Aleph Sector 40K Campaign

Vastrid subsector: Achreom secured by Space Wolves

2012-01-22T01:52:00.001-08:00

With Spinitus secured for the Imperium, General Pollack remained worried about enemy activity in the Radeon Cluster. Chaos had once again secured a foothold on the world of Sentinel in the Perseus Deeps, and with the Orks still allied, at least officially, to Lorek, the threat of the Orks building bases in the Radeon Cluster, the closest inhabitable worlds in the Vastrid subsector to Sentinel, caused Pollack a great deal of concern.

Gabriel's World was already infested, but Pollack felt securing Achreon, closer to Sentinel, was of paramount importance before any assault on the Orks. The Space Wolves agreed to carry out this task, but just days after their arrival an eldar force attacked them. Ranks of Wraithguard led the assault, but the Space Wolves were up to the task, utilising their strike cruiser in orbit to deliver reinforcements via drop pod. The eldar were defeated, but Inquisitor Huron was contacted. Yet another force of eldar had been encountered in the sector.

Worse knews for Huron was to follow. A Space Wolf patrol, on routine reconnaisance, made contact with a small force of Dark Eldar on 2401.012M42, and although they were eliminated, the corpses suggested they were not part of the Kabals known to Huron. It seemed there was no end to the alien interest in the Aleph sector.

Tyndareous: Tau on the brink of victory

2012-01-22T01:50:00.000-08:00

After a short period of relative peace the Tau renewed their offensive in 1201.012M42. Following the stalemate of the last offensive Shadowstrike's cadres once again spearheaded the assault. In the pre-dawn darkness the first the Zadocian Guard protecting Cranburg knew of the Tau advance was when forward pickets reported the sound of numerous jet engines. Tank crews rushed to their vehicles and sergeants bellowed at bleary eyed guardsmen, forming them up at the defensive perimeter. At first all was quiet and relieved commanders on the ground began to think it was a false alarm, but then the darkness was broken by the bright pulses of light and sharp cracks of rail gun discharges.

Blanketed in darkness and the ghostly mists of dawn casualties were initially light for both sides, but as the sun began to rise the guard suddenly found themselves ambushed by kroot auxiliaries, piranha skimmers and stealth teams. The Tau maintained their customary fire discipline, advancing cautiously at first and bringing overwhelming weight of fire against priority targets. As casualties amongst the guard mounted the Tau advance became increasingly aggressive until, with their supporting armour left burning amidst the ruins, the Zadocian resistance collapsed completely. Fire warriors began securing key objectives throughout Cranburg whilst Crisis and stealth teams scoured the destroyed city. The remnants of the Zadocian Guard were either killed or forced to surrender and the regiment ceased to exist as an effective fighting force.

The Device Campaign: Aftermath

2011-12-11T11:02:00.002-08:00

With the device successfully obtained by the Eldar, Hathek's alliance collapsed. The Necron fleet arrived over the planet of Sentinel, evacuating their forces but not attempting to steal the world, at least not yet. With Xanthus gone his remaining forces were slowly annihilated by the Ork and Chaos forces which now controlled much of the world. Hathek still held the Governor's Palace and Scrapyard, but now both sides faces a protracted struggle for control of the world, unless reinforcements arrived. Leaving the Space Wolves in charge, Hathek left in pursuit of Xanthus.

Lorek too saw his alliance collapse, as the Orks decided they wanted Sentinel for themselves. Lorek now had to decide whether fighting the Imperium and the Orks for control of a world he once dominated, was now worth the effort.

The Eldar plan had succeeded brilliantly, and with the chaos device safely in their hands they proceeded with the preparation of the next part of their plan.

Day 3

2011-12-11T11:02:00.001-08:00

By the morning of the third day the Conqueror's of Gorgoroth, Covenant of Damnation, Aurora Angels and Praetorian Guard were exhausted and unable to fight. Lorek still held the central compound however, but had been forced to abandon his attempt to dislodge Xanthus from the spaceport, moving his ork forces back to the compound. At the same time, Thrugnik made a final move to capture the scrap yard and the Catechism attempted to find and shut down the eldar webway portal in the Bastern mountains.

Xanthus still clung on desparately to the spaceport, but by now he knew all was lost. He moved the Dark Angels in to help defend the spaceport, while sending the 24th Islandawandans on a certain suicide mission against the central compound to buy him and his entourage time to escape.

Hathek also had problems. His Praetorians were no longer a fighting force and he desperately wanted to stop Xanthus escaping. The Necrons offered him a solution. They would wake their brethren at the Ningbo tomb complex and overwhelm the Orks and Chaos. Meanwhile Hathek would be free to move on the spaceport, cutting off Xanthus' escape.

