The Situation

Me and kalrath have started another campaign set in the 40K universe. We aim to produce our own sector and subsector and the first battle we played was a prologue to kick off the campaign. Stricke IV is a planet that was but a forward base and a jump off point for an Adeptus Expedicionary Force to continue the Great Crusade. Then the Heresy began... We played a small 2000 point Epic Armageddon game with a minor twist that was introduced at the end of the 3rd turn

We didn't go for the usual victory conditions and the main objective was to simple have control of the Imperial Titan that was inoperative. If the objective was contested, then whomever had more unbroken stands within 15cm won.

There was a special rule under which the Traitor Terminators could come into battle via teleport in any turn, but over 30cm away from the Titan, which was under cover of a teleport interdiction device that was locted in the figher base. If there was rebel troops anywhere within the base at the end of any turn, the interdiction field was neutralized and the terminators could teleport closer to the Titan.

The narrative for this particular battle goes like this:
During the war, many of the imperial forces that were starting to concentrate on Stricke IV for the jump off to the coming campaign were gradually withdrawn to reinforce other areas on the warmaster's path to Terra, until only a token imperial presence remained.As the Warmaster was heading to Earth and somewhere after his quest on the mechanicum world of Molech, Horus designated a small company of his own legion to take control of Stricke IV and the Warlord Titan there (The Anvil of the Emperor, a Fire Wasps machine, which was immobilized and under repairs, whith a non-mechanicum protection contingent. Horus gave some secret orders as well,but those were never found. Liutenant Yul-yanka, leading the Sons of Horus' dos terminators, had

72 astartes (20 Terminators, 40 Tactical and 12 Breachers – one detachment of each)
5 Javelin Land Speeders
5 Scimitar Jetbikes
4 Sicaran Battle Tanks
1 Spartan Heavy Assault Tank
1 Fellblade

The imperial forces were militia, comprising

1 Militia Command Squad (40 troopers in 4 Land Raiders, led by colonel Kurt Kob-Eyhn)
1 Militia Grenadier Squad (40 troopers)
1 Militia Motorcycle Squad (8 bikes, led by lieutenant Klein)
1 Auxilia Cavalry Squad (6 Horsemen)
1 Battle Tank Attack Squad (4 Leman Russ + 1 Leman Russ Vanquisher)
1 Sentinel Scout Squad (4 Sentinel walkers)

As the action began, a detachment of Ultramarines (40 Tactical Marines in 4 Land Raiders) that had detected the Sons of Horus Strike Cruiser and had followed them to the panet, contacted the imperial forces and coordinated a defense.

The battlefield with some elements noted:

Oh, and I'm back, after a long absence

New nickname, as the forum still won't allow me to return as just Rastamann

The imperial forces:

And the rebel troops



Battle will be joined tomorrow

Welcome back rasta.

_________________
Vanguard Miniatures

Link, http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/

Stockist of:

Vanguard Miniatures
BattleGroup Helios
Onslaught Miniatures
Pyrkol Gaming Markers
Gregster's Lab
Microworld Games
Troublemaker Games

Dam you bet me to it..

here go rasta..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzEzDkeHzI

Oh nice terrain.....

_________________
Regards
Greg

*************************************************

Not against change, so long as it done fairly and no one is left behind....

I'm human and not a !@#$%^# Robot..

Thanks guys! You are awesome!!!

----------------------------------------------

Turn 1
The 4 Sons of Horus Tactical Squads advanced through the road, but failed to establish astrong initial defensive position and were somewhat exposed to the imperial Sentinels which moved forward to the liquithium dump and managed to overwhelm one of the traitor stands.

The Breacher squads then moved forward in their Spartan and opened fire ineffectually, exposing themselves to the response attack from the loyalist force Commander’s formation, which had moved up at full speed with his Land Raiders. Combining fire with the Leman Russ detachment was the best option, as the Spartan was destroyed, leaving the Breachers on foot at a few hundred meters from their objective.

Recon units on both sides made probing movements that would set up the next phase of the engagement.

The Sons of Horus’ Sicaran tried, coordinating with the Fellblade, to destroy the opposing force’s Land Raiders, but were less than successful, even though the Fellblade did manage to obliterate one of the Land Raiders. The Ultramarines then announced their arrival (40 marines in 4 land raiders) by destroying one of the Sicaran Battle tanks.

At the end of the turn:

Turn 2

The rebels took the initiative and, in quick succession, both the Sicarans and the Fellblade opened up on the Ultramarines detachment, that presented greatest threat to the Warmaster's force advance on the Warlord Titan. The superior use of cover by the Ultramarines, though, following the tenements of their Primarch, prevented them from suffering any casualties. The imperial Leman Russ went into overwatch, to stop the flanking movement that was underway from the Sons of Horus' skimmers

The sentinels that were providing covering fire to the mounted and bike rough riders opened up on the rebel Tactical marines once again and managed to destroy two of their combat squads. The tactical marines reacted by advancing to a stronger defensive position and anchoring their forces' line of advance.

