On 1507.008M42 The Chaos army known as the Children of Steel made further gains on Eris, despite dogged resistance from Imperial Guard regiments,shipped in only weeks before to halt the progress of the traitor army. The Children of Steel had landed in the wake of the Thousand Sons and were making good progress having consolidated their landing area.
Imperial High Command was slow to act in the case of the invasion of the strategically unimportant planet of Eris, but it did send three Guard regiments to hold the line. The Children of Steel had been met on the fieldof battle before, on Cerberex, and the Imperium made the mistake of underestimating them. The Librians who faced them then were better equipped and, crucially, luckier than the forces defending Eris and the result was a shattering defeat finally ending on 3007.008M42. The Chaos forces now had control of one third of the planet’s settlements.
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Waaagh Wizbit seizes control of key industrial site on Ares
The trukks of Waaagh Wizbit ploughed towards a small industrial facility on Ares. Their gibbering leader, the insane yet dangerous, Weirdboy Warphead Wizbit had prophesised a great battle with the promise of technological bitz beyond their wildest dreams.
After stopping to refuel en-route, the orks arrived late on the scene and discovered an army of metallic skeletons had taken residence in two of the factory buildings and were peering menacingly out of the windows at them.
Leaving huge dust clouds in their wake all the trucks sped at top speed across the battlefield, their orky cargo howling in delight as they hung on for dear life. Wizbit's eyes turned a spectacular indigo and a tremor of psychic energy rumbled across the battlefield.
The necrons opened fire hammering the closest trukk. One exploded, spiralling through the air, bouncing off a nearby building, before its crew executed an almost perfect disembarking procedure, with only one ork landing on his head. Two other trucks were damaged, but in much less interesting ways, to the disappointment of the orks.
The iron menace had lost their chance to blast the orks out of existence before the real fighting began. Orks poured into one of the main facility buildings, choppas held high. The green aliens whooped with joy as they brought blow after blow down on the glowing eyed tin men, but to their delight the necrons who fell got right back up again ready for another beating. A grinding stalemate was reached, where only the mighty power claws of the nobz were able to keep down the stubborn necrons. However, it was brought to an end when either a fear of destruction, hidden deep within the memory of these automatons, kicked in, or some mechanical self-preservation function was activated. Whatever the truth of it, to the disgust of the orks, the robots began to run, evacuating the building.
Meanwhile, Wizbit’s second in command, Mek Irongit, was seeing to the important business of teleporting snotlings. A direct hit on a building full of, suddenly very confused, robots, left most of them with circuits mangled with horribly deformed and mutilated snotz crawling inside them. Irongit told his band of looting bodyguard that he knew the gun would work eventually and they sneered in contempt as their deffguns failed to get through the necron's cover. The damage had been done and Wizbit’s mob were now ready to flush the remaining robot’s from their hiding place, another key building.
The battle was not over yet. On both flanks of the battlefield, a far more deadly necron threat was lurking in the form of two large squads of immortals. Even the orks could see that these tin men were a real problem. They were pouring fire into every ork in sight, sending showers of green blood in every direction. On the ork left flank a deff dredd and mob of killa kans stomped up onto a rocky hill, claiming the high ground, but they were under heavy fire. Luckily for them, their antagonists were engaged and the same glitch apparent in the necron warriors was there in the immortals as they fled from the frustrated choppa-wielding aliens.
The orks were ready for the kill. They would show no mercy to fleeing automatons. The ground itself throbbed with green psychic energy. The eyes of every ork on the battlefield glowed green as they screamed ‘waaagh’ in unison.
In a dazzling anti-climax, necrons phased out, a final cowardly act, leaving the orks to tear the industrial site apart, loading the shiniest bitz onto their trucks, before moving on in search of the next fight.
After stopping to refuel en-route, the orks arrived late on the scene and discovered an army of metallic skeletons had taken residence in two of the factory buildings and were peering menacingly out of the windows at them.
Leaving huge dust clouds in their wake all the trucks sped at top speed across the battlefield, their orky cargo howling in delight as they hung on for dear life. Wizbit's eyes turned a spectacular indigo and a tremor of psychic energy rumbled across the battlefield.
