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Saturday, May 2, 2015

Battle Report: Axes of Kharn

Forces of Chaos
Kharn
Khorne Berserkers
Chaos Marine (10 Man; Banner of Khorne)
Rhino
Land Raider
Maulerfiend

White Scars
Kor'sarro Khan
Bike Squad (6 Bikes; Melta)
Tactical Squad (10 Man; Melta, Multi-Melta)
Rhino
Dark Angels
Librarian (Power Field Generator, Melta Bombs)
Tactical Squad (Plasma Cannon)
Scout Squad (Camo Cloaks, Heavy Bolter)
Deathwing Knights

Game Type: Big Guns Never Tire (4 objectives)

Turn 1a: White Scars move their Rhino into nearby ruins.  Khan leads the bikes onto the ruins with the scouts.  Dark Angels fire their plasma cannon at the enemy Rhino; the gunner get killed by the overheating gun.

Turn 1b: All vehicles rush forward.  Marines in Rhino kill two scouts, and Land Raider destroys a bike.  Maulerfiend wrecks White Scars Rhino.  Tactical Marines bail out.
Points: 0-1

Turn 2a: Deathwing Knights teleport in behind Chaos Rhino.  White Scars marines fire both melta weapons at the Maulerfiend; it suffered a shaken result with one hull point left.  Bikes take a hull point off the Rhino while the vehicle and passengers are stunned.  Both vehicles are wrecked in melee.
Points: 1-1

Turn 2b: Land Raider moves towards the Deathwing Knights, and the occupants rush out.  The combine fire from the Land Raider, Berserkers, and Chaos Marines only take down two of the Knights.  Marines charge into melee against them.  The Knight Commander and Aspiring Champion off each other in a challenge; one knight is brought low for the price of three marines.  The marines fail their morale check, and run off the board.

Conclusions: We had to call the game at this point.  The Dark Angels started on an objective, and never left it.  White Scars and Berserkers both claim one on the second turn.  Additionally, the lone Deathwing Knight was still in the enemy's deployment zone.
Final Score: 8-4

A report from Maracha

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41
System: Fetian, Planet: Maracha

Two years.  Two damnable years we've spent trying to protect this near worthless rock.  Things were bad even from the start.  Chaos was a difficult opponent already.  Landings attempts by the Lankock XCI, CCXCIV, and DI Regiments suffered near-total casualties.  Cadian DXIX and Vatarian DLXXXIII secured the LZs, and pushed out against tremendous opposition.

We were sent down with a fellow Vatarian regiment: the CCXII.  Even to this day, I still don't understand why nine entire regiments of infantry were sent down to protect an entire planet with only a battalion of tanks, a company of artillery, and only eighty-three planes.

Somehow, we made serious progress in pushing back the enemy.  The locals, even though they were armed with bolt-action rifles, proved to be a great help in waging this war.  Despite only two of the nine regiments being mechanized, our efforts pushed the lines back over three hundred and thirteen kilometres in just a little less than a month.

Nobody expected the orks to show up to the fight.  Their transports managed to, somehow, evade the Imperial fleet in orbit and made unmolested landings behind the enemy lines.  Chaos formations swiftly fell into absolute chaos as the greenskins began their relentless assaults.  Those who could, threw themselves into our fire.  Our first engagements with them were fairly easy.  Their rushed to the villages we were holding, and we sprayed with tripod guns until they died.

Unfortunately, their leader was using those fights to learn about us.  Ork artillery batteries began their barrage on our positions.  Their ramshackle planes and vehicles started their around-the-clock attack on units caught in the open.

Major Carpenter led his Second Company in a daring raid which ended with the warboss' head as a trophy, the utter annihilation of their fuel and ammo depots, and several of the artillery guns that were causing problems.

Unfortunately, that would the last act 2nd Company did on the planet.  I had argued with Lord-General Von Sica against taking them to Arrakia, but lowly Knight-Commanders don't win arguments with Lord-Generals.  2nd Company departed with the four platoons of the newly formed composite Lankock DCI regiment and three-quarters of the fleet.

It turned out that the ork horde we faced was only a vanguard for the massive tide that crashed into us.  Despite the valiant efforts of the remaining ships, many roks made it past their blockade even before taking losses.  The battle for orbit went on for hours, but it ended with all ships lost.  True to my prediction, when the mass of bodies smashed into our defences, the hole created by the absence of 2nd Company was taken full advantage of.

Convoys of trukks loaded to bear with orks covered in armor (armed with their shootas) rushed through the gap, and only stopped long enough for their infantry to hop out, slaughter the defenders, and get back into their vehicles.  With that gap widened and secured, ork tanks made their breakthrough and swarmed the across the countryside.

We only managed to escape because we were mechanized.  Von Sica's command post was tore apart, and he had to retreat to 3rd Battalion's (of the Cadian DXIX) position.  These veteran troops were protecting a vital railway hub in the city of Shemu that connected to nearly all corners of the planet.  They were cut off from the rest of us by the vast ork air force.  The siege lasted for seven months; in the end, only thirty guardsmen and four-hundred seventy civilians made it out.  Lord-General Von Sica was killed two days before the escape attempt by a gretchin sniper.