Now the eldar made their final play for the device. First they intercepted and defeated the orks at the scrapyard after heavy fighting, preventing the orks from gaining much needed resources. At the same time the dark eldar thwarted the Catechism's attempt to cut them off by destroying their webway portal. The Necrons, moving in force on the tomb complex, found their way barred by a further force of dark eldar. The ensuing battle and Necron defeat ensured that Hathek's faction would not be able to destroy the device.

In the Sentinel plain the battles reached a climax. At the space port the Cerberex Guard clung on despite a ferocious Spaec Wolf assault, allowing Xanthus to reach his fast Inquisition shuttle and escape. The 24th Islandawanda, supposedly sent on a suicide mission, actually managed some success against Lorek's forces, defeating them and relieving the central compound. However their success was short lived, as the orks made short work of the remaining Tau, while the eldar cut off their retreat, annihilating the remaining Dark Angels and ensuring the Islandawandans would be trapped between chaos, ork and eldar forces. As the battles here raged, the eldar used the tomb complex themselves to open a portal to the device. Just as Xanthus' outnumbered and outgunned defenders finally succumbed to the overwhelming Chaos and Ork army besieging them, and bestial greenskins and traitor legionaries flooded in, the device disappeared in a shimmering light, vanishing along with all eldar forces on the planet. The battle for the device was over.

Day 2

2011-12-11T11:01:00.001-08:00

Following nightfall on the 8th, Hathek's Space Wolves and Praetorian Guard moved together towards the Sentinel Prime Complex, but as dawn broke they found themselves with a large eldar force to their rear and were obliged to give battle. As the eldar and dark eldar forces ground Hathek's forces down, Lorek consolidated his hold on the central compound by causing further losses to the Tau, who were the only one of Hathek's forces to make it to the compound on day two. The Necrons moved into the Governor's palace, defeating the Conqueror's of Gorgoroth, while Lorek sent the orks to deal with the Cerberex Guard at the spaceport.

Once again the Xanthus' loyal guardsman refused to budge, and Lorek was turned back. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't break into the reinforced fortification which housed the device, as a secure underground tunnel to the space port kept the besieged defenders supplied. Lorek was also frustrated by the interference of the eldar and sent the Covenant of Damnation north into the Bastern Mountains to find them. However, Xanthus had pulled his badly mauled marines out of the Sentinel valley to rest, only for them to make contact with both the Eldar and an enormous summoned horde of daemons. the results were catastophic for Xanthus, who almost saw both companies wiped out. The daemons then disappeared and the Covenant of Damnation effectively ceased to be a fighting force after this.

Meanwhile the 24th Islandawandans were once again defeated having retreated into the mountains from the Caverns of Argaash. This time the eldar battered the remaining tribesmen, leaving the remains of the 24th scattered and almost spent.

Day 1

2011-12-11T10:59:00.001-08:00

The Ork and Chaos fleet almost ran headlong into Hathek's smaller, faster vessels, but in the end the Imperial fleet was able to land troops and move to the edge of the system before the orks arrived. Lorek and Thrugnik then landed their troops in the southern mountains before dispersing. Lorek's plan was simple. Steal the device and get it operational, leaving via the portal. He didn't much care what happened to the Orks, they seemed to be more interested in the Sentinel Scrapyard in any case. Hathek simply had the destruction of the Device in mind. Leaving wasn't a priority.

Having landed, the Orks moved north towards the scrapyard, and formed the left wing of a broad chaos front. Lorek's forces, along with Thrugnik's orks, moved towards the Sentinel Prime compound, very soon encountering Dark Angel and Aurora Angel space marines who were holding the perimeter for Xanthus. Bloody fighting here saw Xanthus' defences falter, and by the end of 0812.011M42 Lorek and Thrugnik had surrounded the main imperial compound.

On Lorek's right, the Covenant of Damnation and Conquerer's of Gorgoroth made for the spaceport, but a stubborn defence from Xanthus' Cerberex Guard soon turned into an all out counter attack when the eldar intervened on the Imperial side. On Lorek's far right, the Catechism executed a wide flanking manouevre, racing across the central plains and defeating the 24th Islandawanda at the Caverns of Argaash.

Meanwhile Hathek had landed in the north, and the space wolves, moving around the western shore of the Odin Sea, encountered Orks at the Scrap Yard, seeing them off and digging in, aware of the ferocious battle taking place at the main compound and not wishing to get involved, yet.