The necrons opened fire hammering the closest trukk. One exploded, spiralling through the air, bouncing off a nearby building, before its crew executed an almost perfect disembarking procedure, with only one ork landing on his head. Two other trucks were damaged, but in much less interesting ways, to the disappointment of the orks.
The iron menace had lost their chance to blast the orks out of existence before the real fighting began. Orks poured into one of the main facility buildings, choppas held high. The green aliens whooped with joy as they brought blow after blow down on the glowing eyed tin men, but to their delight the necrons who fell got right back up again ready for another beating. A grinding stalemate was reached, where only the mighty power claws of the nobz were able to keep down the stubborn necrons. However, it was brought to an end when either a fear of destruction, hidden deep within the memory of these automatons, kicked in, or some mechanical self-preservation function was activated. Whatever the truth of it, to the disgust of the orks, the robots began to run, evacuating the building.
Meanwhile, Wizbit’s second in command, Mek Irongit, was seeing to the important business of teleporting snotlings. A direct hit on a building full of, suddenly very confused, robots, left most of them with circuits mangled with horribly deformed and mutilated snotz crawling inside them. Irongit told his band of looting bodyguard that he knew the gun would work eventually and they sneered in contempt as their deffguns failed to get through the necron's cover. The damage had been done and Wizbit’s mob were now ready to flush the remaining robot’s from their hiding place, another key building.
The battle was not over yet. On both flanks of the battlefield, a far more deadly necron threat was lurking in the form of two large squads of immortals. Even the orks could see that these tin men were a real problem. They were pouring fire into every ork in sight, sending showers of green blood in every direction. On the ork left flank a deff dredd and mob of killa kans stomped up onto a rocky hill, claiming the high ground, but they were under heavy fire. Luckily for them, their antagonists were engaged and the same glitch apparent in the necron warriors was there in the immortals as they fled from the frustrated choppa-wielding aliens.
The orks were ready for the kill. They would show no mercy to fleeing automatons. The ground itself throbbed with green psychic energy. The eyes of every ork on the battlefield glowed green as they screamed ‘waaagh’ in unison.
In a dazzling anti-climax, necrons phased out, a final cowardly act, leaving the orks to tear the industrial site apart, loading the shiniest bitz onto their trucks, before moving on in search of the next fight.
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Fastblade consolidates hold on Minos
After several weeks Commander Fastblade, leader of the Tau expansion into the Vastrid subsector, was able to consolidate his position on Minos when Inquisitor Cicerus and his Guard regiments arrived once again in ths system. The Tau allowed the Inquisitor to land on 1807.008M42, accepting an envoy from his staff who handed an note to the Tau Commander. The note was deeply insulting, simply informing Fastblade that the forces of the emperor would soon be “cleansing” him from the world and that death by his own hand might be a more sensible solution. Unimpressed, Fastblade set about his defences.
The Imperial forces attacked a day later with elements of the Praetorian 24th and 25th Regiment, as well as Cadian 1112th Armoured Regiment Tanks. The latter soon found themselves in real trouble on the desert plains, where Tau Hammerheads used arcane technology to distort their image, making them hard to hit, while the Leman Russ battle tanks stood out clearly on the hot sands. Soon most were burning.
Cicerus ordered his infantry forward, using the dunes and rocky outcrops as cover. Mocing swiftly and by outflanking the Tau positions with Sentinel walkers, the Tau were soon hard pressed and for a time it looked likely that their defences would collapse. However Fastblade had prepared well and the Imperial infantry took terrible casualties as they neared their objective, cut down in swathes by accurate short-ranged fire from Tau sophisticated weaponry. The Hammerhead Railguns’ subminitions also proved lethal.
By the end of 2007.008M42 the latest attempt to retake Minos had failed, and the Tau presence on the planet looked ever more permanent.
Friday, 6 June 2008
Hemera declared Excommunicate Traitoris
On 2805.007M42 General Manstein’s task force arrived in the Hemera system after having received disturbing reports from traders visiting the Guild planet. Imperial Intelligence suggested that the ruler of the small manufacturing outpost was no longer in control and that other forces held sway on Hemera.There was considerable evidence for this and as Manstein’s force approached the planet there were more disturbing signs; blasphemously shaped buildings, signs of Ork constructs and some very concerning energy readings. Manstein prepared to deploy.