As for us, the orks chased us all the way back our original landing zone.  There we made our stand with the Cadian's Command Company alongside their 4th, 2nd Battalion from the Vatarian CCXII, and twelve light tanks.  Even with the assistance of the aircraft launched by the vessels (before they were wrecked) and the timely arrival of the Vatarian DLXXXIII, the greenskins drove us back from our most heavily fortified garrison.

They chased us once more through the desert.  We had to use our APCs to guard the trains the others were using to evacuate their men.  Luckily we now had planes screaming overhead to protect our rout from the ork divebombers.  We couldn't halt the orks until we came under the shadow of the Maa-kheru Mountains.  There, I was able to coordinate an effective defence of the region from a position that my men and I have took to rename 'Charpelli Hill'.

A series of battles and sieges have occurred since then, but we haven't moved back much for all that time.  Of the planet, we retain control of only five towns: Kemet to the north, Kenbet just under Charpelli Hill, the fortress of Kadesh and the besieged metropolis of Kagemni to the east, and on the other side of the mountains lies Shemu.

Now, we only have twenty-five hundred guardsmen and less than two thousand support personnel left.  Out of the eighth of a million natives still alive, thirty thousand are assisting us in the fighting.  Shared between the five towns are thirty-three Devil Dog light tanks and twenty-one Leman Russ medium tanks, all without fuel and running out of ammo.  Thirteen Basilisk artillery guns cover the entire region from the cover the Maa-kheru Mountains.  Inside those mountains is the airfield that houses the last plane on Maracha.

This pilot has my recommendation for numerous awards for the service she has performed over the last year.  Nearly every day, she goes out in her lone Thunderbolt to defend everyone from the packs of ork bombers and fighters.  Her victories are helping to sustain the morale of the general populace and my men.  At the closing days of the year of our Emperor 999.M41, this pilot's count is an astounding 982 confirmed enemy kills.

If these records survive long enough for a loyalist in the Emperor's service to find them, I commend the bravery and resolve of everyone who has given their lives for the planet of Maracha.  May the Emperor watch over us all.

Signing out (hopefully, not for the last time),
Knight-Commander Zora of the Vatartian XII Regiment

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Arrakia: Outpost Judo

++Outpost Judo++
Seventy-six Kilometers from Leytan City. Roughly three years after the capture of the city, It remains engulfed in the warp spawned sandstorm. The command elements in the city have only scattered reports from garrisons outside the storm-wall. All forces are operating with only local command elements and support. 

++Fifth Platoon, eighth company, XII Regiment++
-Lieutenant Parker, four squads of ten men. 
-Support element of six Chimeras, four heavy bolter teams


It was another day of standing guard under the unforgiving suns of Arrakia. Private Fox stood upon the walls of Outpost Judo staring out into the endless sea of sand that surrounded the isolated post. The only thing he had to look forward to was the occasional pot-shots taken from Chaos cultists that were encamped a few kilometers out. Their 'raids' had been few and far between as of late, and Fifth Platoon showed signs of lowering morale as their boredom took hold. The Lieutenant attempt to curb this with daily physical training and drills, but the heat of the sun proved to be a strong deterrent even to the officer corps. Lack of communication, mail, supplies, and fresh equipment proved to be an issue as well, with some men openly beginning to modify their kit to accommodate the environment. While this practice was frowned upon by quartermasters, the regimental commander had authorized it directly for men who had been planetside for more than a year. Fox leaned against the bulwark of the permacrete wall, lighting a lho stick and staring down at the sand below, thinking about home and the hellish world he was on now.
A thunderous explosion rattled his teeth as a large chunk of the wall a ways down from his was reduced to rubble. The shock sent him hurtling across the ramparts and face first into the steel walkway. He removed his helmet and squinted into the desert. To his surprise, several plumes of exhaust and sand were being kicked up by rapidly advancing rhinos.
"Contact Eastern Wall! It's the Marines, all hands on deck!"
Alarms rang loudly as men rushed up the wall and into the rubble caused by the breach. The men waited in silence as the rhino's advanced. Lieutenant Parker quickly rushed up to Fox's position. "Status Private?" he inquired calmly
"Six Rhinos sir. Rapidly advancing" Fox replied with some hesitation.
Parker scoffed. "It's just like before, they'll stop about sixty meters out, fire on our position and realize they can't break through, then pull back." he turned to face his men. "Steady yourselves, we've all done this before. Keep discipline and fire once they disembark the vehicles."

The Rhinos roared forward at a breakneck speed not slowing nor stopping. The clouds of sand being kicked up behind them serving as a natural smoke screen only barely keeping up with the vehicles that caused them. Fox's eyes widened as he saw the insignia on the front of the lead Rhino.

"Uh.. Sir."
"Yes Private?"
He choked on his words. "Those.. Those are World Eaters."
Parker panicked as he saw the devouring fangs engulfing an ancient Terran like planet. "By the Emperor.."