The Praetorian Guard moved to the east of the Odin Sea but were ambushed and delayed by the eldar, while the Tau, who had landed at the Ningbo Tomb complex, were massacred by eldar intent on preventing any activation of the dormant Necrons under the surface of the planet. The Necrons themselves had gone straight for the main prize, but despite defeating an eldar ambush, they could not get past the enormous battle taking place outside the compound.

The Device Campaign: Introduction

2011-12-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

The three day battle of Bastien occurred between 0812.011M42 and 1212.011M42, when four major factions converged on the Imperial outpost following the revelation that Inquisitor Lord Xanthus had almost completed construction of a second "device", capable of creating stable portals between worlds thousands of light years apart.

Inquisitor lord Hathek had been spying on Xanthus for months, and when his spies were sure of what Xanthus was up to, they sent a message to their master who immediately gathered as many forces as he could to converge on Sentinel. Time was short, so hathek could only call on one regiment of Praetorian Guard and a company of Space Wolves.

To increase his forces, Hathek leant heavily on the Tau. Eventually they consented to sending one hunter cadre, but Shadowstrike ensured it was made up of their most inexperienced and expendable troops. The Tau had fullfilled their treaty obligations, but only just.

On the way to Sentinel Hathek received a strange message. The necrons had learned of Xanthus plans, but also knew what would happen were the device to fall into the wrong hands. They too craved the destruction of the blasphemous machine, and offered an alliance with Hathek. After much negotiation Hathek agreed, to the consternation of the Space Wolves. However Hathek's retained his imperial authority and now his "alliance" had the forces required to overwhelm Xanthus and destroy the device.

Unfortunately for Inquistor Hathek, he was not the only force aware of the creation of the device. The forces of Chaos felt the nascent device's call in the warp, and, affronted that the Imperium would dare to replicate something of theirs, resolved to steal it. To improve their chances, Lorek secured help from the Catechism, Conquerer's of Gorgoroth, the Covenant of Damnation and two Ork forces including those of Warboss Thrugnik. The ramshackle fleet had already assembled in the Cerrack Nebula and departed for Sentinel days before Hathek was even aware of the device's existence, but distance and fate meant both forces would arrive on the same day.

the eldar, especially the Rillietan, had been manipulating events for months, waiting for this day. Their farseers had forseen this day, when three factions would converge at the same time and clash over the device. This they had intended all along. While the three sides fought amongst themselves, the eldar and dark eldar would gather, move swiftly to their objectives and steal the device from under the noses of the Imperium, Tau, Necrons, Chaos and Orks.

Perseus Deeps modifiers

2011-12-05T13:56:00.001-08:00

+++INQUISITION MESSAGE INTERCEPT+++

2011-12-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

++++++Transmitted: Astropathic beacon Sigma 1188_3
+++++++++Received: Astropath Adranek
++++++Destination: Inquisitor Lord Hathek
+++++Mission Time: 0212.011M42
++Telepathic Duct: Terminus Calladek
++++++++++++++Ref: Heresy/112_213XAN
+++++++++++Author: Inquisitor Julius DeMann

Thought for the Day: A single thought of heresy can blight a lifetime of faithful duty

+++SECURITY LEVEL ALPHA PRIMARIS+++
+++RECIPIENTS EYES ONLY+++

My Lord Hathek,

I can confirm your earlier suspicions are correct. I have been observing Lord Xanthus' actions on Sentinell for many weeks now. Despite his ongoing distraction of the war on Tyndareous, his main obsession is as ever "the Device". Somehow he has come into possession of the plans to the arcane chaos machinery and is now attempting to build one of his own. It is as you postulated. The device creates a stable wormhole through the warp, much akin to the eldar webway, but without joining it. This device can create a portal from anywhere, to anywhere.

From what I have seen of its construction it is of identical design to that posessed by the arch traitor Moonface, and will be able to deliver agents, assassins, even armies wherever Lord Xanthus sees fit once it is fully operational. I witnessed its first test. Ten souls of "heretics" were fed to the device, and the heretical construction disappeared, only to re-appear some minutes later, with Xanthus himself, who by then was looking very pleased.

This is surely heresy my lord, and this infernal device must be destroyed as not only is it heretical in design by its very nature, who knows what it calls when it is put to use. Already I feel the taint of chaos in the air, though Xanthus seems not to notice. It is calling them here. If you do not move to destroy it soon, others will come for it.

I am reasonably certain I have taken all the necessary precautions to prevent Lord Xanthus from intercepting this message, but if not, act soon, I shall await instructions.