Before the main deployment the Blood Ravens 4th company swiftly dropped onto the planet to make sure there was no threat from the 5,000 strong standing Imperial Guard army on Hemera. Manstein didn’t know whether they would welcome the marines or stand and fight. He hoped for the former, but as soon as the Blood Ravens entered the planetary atmosphere they were fired upon.
The space marines quickly deployed and attacked the Imperial Guard positions, but found them well defended. After an extended engagement lasting more than four hours it wasn’t clear whether the marines we remaking any headway, so they withdrew after destroying several communications pylons to the west of the main city.
Manstein then deployed his Librian 7th Grenadiers and approached the city led by their armoured columns. Messages had been sent forward to the capital Hemlar Primus to persuade the Govenor to return to the Imperial fold. The governor claimed the Marines fired first and he had no way of knowing they were loyal Marines since he had not been given any warning.When pressed on the Ork constructs and blasphemous designs on some areas of the planet the governor suddenly became silent.
Manstein’s forces halted outside the city while envoys were sent to the Imperial palace. As the Librians were digging in for a possible siege the full scale of the governor’s treachery became apparent.
The Orks attacked in a huge green wave, outnumbering the Imperial Guardsmen5-1, charging forward accompanied by huge lumbering vehicles and crude but fast war bikes. The Imperial soldiers held out bravely and called for their armour to be brought up, which happened with surprising speed. Hellhounds were soon blunting the Ork charge, burning hundreds of Orks with flaming gouts of promethium.
Still the Orks came, and in the north and east of the city the Imperial Guard units were pushed back, in some cases route d, while Captain Alex Duberov bravely tried to halt the Orks, fighting them with bolt pistol and power sword. Despite slaying two of the giant greenskins the Captain was no match for the Orks in combat and quickly became a casualty.
By the end of 0506.008M42 the battle had ended when the Orks retreated tothe city. The Imperial forces had been badly mauled but not broken by the sudden Ork attack, though more of Manstein’s forces would be needed to bring the planet of Hemera to heel. Recognising the system’s total abandonment of Imperial law, Hemera was officially declared Excommunicate Traitoris on 0606.008M42.
Eldar aid on Eris cannot stop Chaos
Meanwhile on the world of Eris the ruling monarch was aggrieved to find out his realm had been invaded by foul Chaos marines, presumably from the Chaos world of Parthenope. Several thousand cultists and marines had landed,raiding and sacking the villages closest to the northern ring mountains where the incursion happened.
Lacking any form of PDF or space fairing capability, the citizens of the peaceful and backward planet prayed to the Emperor for deliverance, but their call was answered buy the mysterious Eldar, rather than the soldiers of the Imperium.
A force of the xenos landed on the planet, briefly informing the King of their presence and warning the local populace not to interfere. Then they set off for the equatorial deserts where the Chaos Marines, led by the Thousand Sons legion, had travelled.
The Eldar encountered the Chaos legion on the open plains near the deserts of central Eris. While the Eldar were determined and stoic, the Chaos forces were unyielding and purposeful in their advance. It was a test to see who would blink first. In the end, it was the Eldar, who withdrew after taking heavy casualties. The terror on Eris would continue.
Lacking any form of PDF or space fairing capability, the citizens of the peaceful and backward planet prayed to the Emperor for deliverance, but their call was answered buy the mysterious Eldar, rather than the soldiers of the Imperium.
A force of the xenos landed on the planet, briefly informing the King of their presence and warning the local populace not to interfere. Then they set off for the equatorial deserts where the Chaos Marines, led by the Thousand Sons legion, had travelled.
The Eldar encountered the Chaos legion on the open plains near the deserts of central Eris. While the Eldar were determined and stoic, the Chaos forces were unyielding and purposeful in their advance. It was a test to see who would blink first. In the end, it was the Eldar, who withdrew after taking heavy casualties. The terror on Eris would continue.
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Eldar Assault Librian Librian 7th Grenadiers on Aethor
The Librian 7th Grenadiers took up defensive positions around the only spaceport on the world, Aethra, near to the bulk of the major mining operations. It wasn't long before they were attacked by the Eldar, who still worried that the increased military presence on the world would wake the slumbering Necrons. The main assault occurred in the north with the Eldar Farseer guiding his troops through the many roughly constructed mining buildings of Aethra.
