic message for help...but fortunately, Yarrick has a MacGuffin that could boost the Astropaths' powers. Why he just didn't use the Astropaths on the Space Wolves strike cruiser (wait, what? They called it a frigate a few pages ago), Ice Troll, I have no clue. Maybe the astropaths in the Hive Cities are more powerful?

- Wazdakka and his speedwaaagh! are at the vanguard.

- They sweep past the Meridium, Orientum and Liberation Lines. The poor Krieg 547th Line Korps...anyway, they reach the Mannheim Gap, where Locke's reinforcements just happen to emerge from.

- The Astra Militarum forces, caught in the open, make their last stand. But Yarrick shows up to save them, and they rout the Orks before withdrawing. Oh, three Space Wolves join Yarrick, but then they return to their gunship to fly to the Deadlands, to secure crucial supplies of water and promethium, so they aren't with the Imperial Guard for long. So it's mostly Militarum Tempestus Scions from Valkyries who accompany Yarrick from this point on (where on Holy Terra did Yarrick requisition those Storm Troopers from?).

- Yarrick and most of the forces retreat to Hive Volcanus, but they lose Colonel Kurzen and his 36th Krieg Infantry Regiment, and Canoness Mercia, who is dragged around by Wazdakka before she finally dies.

- Graves, despite being the idiot who ordered the reckless sortie of the Purgation Corps and was the whole reason Armageddon was caught with its pants down and the defenders stretched thin when Ghazghkull and his Waaagh! showed up, unsurprisingly blames the pragmatic and sensible Locke and executes him for the crime of possessing common sense. She then delegates command to Marshal Gorman of the Death Korps of Krieg...wait, he's not related to Lieutenant Gorman from Aliens, is he? The United States Colonial Marines.

- Yarrick heads to the astropathic sanctum, only to find the astropathic choir all murdered by Ork commandoes, who left a taunting message. NO ESCAPE. Oh, well...

- The forces of Hive Volcanus split into two - Yarrick leads an armored brigade toward Hive Death Mire to use the astropathic relay station. Graves, Marshal Gorman, his Death Korps of Krieg, Leman Russ battle tanks crewed by grizzled veterans, two lances of Knights from House Terryn, armored transports, Hive Militia, Cadians, Kriegsmen, Semtexians and Mordians launch a diversionary attack to distract the Orks.

- Graves and Gorman succeed in distracting Wazdakka, but they lose 7/8 of their forces. Ouch.

- Yarrick leaves via the Sainted Gate. His entourage is comprised of Hippogriff AFVs, Centaur RSVs packed with Cadian Shock Troops, Hellhounds, Banewolves, squadrons of Leman Russ tanks, mechanized infantry aboard Chimeras and Tauroxes, Rogal Dorns, Wyverns, and Adeptus Mechanicus fuel and ammunition carriers. And Knights of Houses Terryn and Hawkshroud. Plus Valkyries and Vultures, Yarrick's signature black Baneblade, Fortress of Arrogance, and two Warhound Titans of Legio Metalica - Lupex Destructor and Hound of Hades.

- They annihilate the Deathskull Speedboss Grizsnag and his Boyz as they leave. Epic.

- They are attacked along the way, are threatened by a toxic ash storm, and come across a sizeable Ork warband in a fortress with three Stompas and lots of tanks, walkers and vehicles. Yarrick and friends decide to smash through the fortress, losing Lupex Destructor and a trio of Knights but taking down two Stompas in return. Why the f the Knights of House Terryn happen to be standing so damned near the Stompas when they are being bombarded by the Warhound Titans, Benablade, Leman Russ tanks and Rogal Dorn tanks, I have no idea.

- As the ash storm sweeps over them, they smash through the fortress and continue along the highway, ignoring the third Stompa.

- Unfortunately, Wazdakka has raced ahead and is waiting for them with an ambush. He takes down the remaining Warhound, Hound of Hades, but stupidly lets Yarrick and the Fortress of Arrogance get away. The rest of the Imperial Guard tanks manage to get into a tunnel, far from Wazdakka.

- Ghazghkull, however, has other plans. The moment the Fortress of Arrogance emerges from the tunnel, he destroys it from orbit with a kustom soopablasta strike from Kill Wrecka. Kroyle - who is waiting at Hive Death Mire with a few of the surviving Purgation Corps - panics, thinking Yarrick is dead, but surprise, surprise! The Lord Commissar alights from a Chimera that manages to reach Hive Death Mire. The Old Man, the legend, is smart enough to use his precious Baneblade as a decoy.