The Battle of Calliden

2011-12-05T10:57:00.001-08:00

Battle of Calliden - Aftermath

2011-12-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

The battle of Calliden was inconclusive. At first glance the losses would suggest a chaos victory. Certainly the chaos-ork fleet had caused the most damage, destroying six Imperial capital ships for the loss of just one. However the orks had been scattered and had lost five roks, and the chaos fleet had seen, eight of its capital vessels crippled, including Thok's flagship, the Jormungandr. In addition three of the Imperial losses were dauntless class light cruisers, and other than the Glorious and Conquerer, the rest of the Imperial fleet was intact. The chaos fleet would be unable to launch a major raid for months, and the strategic situation remained unchanged. Jellicoe was still able to bottle up the chaos fleet in their three port worlds, and the status quo was preserved. Thok had been unable to turn the tide of Imperial numerical superiority with an overwhelming victory, and Jellicoe had been unable to cruch the chaos fleet once and for all, as he had hoped. The outcome had been uniquely undesirable for both sides, but it was the Imperium who began the inevitable post mortem. How had they lost so many ships? Why didn't Jellicoe get the crushing victory so many had been expecting?

Imperial analyticae immediately rounded on Admiral Jellicoe himself. They criticised, with the luxury of hindsight, his decision not to follow Dreyer into the heat of the battle with Tragean, in order to chase the "phantom echo" of a fleet to his flank. Jellicoe did not know at the time however, that Thok's forces were drifting in silently and would not appear for some time, and he was also unaware that Hector's battlegroup were not arriving swiftly to aid Dreyer. Some criticised Dreyer for immediately attacking, then finding himself outnumbered and outgunned, but when he requested permission to attack, both he and his superior were completely unaware of the ork threat just behind Tragean's lines.

More observers pointed to the slowness of the arrival of the Adeptus Mechanicus and of Admiral Hector, with many criticising Hector's risking of his light cruisers against the ork roks. In Hector's defence, Jellicoe in his official report praised his subordinate for the daring and bravery of his light cruiser force, for without their attacks the orks may have lost far fewer gun platforms than they did. Most of the criticism ended up on Jellicoe however, with the main thrust of their argument pointing at his initial deployment of the fleet. His battlegroups had been too widely spread, so that when contact was made there was little if any hope of forming a "grand fleet" as Jellicoe's own standing orders had instructed before battle was joined.

In the end however, Jellicoe weathered the storm of criticism, his reputation damaged, but still intact enough to remain head of the Imperial navy in the sector. After all, none of his subordinates had showered themselves in glory, and the chaos fleet had been severely damaged. The much anticipated invasion of Calliden was however put on hold. Much more pressing matters had now come to a head on the planet of Sentinel...

Imperial Losses

Indefatigable - Destroyed
Cressy - Destroyed
Irresistible - Destroyed
Medusa - Destroyed
Hippocampi - Destroyed
Helios - Destroyed

Glorious - crippled
Conqueror - crippled

Chaos Ork Losses

5 Roks destroyed
Sword of Ajax - Destroyed

Jormungandr - crippled
Beowulf - crippled
Brunhilde - crippled
Grendel's Fury - crippled
Skoll - crippled
Doombringer - crippled
Unnatural Permutation - crippled
Unholy Flame - crippled

The Battle of Calliden - The Battle

2011-12-05T08:22:00.001-08:00

The first chaos vessels sighted were those of Lord Tragean. Jellicoe received a message from Dreyer's flagship Iron Duke and the admiral gave his subordinate permission to engage, as his own battlegroup was following Dreyer's with Hector on the starboard wing and the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet tracking an anomalous energy signature on the port wing. Jellicoe hoped to trap Tragean before any reinforcements could arrive.

This plan went wrong with alarming rapidity. As Dreyer's vessels began the action with Tragean at 12:22 local system time, the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet reported that a large fleet was threatening Jellicoe's flank, and they were straining to keep up. Annoyed, instead of following Dreyer, Jellicoe turned his fleet, led by the Agamemnon, to port, preparing to meet this threat. This left Dreyer on his own, fighting it out against Tragean around a densely packed asteroid field. Worse still, it was at this time that the ork Roks, and a fearsome ork hulk appeared dead ahead, and began lending their ordnance of torpedoes and fighta bombas to Tragean's attack.

Dreyer's battlegroup opened the shooting and caused the first damage to Unnatural Permutation at 13:30. Tragean's vessels began firing back and Dreyer found himself trying to fend off swarms of ork attack craft while taking fire from the chaos ships, which had formed into a concentrated battle line. Using the cover of the asteroids, Dreyer's ships managed to cripple the Harbinger early on while avoiding critical damage themselves.