The Imperial troops were well dug in, and as soon as they saw the approaching Eldar called for reinforcements. A fierce fire fight soon developed with the Imperial Guard refusing to give ground. After several Eldar Walkers and four Imperial Sentinels exchanged fire, it looked like the Eldar would gain the upper hand, but just at that moment the Librian vehicles arrived.
First, a hellhound appeared on the Imperial right flank, incinerating howling banshees and Eldar Guardians. The Farseer leading the Eldar forces was seen to flee at this point, but the aliens continued to press home their attack. Meanwhile on the left flank a Leman Russ, crewed by a crack team of veterans transferred from the Melberg campaign, appeared on the scene.
The effect was immediate as two Wave Serpents were expertly shot out of the sky by some excellent marksmanship. After this disaster the Eldar attack became more uncoordinated as the passengers within the troop transports tried in vain to close with their enemy. The Dire Avengers were cut down by massed lasgun fire and Hellhound flamer fire.
Too late the aliens realised the power of the flame tank and managed to knock one out with their vibro-cannons, but the battle was lost. The Eldar retreated and the Imperium took stock. It had been a disastrous raid by the Eldar who looked to their Farseer to provide an explanation...
The Imperial troops were well dug in, and as soon as they saw the approaching Eldar called for reinforcements. A fierce fire fight soon developed with the Imperial Guard refusing to give ground. After several Eldar Walkers and four Imperial Sentinels exchanged fire, it looked like the Eldar would gain the upper hand, but just at that moment the Librian vehicles arrived.
First, a hellhound appeared on the Imperial right flank, incinerating howling banshees and Eldar Guardians. The Farseer leading the Eldar forces was seen to flee at this point, but the aliens continued to press home their attack. Meanwhile on the left flank a Leman Russ, crewed by a crack team of veterans transferred from the Melberg campaign, appeared on the scene.
The effect was immediate as two Wave Serpents were expertly shot out of the sky by some excellent marksmanship. After this disaster the Eldar attack became more uncoordinated as the passengers within the troop transports tried in vain to close with their enemy. The Dire Avengers were cut down by massed lasgun fire and Hellhound flamer fire.
Too late the aliens realised the power of the flame tank and managed to knock one out with their vibro-cannons, but the battle was lost. The Eldar retreated and the Imperium took stock. It had been a disastrous raid by the Eldar who looked to their Farseer to provide an explanation...
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
The Imperial Guard appoints General Manstein
The unrest in the minor systems in the Vastrid subsector caused alarm on the Subsector capital. With his usual lack of attention to detail General Thaddius Roover, the highest ranked Imperial General in the whole sector declared that “something should be done about it” and appointed General Manstein, eager to regain his reputation after the fall of Cerberex, to organise the Imperium’s move on these worlds by force. He didn’t specify how this should be done.
Manstein was in fact a capable general and organiser and soon realised that there was no way he was going to get a mighty crusade together. High Admiral Bova Magnus was unwilling to give him much in the way of a fleet, but finally relented, giving Manstein the support of his new carrier battlegroup. This amounted to three capital ships and six sword and firestorm class frigates.
The flagship, the Mars class Ark Royal was accompanied by the dictator class vessels Formidable and Victorious, all new to the sector. Manstein was also able to secure the services of six troop and supply transports. Now all he had to do was locate some forces. After much negotiation and politicking, the veteran general managed to put together a reasonable force of six Imperial Guard regiments, or 60,000 troops, plus the highly valued support of the Blood Ravens 4th company and the Blood Martyrs 8th company, along with the strike cruiser Tempest and the Blood Raven’s Sword class escort Enlightenment.
The Imperial Guard regiments were made up of the Librian 7th and 118th Grenadiers, the Librian 18th Armoured regiment, The Vastridian 17th Engineers division and the very valuable Librian 2nd and 3rd Airborne Cavalry. Unfortunately Manstein was unable to secure any resources from the Titan Legions.
With this strong force Manstein’s army moved off into the lower Perseus Deeps. The general’s plan was simple; to intimidate the local forces making sure the loyalty of the Emperor’s subjects was invigorated.