The loyalist space marines, even though without casualties, were somewhat shaken by the torrent of fire they had come under, and merely managed to dismount their Land Raiders and assume covering positions, as the traitor Breachers moved up on the right flank of their own tactical marines, and positioned themselves but a few dozen yards from their objective. Meanwhile, the regimental commander of the imperial force had his own land raiders open up on the traitorus scum's Sicarans.

As their flank movement was stopped, the Sons of Horus quickly adapted and began repositioning the skimmers to the opposing flank, the scimitar jet bikes moving at break neck speed to initiate a new threat. The imperial response was to place the grenadiers that were defending the base in full alert and new defensive positions, as the rough riders delayed in preparing their assault across the stream.

At the end of turn 2

More later today

"Sergeant, Captain Wilson's got the runs, we can't charge the River yet...."
"Damn him! How long?
"No one knows... Though his sudden maladies have saved our lives more than once..."

Turn 3

Once again the rebel commander forced the imperials to react to his own movements and the Fellblade opened up on the Leman Russ detachment,destroying one of the 5 tanks. The sicaran detachment commander,reduced to 3 operational machines, attacked the Ultramarines once again, and again to no effect.

The imperial sentinels, in the meantime, continued to lay preparatory fire on the traitor tactical marines formation, but the rough riders were delayed in coordinating their assault and it didn't yet go through.

A flash and an intense smell of metal in the air was a milisecond prelude signature to a teleporting arrival and, with typical SoH precision, Liutenant Yul-yanka's terminators appeared in the Sentinels' right and flank immediately opened fire with such devastation that a single sentinel was left standing, shaken but still able to withdraw.

The general situation looked on the verge of a collapse, and the colonel in command of the imperial forces needed to make sure morale was restored, so made his Land Raiders take their shots with care, blowing up 2 of the 3 remaing Sicarans, causing the last one to reluctantly withdraw to the industrial complex,thus opening the imperial's way to Anvil of the Emperor

The Sons of Horus' sargeant Treides Axil (tactical marine detachment Zeta) consolidated his position, just in time, as the Imperial Grenadier Platoon bounded forward on double time to occupy the defensive line that the Sentinels had been in, in an effort to pose some resistance to the newly arrived terminators and delay their advance towards the Titan.

The rapid tactical change in the situation forced the Ultramarines to pause their own advance and suggest a new course of action to the mortal warriors they were supporting. Meanwhile, the Sons of Horus got their Scimitar Jetbikes to the imperial flank, trying to roll it up and support the terminators.

The Leman Russ, still shaken from the fire from the Fellblade war engine, were unable to take advantage of the minor victory over the Sicaran tanks and took longer than expected to consolidate their positions, which the traitor land speeders mistook for an opportunity to try and destroy them, to no avail, but to the intense displeasure of Yul-yanka.

At the end of turn 3:

Foulness revealed:


At this moment, the full extent to which Horus' had fallen was revealed. A force of foul xenos just appeared from a portal. Jetbike mounted Eldar, moving at breakneck speeds, gunned straight for the exposed flank of the Leman Russ demi-company, but in a fit of incompetence worthy of such treachery, were unable to cause more than just shock!

And now, the grand finale:

Turn 4

The sudden appearance of Eldar alongside the Sons of Horus brought a renewed sense of righteous fury in the imperial hearts! All 4 remaining Leman Russ let loose with all their weapon systems on the land speeders, leaving 3 wrecked ones and forcing the last to seek cover.

The regimental commander, however wasn't able to take the initative to its fullest potential,though he pooled his efforts with the Grenadiers and wiped out 40% of the Scimitar Jetbike formation that was pressuring his right flank.

The rebel forces, in a succession of perfectly coordinated events, executed an assault from the Breachers, Fellblade and Terminators on the Ultramarine formation, which were in a blocking position to defend the Titan. The loyalist Astartes lost 2 land raiders and a full squad, but stood their ground and took out half the Breachers.

The surviving O sentinel, desperately trying to prevent a renewed assault on the marines, showed commendable initiative, by rapidly moving over the stream, to block the opposition, but its previous damage was too severe and it was taken by the rushing waters, another imperial hero dead in the line of duty in these foul times..



The Sons of Horus' squads then charged the Ultramarines. With heavy casualties on both sides, the traitors finally carried the day and consolidated their position, beating back a rough rider counter-attack with the support of their terminators, which was instrumental in wiping out the horse-mounted rough riders.



The end was near, and a new assault from the xenos filth left nothing but burning wrecks of the Leman Russ, with light Eldar casualties.

At the end of turn 4:


With the situation lost, Captain Klein, 334th Rough Rider Bikers, gunned the throttle on his bikes, and got to Anvil of the Emperor, detonating the explosive charges attached to the titan's plasma reactors.



The fireball was seen from space...

The events that shortly after took place on Terra and the Imperial Palace ensured that Stricke was to see no more imperial presence for millenia to come...

If you guys aren't fed up with this, the second game was set in the future, the far future, and was a small 400pt 2nd ed 40k game adapted to fit in a grid complex:

Good to see you back Rasta - love this stuff!!