While Jellicoe was still waiting for the second chaos fleet to pull into view, Admiral Hector's battlegroup arrived on the starboard wing, behind Tragean's fleet. This ought to have put them in an ideal position, but Hector was slow to order "all ahead full" and Tragean's vessels already had a good lead. At 15:36 Dreyer's luck finally ran out when Irresistable became the first casualty of the battle, brought down either by fire from Tragean's lead ships, including the battleship Irredeemable Apostate, or from waves of ork torpedoes.

Hector's ships finally began accelerating, but it soon became apparent that they could not meaningfully aid Dreyer's battlegroup, who were now skillfully navigating the asteroid belt in order to get a good shooting position against Tragean's ships. Hector had his own problems as well, as the orks were beginning to interpose themselves between his fleet and the chaos vessels. Disaster struck at 15:44, when Medusa, a dauntless class cruiser, took an unlucky hit from an ork torpedo, breaking her back and sending her spinning out of the battle. Revenge came swiftly however, as at 15:45 combined firepower from Dreyer's gothic class vessels, emerging from the asteroid field, crippled the Unnatural Permutation.

Meanwhile Jellicoe had made contact with the fleet he had been chasing. Appearing from the port quarter, Admiral Thok's fleet appeared, led by the Jormungandr. They had drifted in silently and powered up weapons at the last moment, taking the Imperial fleet by surprise. The result was almost catastrophic. Thok's entire fleet zeroed in on the cruisers Valiant, Indefatigable, Conquerer and Agincourt. The results were predictable and at 15:40 the Indefatigable was reduced to a smoking hulk, while Conquerer took heavy damage. Thok's ships shooting had been woefully inaccurate however, and Jellicoe ought to have paid a much heavier price. Conquerer and Daring quickly disengaged, the latter having been caught out on her own and engaged at long range by the newly arriving chaos vessels of Lorek, which appeared on the scene at about 15:40, on the port wing of the ork "formation".

Jellicoe now had his revenge. Agincourt and Valiant made an expert torpedo run, while firing both broadsides at the rear of Thok's lines. Supported by the lance batteries of the Agamemnon, Thok's ships took a battering. Worse still for the chaos admiral, at 15:45 the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet arrived on his port quarter, damaging a chaos cruiser and crippling the Jormugandr with an outstanding display of accurate nova cannon fire. Thok's fleet couldn't withstand this kind of punishment for long, and despite frantic manouevres, Brunhilde, Skoll, Beowulf and Grendel's Fury took heavy damage, and Thok's entire battlegroup disengaged at 16:45.

The defeat of Thok ought to have ensured that despite the fact that Jellicoe had torn up his battle plan, the Imperium would win the day. However things were coming to a head in the centre. Tragean had now managed to get behind Dreyer's force, and Hector's fleet were now busily engaged with the ork roks. Worse still, Lorek's fleet was turning to chase Dreyer's fleet while Jellicoe's vessels struggled to turn round and get back in the fight. The Adeptus Mechanicus fleet's arrival made up for the poor tactical position Jellicoe's forces were now in, as long range firepower crippled Lorek's flagship, the Sword of Ajax, at 17:15.

Admiral Hector's fleet was suffering at the hands of the orks. His ships had destroyed three in a fierce engagement, but Hippocampi had been reduced to a hulk, and the wreck of the Medusa detonated as she collided with an asteroid at 17:25, only adding to the scene of carnage on that area of the battlefield. In the centre, Tragean was constantly frustrated by the lack of discipline from his captains, and despite damaging the Iron Duke and setting it ablaze, Dreyer's fleet managed to escape annihilation by successfully navigating the asteroid belt which dominated the centre of the action. However, Dreyer soon found the action just as hot on the other side, as his fleet began to form up with Hectors to fight the orks. At 19:08 the ork hulk itself showed its worth, destroying the Cressy and minutes later destroying the dauntless class Helios, after it had been crippled by a long range salvo from one of Lorek's vessels. The wreck then exploded at 19:15, blinding the sensory augurs of most vessels in the vicinity.

Jellicoe was losing ships, while the chaos forces hadn't lost one. The orks by now had lost four roks, and their hulk was taking damage, but the forces of chaos still had all their ships intact, even if several were seriously damaged. This finally changed at 19:27, when the ailing Sword of Ajax was finished off by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The forces of the machine god also managed to cripple the Unholy flame, before the confusing augur returns caused by wreckage and explosions from destroyed Imperial vessels began to see both sides lose contact with each other.

Despite some long ranged salvoes over the next few hours, the main action was over. Jellicoe ordered his sub commanders to form up on his flagship while he searched for the chaos fleet once more. Several hours later Beattie's battlegroup arrived, informing Jellicoe that the chaos fleet had returned to the safety of the Calliden space docks, while the ork roks had melted away into the asteroid belts which ringed the system.

