M37.779; The Godbirth War
Controlling a Crusade of billions of soldiers was, above all, unwieldy. The forces of the Imperium had – as planned – established a solid foothold in the border worlds by the end of the first year of the war, and the second year saw the Imperial Guard deployed en masse across a number of systems in pacification campaigns and even to spearhead invasion where Astartes pledges were held as mobile reserves and special strike forces.
The annexation of the Grogskag system in the second year of the Purges had been planned in outline before the first Imperial soldier entered the fringes of orkspace. Grogoff was a major ork centre, held by a powerful group that later became known as the technorkracy; owing to their use of heavy war engines and massive militaro-industrial strength.
Fatefully, the planet became known to the Adeptus Mechanicus, whose inscrutable spy network reported outrages of xeno-abuse against machinery. Two years before the Purge was publically announced, the Archmagos Veneratus Hebrian Lucas Zion sent a petition to Lord Commander Ultima Yves Abattol; pledging the support of regiments of skitarii and the might of the Legio Validus if the upcoming Crusade would break the orks on Grogoff. Politically shrewd, the Lord Commander accepted on the condition that the Legion itself prosecuted the campaign. This condition was eagerly siezed upon, and the forgeworld Braun VI began construction of a new Reaver Titan – the Mercato Stipent– to honour the occasion.
The war over Grogoff later became known as the Godbirth War; and it had profound consequences on the rest of the campaign and beyond. Prior to this period, Gargants were largely unknown in orkspace; the War Engines of the orks rarely being much larger than a superheavy tank. Having seen the mighty engines of Legio Validus waging war across their planet, the meks of the planet were inspired. A diaspora of meks spread throughout the system, leading to warbands and tribes throughout orkspace laying their hands on or constructing progressively more powerful war machines.
One such mek was the infamous Kilkart, leader of the Krushin' Kans. His defence of a fortified ork township saw the first Engine on Engine conflict of the war, and doubtless fuelled the greenskin's thoughts...
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The Imperial battleline advances on Orktown.
Eager for a scrap, the orks boil out from deeper in the city.
Kilkart orders the biggest and most impressive warmachines forward. His pride and joy, the supastompas, are the largest and most heavily-armed machines known to ork-kind at this point in the history of the sector.
The brave men and women of the Anchorpoint 1703rd advance, while the Reaver Mercato Stipent hoves into view through the mist.
The main road into orktown sees the supastompas face off against the might of the Varan's World Armoured Brigades.
As long-range fire peppers the big guns, the supastompa and accompanying megadreads advance.
Ork mechanised infantry sweeps forward into the cover of ork construction work.
Mercato Stipent makes the presence of the Machine God felt.