With a great roar a Corrupted Land Raider tore through the cloud of sand and smoke toward the Outpost, quickly outpacing the Rhinos and smashing into the breach made by earlier artillery fire. The red and Brass of the tainted vehicle gleaming in the sunlight, Desecrated corpses and skulls littered the behemoth of a tank. Quickly, it's forward ramps dropped. There was a briefest moment of silence before the roar of a dozen chain axes filled the air. A single battle cry was the last thing the defenders of Judo heard.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Battle of Charger Pass pt. 2

Over a year ago, I posted the first part of the first major tank battle of the Arrakian Campaign.  Here is the prelude to the battle.

Fountains of dirt erupted aroundthe front vehicles of the ork column.  The leading battlewagon was disabled, though the turret was operational.  Warbuggies and Wartrakks pass by to continue up the valley road.  Buried mines activate and destroy them.

A silhouette of a turret was spotted over the top of a nearby hill as it rotated.  It fired at a trukk close to the front.  The resultant explosion send ork pieces and shrapnel flying in all directions. A nearby trukk had its tires shredded, and the blast pressure toppled it.
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"Scratch two ruskets," Lieutenant Taylor stated.  While the driver and sponson operators cheered, the turret gunner loaded another AP shell.  Taylor looked back through the periscope.

Fire and dirt obscured his view.  The sound of the explosion drowned out all noise from inside the tank; even people talking over the headphone couldn't be heard.  When his view was cleared, Taylor saw the main gun on the disabled battlewagon aimed at them.

"Gabby!  Two-point-five degrees left, minus fifteen degrees azimuth." The hand-crank was used to rotate the turret and another adjust the vertical.  Two beeps alerted Taylor it was ready to fire.  He clicked the talk toggle in response.  The recoil from the gun shook the entire tank.

Their target exploded with such that the turret flew off of the vehicle.  Another trukk close by lost its driver when the barrel of the flying turret smashed into it.  The battlewagon was engulfed in a fierce fire.

Shells rained down around their Leman Russ, the WyrmSlayer, but only a few came close to hitting.  Battle cannons lobbed shots over from the hills on the other side of the highway.  The orks tried to leave the way they came, but their retreat was blocked by the arrival of a company of Malcador Heavy Tanks.  Leading them were the three Thunder Dragons' Predators.

A volley of fire launched from the flanking attack.  Vehicles at the rear of the ork column were torn apart.  This stopped the greenskins from moving.  At the same time, Captain Kaga called in an airstrike.  Marauder Bombers streaked in and unloaded their payload.
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Ork tanks that were destroyed pulled out to either side of the road.  A Fire Prism rolled past the first line of hills on the tracks salvaged from a Baneblade.  Prism Cannon aimed quickly and killed a Russ in one shot.  After it cleared the way, buggies and trakks zoomed ahead.
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 WyrmSlayer was already taking aim at the orkified tank.  Signal gave, and the shot was fired.  The shot went wide; slamming into the ground some ways away.  "Ken, get us out of here," Taylor yelled.

Back in the periscope, the enemy moved behind while elevating its main gun to hit them in the rear.  With a jerk, the tank ran towards the tank.  Taylor's face bashed into the viewer.  It happened again when the Russ impacted the Prism.  An energy beam was heard firing overhead.

Things went tilted as the tank went forward and over the side of the hill.
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A round zoomed right below the main cannon of the Prism from behind.  The Prism turned around; the Malcador was running full speed at it.  An energy beam reached out; a sizable portion of the tread was blasted off.  The rest of it fell off, halting the Malcador.

Its muzzle blasted another shell.  The impact was against the side of the turret, but the shell bounced off and exploded some distance away.  Another impact, and subsequent explosion, rocked the tank.  But, the shot failed to penetrate the hull.

A second beam hit the underside of the Malcador's turret, and blasted it off.  The vehicle was engulfed in flames.  A second explosion soon tore apart the rest of it.

With that, the cannon on the Fire Prism rotated as the vehicle turned.  A Leman Russ was backing out of its pit, and another shot came out.  It struck the hill off to the side.  The Prism retaliated with shots of its own.  Multilas secondary guns shot off the front-mounted lascannon, while the main gun melted the gears for the treads.

Engines roared as it sped by the disabled enemy.  The Prism ran over the burning husk of a warbuggy, and back onto the highway.  Its turret tracked the movement of WrymSlayer up ahead.  Two shots later, and the Leman Russ was set ablaze.

A woman hopped out of the cupola, and ran for cover.  The multilas gunner ended her flight.  At the bellowing of the Tank Nob, the vehicle roared on as its fastest speed.

It only stopped at the sight of a mighty Baneblade, Hammer Against The Horde.  All weapons on the beast of a machine quickly trained on the Fire Prism and unleashed the barrage.  The orks inside their looted tank never had a chance to return fire.
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The ambush of the ork armoured column worked out better than the Captain had planned.  While the brunt of the greenskin's armoured might was stymied; it was not without great cost.  Of the thirty Malcadors sent in to box the orks in, only twelve survived the attack.  Fifty-four Leman Russes and over 600 Guardsmen lost their lives.

An estimated 180 ork vehicles and over 9,000 greenskins were killed.