There was a brief discussion whether or not to press home the attack and assault the docks, but with so many ships lost or damaged, the likely result was mutual annihilation, something Jellicoe could not afford. Disappointed and unsure of the result of the battle, Jellico returned to port at Corticant, his battered vessels arriving some days later.

The Battle of Calliden - introduction

2011-12-04T01:56:00.001-08:00

With the losses sustained by Lorek and the Catechism in the previous months, as well as intelligence that the warfleet of Shaidar Haran was no longer a gestalt entity, Admiral Jellicoe received orders from his superior to end the chaos blockade and to knock out the chaos fleet once and for all. He could call on five fleets for the action, those of his own battlegroup, led by the battleship Agamemnon, Admiral Dreyer's formidable force, the ships of newly arrived Admiral Hector, Admiral Beattie's battlegroup and a significant force lent by the Adeptus Mechanicus, who were eager to pour over the anticipated chaos hulks following the victory. Against him the chaos forces were known to have three fleets, those of Thok, Tragean and Lorek, and Jellicoe reckoned he should have a 5-3 advantage in numbers. More than enough for a crushing victory. Little did he know that the forces of chaos had anticipated such an attack on Calliden, and had made a pact with the orks, who had converted much of the outer rim's asteroids into their own unique battlecraft, roks.

So on 0312.011M42 the fleets of Jellicoe arrived in the Calliden system. Upon exiting the warp Jellicoe immediately suffered a setback, as Beattie's fleet hadn't arrived and could not be contacted. Presumed delayed in the warp, Jellicoe was forced to press ahead when several augur returns from the Adeptus Mechanicus vessel Magos Vaspasian indicated that the chaos forces were ready and waiting for them. The returns were vague however, and Jellicoe was forced to split his fleet, dividing it into its usual battlegroups as he pressed on in system. In the outer reaches of the system, close to a rogue planet and several asteroid belts, first contact was made.

Order of Battle

Imperium

Battleships - Class
Magos Vaspasian - Retribution
Apollo - Oberon
Iron Duke - Emperor
Agamemnon - Victory

Heavy Cruisers - Class
Valiant - Armageddon
Glorious - Mars
Hephaestus - Exorcist
Hermes - Exorcist
Morpheus - Dominator

Cruisers - Class
Scienta - Tyrant
Valente Deo - Dictator
Esto Perpetua - Tyrant
Suppono - Gothic
Indefatigable - Tyrant
Agincourt - Lunar
Conqueror - Lunar
Indomitable - Gothic
Cressy - Gothic
Irresistible - Dominator
Implacable - Dominator
Morpheus - Dominator

Light Cruisers - Class
Daring - Defiant
Erebus - Dauntless
Medusa - Dauntless
Hippocampi - Dauntless
Helios - Dauntless

Chaos Ork alliance

Battleships - Class
Irredeemable Apostate - Desolator
Jormungandr - Desolator

Heavy Cruisers - Class
Messiah of Pain - Acheron
Sword of Ajax - Hades
Beowulf - Acheron
Plagueclaw - Hades

Cruisers - Class
Brunhilde - Carnage
Heimdal - Carnage
Volsung's Revenge - Devastation
Grendel's Fury - Devastation
Skoll - Slaughter
Doombringer - Devastation
Dark Omen - Carnage
Unnatural Permutation - Carnage
Reaver - Slaughter
Doomblade - Slaughter
Fortress of Hate - Devastation
Warp Revelator - Devastation
Divine Anarchy - Devastation
Agonise Demise - Carnage
Unholy Flame - Carnage

10 Ork roks and one space hulk

Necrons claim blight, make gains on Enaloth

2011-12-04T01:55:00.002-08:00

The war on Blight came to a grizzly end on 0112.011M42 when the Necrons attacked the final stronghold of chaos on the world, defended by the hapless Covenant of Damnation. Mostly conscripted cultists, the Covenant lacked the equipment and supplies to hold the Necrons for long, and after the initial assault, the chaos defence of their world collapsed in less than a day. Blight had fallen to the Necrons, and they looked to the other worlds of the Perseus Deeps for their next conquest.

More worrying for the Imperium however was the sudden appearance of Necrons in the Vastrid subsector. Necrons had not been encountered outside the Perseus Deeps before 12.011M42, and the Inquisition was content to believe the extent of the Necron threat in the sector was confined to this area. Members of the Inquisition considered the Necrons a minor force, possibly the awakened remnants of a long lost fringeworld, but a battle between orks and Necrons on the world of Drift threw this assumption into doubt. Inquisitor Huron decided to give up on his investigation into the Rillietan for the moment, and determined to understand the extent of the Necron threat in the sector, alongside Lord Hathek.