- Yarrick and his honor guard fight their way up the Ork-infested Hive Death Mire, reaches the command spire, and he uses the Macguffin...I mean Pharus Horrifica, or rather the astrophatic choir use it, and their noble sacrifice sends a signal to the void.

- Yarrick then takes command of the beleaguered Armageddon defenses, but is unable to prevent the planet from falling.

- Hive Infernus is besieged. Hive Hades and Hive Thoraddis are destroyed. Hive Tempestora is in Ork hands. Hive Death Mire, Hive Acheron and Hive Volcanus hold firm, but Acheron falls soon, with Ghazghkull personally showing up in an asteroid, no less.

- Then the hololith lights up with the contrails of orbital landers and traces of descending drop pods.

- "Imperator," an Astartes (presumably Blood Angels) says over the vox, signalling the start of 11th edition.

Yarrick Returns

Yarrick has returned! There's no way I wouldn't get my own miniature of Yarrick, and so here he is, assembled and ready to lead the Armageddon Steel Legion! In all his glory! Makes you want to fight for him, eh? He's so inspirational. Especially to the Armageddon Steel Legionnaires!

Except that the Armageddon Steel Legion hasn't been released in plastic, and that will be 2 years away. I'm patient, I can wait.

I also bought the book, The Return of Yarrick, and I'll be covering the lore inside it in a separate article. I look forward to reading it and finding out what happened on Armageddon! I don't want to close my eyes. I don't want to fall asleep, because I'll miss the Orks, and I don't want to miss a shot.

Krieg heavy weapons squad

I assembled my Krieg heavy weapons squad! They are all equipped with heavy flamers. That means my Krieg army is pretty much done. I'm not getting the artillery carriage because artillery isn't really my thing - armored warfare is - but I think I have all I need for Krieg.

Basically, I have:

Krieg Command squad

20-men Krieg infantry squad

Krieg Engineers

Death Riders

Krieg Heavy Weapons squad

Plus armor to back them all up! Squadrons of Leman Russ tanks! Yay!

I also made a few spares with the remaining sprues. Twin heavy stubbers and lascannons! The twin heavy stubbers will be used to kitbash the new Centaur Rapid Strike Vehicles into Explorator Rigs. I'll scrounge spare heavy flamers from my other kits for the hull mounted heavy flamer, but yeah, the twin heavy stubbers as turret mounted weapons are pretty much done!

I also assembled the lascannons. I thought they might come on in useful. I don't know what to use them for. I originally thought I might kitbash a Militia Venator, but they need twin lascannons. So I'm missing a lacannon. Huh, okay then. I guess I'll figure it out eventually. Oh, well!

Drop the Steel Hammer!

Warhammer Community has posted about the Astra Militarum armored detachments in the upcoming Return of Yarrick! I'll be preordering this, for sure! Not for the rules and armored detachment, but because Yarrick is a legend, and my guys are fighting on Armageddon against the Orks. Hopefully, the Ryuusei Katanas' volkite weaponry will be lethal against the Orks.

We have the Armored Infantry detachment, which is a callback to Armageddon Steel Legion, though I'm pretty sure they've already been represented by the Mechanized Assault detachment. Oh, well. Anyway, Squadron Command allows your infantry command squads and infantry officers (e.g. Cadian Castellan or Commissar) to issue orders to squadron units. I.e. your tanks. Not only that, you have a new, additional order, On My Signal, for non-artillery vehicles and vehicles smaller than a Leman Russ tank, which allows them to run away whenever an enemy unit moves within 9" of them. Cool?

But I'm more interested in the STEEL HAMMER!

I don't know how competitive it is, but it allows your tanks to shoot in close combat without suffering the -1 penalty, and you can shoot blast weapons at pointblank range. Including my plasma executioner cannon and Stormblade plasma cannon. Woohoo!

Also, you can select a Baneblade or super-heavy tank variant to be a Character, meaning they get enhancements and can be your Warlord! I doubt they get the Officer keyword and can give orders, though, unless there's an enhancement for that. But I would love to pop Engine of Wrath and crush my enemies under my Stormblade's titanic treads.

I still remember that game in Minneapolis, years ago, when my Shadowsword charged an enemy unit and crushed them. Fun times. Now I can do it again! If I ever find an opponent...

Anyway, this will be fun! I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the Return of Yarrick! And when I do, I'll do a lore spoiler summary, as usual!