Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Battle of Abelardus Pass

The Battle of Abelardus Pass was a battle that took place during the Cyclops Cluster Campaign of the Horus Heresy. It was a series of battles fought around Abelardus Pass, a 2 mi (3.2 km) wide gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Nautlis Mountains in Dark Haven. The traitorious forces involved, led by Preator Christiansen, were primarily from the 3rd Battalion Death Guard Assault Group, elements of the Death Guard Armoured Division. The Loyalist forces involved came from the Iron Warriors Legion commanded by Centurion Carpenter, which were part of the Ultramarine Legion led Task Force that had landed on Dark Haven within the Cyclops Cluster.
Significant as the first large-scale meeting of Iron Warriors and Death Guard in the Dark Haven Camapign, the relatively untested and newly recruited Death Guard troops suffered heavy casualties and were pushed back over 50 mi (80 km) from their positions west of Abelerdus Pass in the initial days of the battle. Despite early defeats, elements of the Death Guard Legion, reinforced by Dark Mechanicum, rallied and held the exits through mountain passes in western Abelardus Pass, defeating the Iron Warriors offensive plans.