Enaloth had been overrun by an advanced splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Nemesis some time ago but, distant from the Hive Fleet, it hadn't been consumed. Instead it acted as a psychic beacon, calling Nemesis to the fertile feeding grounds of the Perseus Deeps. The awakening Necrons desired to remove the Tyranids from Enaloth, both so they could rouse those of their number slumbering beneath the planets surface and also to avert the attentions of the ravenous Hive Fleet. Still in the process of awakening the Necrons wanted to avoid an unneeded direct confrontation with the full might of Nemesis.

Travelling through Dolmon Gates, Necrons from Gamador and Skera arrived within the still sleeping tomb complexes on Enaloth and began their assault on the planet's surface. Expecting any attack to come from space and stranded far from the guiding will of the Hive Mind the Tyranids were disorganised and uncoordinated. The initial attack of the silent ranks of Necrons scoured hundreds of Tyranids from the planets surface and having suffered such heavy casualties in the initial attack the Tyranids were never able to muster a significant counter attack. Even so, the vicious aliens had no conception of fear and fought bitterly to the end. Although the Necrons did eventually purge the planet it cost them more time and effort than they had originally conceived. With the Tyranid threat removed the Necrons began the process of re-activating their tomb complexes, ignorant for now that a tendril of Hive Fleet Nemesis, bloated from its consumption of Valboris, had already headed the call of its splinter and was already heading towards Enaloth.

Tau keep Aornis Passage open

2011-12-04T01:55:00.001-08:00

While the Imperial and chaos fleets battled it out in the Calliden system, the Tau fleet was also in action. Since the raid on Aornis, the Tau had found the forces of chaos even more willing to throw their forces against them, even though their resources were wearing thin. On 2811.011M42 another Tau convoy to Parius was attacked, this time by the Conquerers of Gorgoroth.

The Tau reaction was immediate and unwavering. A new fleet, having recently arrived at Tarsis Major, set off to the Rim Worlds to seek out an action with the new chaos battlefleet. Battle was joined near the Aornis system on 0412.011M42, with the chaos vessels coming off much the worse in a very one sided battle. Suitably chastened the raids on Tau convoys stopped, for a while, allowing Shadowstrike to fortify Parius significantly.

Da Verminator asserts dominance

2011-12-04T01:54:00.000-08:00

With the bulk of the Imperial and chaos attention focussed on the Perseus Deeps, the orks took the opportunity to continue their expansion into the Vastrid sector, and both Thrugnik and Da Verminator landed vanguard forces on Gabriel's world. Not finding any defenders, the forces of the two warbosses inevitably decided to see who was "da best", and fighting broke out between them. Victory went to Da Verminator and although the battle was a comparatively small affair, the slight to Thrugnik's honour would not go unnoticed.

A few days later, on 0412.011M42, Thrugnik's orks found themselves raided once more by the dark eldar, although they were able to fight their enemy to a standstill. The dark eldar had been watching the orks fight amongst themselves and had decided to take the opportunity to raid a weakened Thrugnik. The orks however were not as weakened as the dark eldar had hoped, and they went back to Commorragh empty handed.

+++INQUISITION MESSAGE INTERCEPT+++

2011-11-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

++++++Transmitted: Light Cruiser Serendipity
+++++++++Received: Astropath Selanor
++++++Destination: Inquisitor Lord Hathek
+++++Mission Time: 2811.011M42
++Telepathic Duct: Terminus Furdinand
++++++++++++++Ref: OrdoXenos/4623832643/ST
+++++++++++Author: Inquisitor Darell Yintard

Thought for the Day: My mind is a fortress, no false thought shall tresspass

+++SECURITY LEVEL ALPHA PRIMARIS+++
+++RECIPIENTS EYES ONLY+++

My Lord Hathek, as per your instructions I have been investigating the origins of the Tyranid Hive Fleet codenamed “Nemesis”. My enquiries on Alphe were fruitful and I obtained many samples. Lab tests reveal Nemesis to be a highly evolved strain derived from Hive Fleet Gorgon. However, the gene strain appears to show evidence of artificial tampering, with many sequences atypical of Tyranid DNA and demonstrating signs of viral insertion. I cannot conduct a full analysis with the equipment and personnel available to me so I have dispatched stasis-locked samples to you via a courier escort.

