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What's the worst atrocity that has occurred in the 40k universe, and what event would you like to see top it?

My best mate dropped my finecast terminator librarian and he shattered...that was an atrocity!

I am a bit torn between the sacking of Terra during the Horus Heresy, and the Purge of Lastrati... The latter I'm not sure if it actually counts as one atrocity given that it was an entire era for this hive world.
Also, there were other incidents with even more dead people, but rarely was it done so brutal and sadistic.

I'm not sure if I'd *like* to see anything top these. I guess anything more would be over the top.

I'd imagine the Horus Heresy tops that list, but if you want individual events, probably Fulgrim and the EC going on a continent-wide rape trip. It's actually pretty impressive when you think about it.

No Eldar player want's to argue for the sundering, or a Necron player wants to champion the siphoning of their entire race into slave capsules? I'm surprised. Though, of those that have posted, I've learned already.

I'd say the Age of Apostasy is as bad as things have ever gotten -- although that's a whole series of atrocities, so maybe I'm not playing fair. The only thing that could top it is it happening again and not being stopped.

How about when the Night Lords bombed an entire planet because they figured it would be easier than dropping troops and fighting it out?

Or the DOK shelling a city that had already surrendered, for years after the last sign of life..

Some of the fluff rewrites of my favourite armies have been atrocities that dwarf anything in the fluff to date

SoloFalcon1138 wrote:How about when the Night Lords bombed an entire planet because they figured it would be easier than dropping troops and fighting it out?

Phht, planetary bombardment ... get out, we're talking a level above such child's play here!

Adding some that aren't mentioned.

Doom of Malan'tai and the Exterminatus. The Age of Apostasy is up there as one of the top though, probably just behind The Fall and the Horus Heresy. Strange to think that the Necrons sort of tack onto the end of it now, somehow gaining Thor's head despite him dying on Terra. That alone could have probably made an interesting story.

Armagedon? So much fighting took place on the planet that its crust ruptured and it started to burn. Hope I have that right lol

Badab War had its horrible parts.
Especially when the Cachardons/Space Sharks killed an entire planet and enslaved them.

The Chapter quickly established a bloody reputation for itself as it engaged in a campaign of systematic annihilation of the worlds of the Endymion Cluster, whose inhabitants still owed some loyalty to the Mantis Warriors. Planet after planet was placed under a scorched world policy, their infrastructure smashed and countless multitudes slain, which forced the hand of the Mantis Warriors, whose honor would not allow them to stand by and see people suffer. This played into the plans of the Carcharodons quite nicely, and soon all resistance from the Mantis Warriors was crushed, their days as an effective fighting force over.

With the reign of the Tyrant of Badab at its end, the Carcharodons would return one final time to the Endymion Cluster, and aided the Fire Angels in bringing back the worlds there into compliance. With the blessings of the Fire Angels, whose dominion the Cluster had been granted at the cessation of hostilities, the Chapter visited the Tranquility system. There their dark legend would be sealed. The hidden fortresses of the Mantis Warriors were ransacked of supplies and war materiel, and a whole generation of the system's young men were taken away to replace the losses the Chapter had incurred during the war, forced to fight each other to the death to see who would be worthy to join the Carcharodons' ranks.

Jerks. Khorne would be proud .

The War in Heaven.

Complete genocide of the most powerful race in the galaxy, enslavement and devouring of the essence of the probable second, Chaos being created by the atrocities the young races had to commit agains the Necrons and the C'tan masters (This part may have been retconned, I forget), etc, all to satiate the tummies of cosmic star vampires.

Void__Dragon wrote:The War in Heaven.

Complete genocide of the most powerful race in the galaxy, enslavement and devouring of the essence of the probable second, Chaos being created by the atrocities the young races had to commit agains the Necrons and the C'tan masters (This part may have been retconned, I forget), etc, all to satiate the tummies of cosmic star vampires.

The Old Ones deserved what they got. Perhaps had they given the Necrontyr what they wanted - an extended life span - the War in Heaven might have been averted. And then when the Necrons came to give the Old Ones theirs, they created two practically immortal races - the Orks and the Eldar. AFAIK, the Orks won't die as long as no one does them in, while the Eldar were practically immortal until the Nightbringer cursed them with the fear of death (though this part may have been retconned). Great way to pour fuel into an already raging fire.

On-topic, the Fall of the Eldar. Basically, the Eldar committed genocide against themselves for millennia before the hammer finally dropped.

The tragic destruction of the Squats.

Seriously, the Horus heresy.

When Horus gathered all the remembrancers on the veangeful spirit and slaughtered them after he nuked his own space marines

Although the events pre-dating, during, and shortly after the Horus Heresy are probably at the top of the list, I think the Purging of Contaqual is metionable, to say the least.

For those of you who don't know what that is, there was the Contaqual system and the leaders of the people became corrupted by Chaos, eventually corrupting the populace. The Iron Hands came in and basically wiped out the material taint of Chaos with extreme prejudice. But they did not stop there and the Iron Hands proceeded to kill 1 out of every 3 people, the reason being that these people were corrupted. The Iron Hands, being all "flesh is weak", took this a little too far in my opinion.

Also, in a lighter mood, the most atrocities comitted in the Guard are the ones were Chenkov is leading the men.