After a week and a half in the warp the task force (named Battlegroup Manstein) arrived in the Aethor system… To find that Inquisitor Cicerus had got there before him. Manstein was less than pleased by the arrival of the Ordo Hereticus. When he found it had significant armed forces he was doubly angry. The Inquisitor had not even thought to mention his “crusade” to the sector command, not that he needed to, and when Cicerus curtly informed the general he was to secure Aethor in the name of the Emperor Manstein went into an apocalyptic rage. Even so Manstein was not about to cross an Inquistor and eventually half the Librian 7th Grenadiers, some 5,000 troops, were landed near the planet’s largest mining settlements, while General Manstein seethed.
Battlegroup Manstein
Imperial Navy
Mars Class Ark Royal
Dictator Class Victorious
Dictator Class Formidable
Sword Class Vessels Arrogant, Furious, Gladiator
Firestorm Class Vessels Vindictive, Badger, Fox
Transports Guardian, Protector, Emperor's Light
Supply Ships Incorruptible, Unwavering Faith, Virtuous
Imperial Guard
Librian 18th Armoured regiment
Librian 7th Grenadiers
Librian 118th Grenadiers
Librian 2nd Air Cavalry
Librian 3rd Air Cavalry
Vastridian 17th Engineers
Adeptus Astartes
Blood Martyrs strike cruiser Tempest
Blood Martyrs 8th company
Blood Ravens Sword class escort Enlightenment
Blood Ravens 4th company
Manstein was in fact a capable general and organiser and soon realised that there was no way he was going to get a mighty crusade together. High Admiral Bova Magnus was unwilling to give him much in the way of a fleet, but finally relented, giving Manstein the support of his new carrier battlegroup. This amounted to three capital ships and six sword and firestorm class frigates.
The flagship, the Mars class Ark Royal was accompanied by the dictator class vessels Formidable and Victorious, all new to the sector. Manstein was also able to secure the services of six troop and supply transports. Now all he had to do was locate some forces. After much negotiation and politicking, the veteran general managed to put together a reasonable force of six Imperial Guard regiments, or 60,000 troops, plus the highly valued support of the Blood Ravens 4th company and the Blood Martyrs 8th company, along with the strike cruiser Tempest and the Blood Raven’s Sword class escort Enlightenment.
The Imperial Guard regiments were made up of the Librian 7th and 118th Grenadiers, the Librian 18th Armoured regiment, The Vastridian 17th Engineers division and the very valuable Librian 2nd and 3rd Airborne Cavalry. Unfortunately Manstein was unable to secure any resources from the Titan Legions.
With this strong force Manstein’s army moved off into the lower Perseus Deeps. The general’s plan was simple; to intimidate the local forces making sure the loyalty of the Emperor’s subjects was invigorated.
After a week and a half in the warp the task force (named Battlegroup Manstein) arrived in the Aethor system… To find that Inquisitor Cicerus had got there before him. Manstein was less than pleased by the arrival of the Ordo Hereticus. When he found it had significant armed forces he was doubly angry. The Inquisitor had not even thought to mention his “crusade” to the sector command, not that he needed to, and when Cicerus curtly informed the general he was to secure Aethor in the name of the Emperor Manstein went into an apocalyptic rage. Even so Manstein was not about to cross an Inquistor and eventually half the Librian 7th Grenadiers, some 5,000 troops, were landed near the planet’s largest mining settlements, while General Manstein seethed.
Battlegroup Manstein
Imperial Navy
Mars Class Ark Royal
Dictator Class Victorious
Dictator Class Formidable
Sword Class Vessels Arrogant, Furious, Gladiator
Firestorm Class Vessels Vindictive, Badger, Fox
Transports Guardian, Protector, Emperor's Light
Supply Ships Incorruptible, Unwavering Faith, Virtuous
Imperial Guard
Librian 18th Armoured regiment
Librian 7th Grenadiers
Librian 118th Grenadiers
Librian 2nd Air Cavalry
Librian 3rd Air Cavalry
Vastridian 17th Engineers
Adeptus Astartes
Blood Martyrs strike cruiser Tempest
Blood Martyrs 8th company
Blood Ravens Sword class escort Enlightenment
Blood Ravens 4th company
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