Event · M41
Taros Campaign
The Taros Campaign was a 997–998.M41 struggle between the Imperium of Man and the T’au Empire for the desert mining world of Taros. Fighting drew in the Taros Planetary Defence Force, Kroot mercenary auxiliaries fighting alongside the T’au, and substantial Imperial forces, including Astra Militarum regiments, Adeptus Astartes companies, and elements of the Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial Navy. The campaign’s roots lay in the Denab Incident, during which Taros’s planetary governor, Aulis, cultivated covert trading ties with the T’au and moved to defect the world to the T’au Empire with the backing of much of the local population. When the plot came to light, Space Marines of the Avenging Sons Chapter were despatched in the First Taros Intervention of 997.M41 to eliminate Aulis, but the strike force suffered heavy losses, including more than half of its Terminator contingent, and failed to reach the governor. The T’au responded by formally annexing Taros, prompting the Administratum to sanction a full invasion. The main invasion followed in 998.M41 under Lord Commander Otto Ivan Gustavus and Lord Marshal De Stael, spearheaded by the 4621st Imperial Guard Army. Raptors Space Marines opened the offensive by destroying Taros’s missile silos, after which Tallarn Desert Raiders and armoured columns advanced on the capital, Tarokeen, fighting T’au Pathfinder and Stealthsuit teams at Tungusta Station, Phyrra Heights, and Gladamak. Imperial Navy squadrons contested the system in parallel, including the destruction of the T’au battleship A’rho. As the advance stalled under supply pressure, Elysian Drop Troops attempted to seize the planet’s hydro-processing plants in Operation Comet, and Legio Ignatum Warhound Titans joined a renewed push, but mounting losses led Commissar-General Mordred Van Horcic to relieve both Gustavus and De Stael of command. The campaign ended in a costly defeat for the Imperium, which suffered thousands killed, wounded, or captured, along with heavy losses in tanks, aircraft, and warships; the T’au Empire retained Taros, renaming it T’ros as part of its Third Sphere of Expansion, the third major phase of T’au territorial growth. The loss was felt beyond Taros itself, since the world’s continued Imperial control had supported operations of the Forge World Stygies VIII in the build-up to Abaddon’s 13th Black Crusade. The campaign followed decades after the Imperium’s earlier Damocles Crusade against the T’au Empire, forming part of the same protracted frontier conflict along the eastern fringe of the galaxy.
See where Taros Campaign occurred on the galactic map in the 41st Millennium.