After leaving Alphe I traced Nemesis' route back along its extrapolated course. It appears to have consumed a number of life bearing planets within the Hadron Expanse. This region is sparsely utilised by the Imperium, with only a small mining colony marked on the astrological charts. This world has been consumed and yielded no valuable information.

I shall continue to trace Nemesis' path and I will report my findings to you. The Emperor protects.

Parataea raided, Parius resupplied

2011-11-27T02:14:00.003-08:00

In late 11.011M42 the Tau colony of Parataea came under attack from the Shattered Silence kabal of the Dark Eldar. Until now, the Tau had been relatively free of Dark Eldar raids as they were not considered "good sport" or useful as slaves. More to the point, Tau were decidedly less valuable. However the raid on 2611.011M42 was particularly savage, with the Tau suffering heavy losses. Many of the colonists began to think twice about their continued presence in the Perseus Deeps. Something would have to be done.

The Tau holdings in the Perseus Deeps had been suffering ever more frequent raids from Dark Eldar, Necrons and Chaos forces alike. Shadowstrike was aware of the need to consolidate the Tau's grip on the region and proposed a program of fortification and colonisation to establish a string of new Sept worlds. He was aware that some of the minor worlds that could not be defended might have to be abandoned in the process, but the new colonies would be proof against anything short of a major crusade and provide a suitable staging point for future expansion.

One obstacle to these plans were Chaos pirates launching out of bases in the rim worlds. They had been preying on supply convoys carrying the materials and troops needed to establish the new Septs, so when intelligence assets discovered the base of a pirate clan on Aornis the Tau were quick to retaliate. A small battle group managed to approach the planet undetected and deploy an air wing of Barracudas and AX-1-0 Tiger Sharks into the atmosphere. Clouds of hellblades hurriedly scrambled to intercept them. Despite being badly outnumbered the Tau pilots had the edge over the poorly trained and disciplined pirates. In a short space of time the hellblades were all destroyed or driven off. Meanwhile, whilst the main attack had distracted the bases defences a second strike force of barracudas equipped with air to ground missiles had evaded the fighter screens and strafed the base unchallenged, destroying it utterly. The pirates on Aornis had been utterly neutralised and the Tau convoys were once more able to reach Parius unmolested.

Necrons make major move on Blight

2011-11-27T02:14:00.001-08:00

The war on Blight between the Necrons and Chaos forces had been going on for several months with neither side making much headway. The world was never heavily populated, and its conversion to chaos in 009M42 hadn't done anything to improve things. At first the Necrons had come in small bands, harassing the population and providing a distraction to the forces of chaos in the Deeps. This all changed on 2211.011M42.

The Necron fleet arrived in the system without warning, finding Lorek's fleet stationed above the world. The chaos fleet moved to intercept the invasion, but carnage followed. For the loss of just a few escorts, the Necron fleet obliterated Lorek's fleet, destroying five capital class vessels. The remaining ships fled, allowing the Necrons to land thousands of warriors on the surface.

Warbands of the Conquerers of Gorgoroth attempted to stop the tide of invading forces, but despite a tenacious defence, the Necrons eventually overwhelmed the traitor astartes forces, pushing them back and expanding their own bridghead. Days later the hills of Blight erupted with more Necron warriors, and it became apparent that the new arrivals had awakened a sleeping tomb world. By 2911.011M42 the chaos forces were holding on to a tiny scrap of the world, defending a perimeter against hopeless odds.

As the Chaos held section of the world continued to shrink, the Catechism intervened, sending a fleet to the Blight system to challenge the supremacy of the Necron vessels. The Necrons formed up their fleet formation once again and engaged in a fierce battle. This time the result was not so one sided, as the chaos admiral inflicted serious damage on at least one of the Necron capital ships. Never-the-less the Necrons prevailed once again, maintaining their blockade of the system and continuing their ruthless prosecution of the ground campaign. It would only be a matter of time before the planet became the sixth world to fall to the Necron menace since their appearance three years earlier.

It was apparent to all now that the Necrons were awakening on a number of worlds across the Deeps. Privately Inquisitor Hathek feared the number of worlds in the sector could be dozens or even hundreds. If they were all to awaken, the whole sector could be doomed. On the plus side the fleets of the Catechism and the Claws of Lorek had been severely damaged, and there had never been a better time to launch an all out assault against the chaos naval forces. In addition, intelligence suggested that the vessels of Shaidar Haran had been divided between the Catechism and the Conquerors of Gorgoroth. This left, so Admiral Jellicoe reckoned, just Lorek's battered fleet, Admiral Thok and Admiral Tragean to deal with. Jellicoe began to muster the fleet at Corticant and sent long range Cobra patrols into the Deeps to seek out the main bulk of the Chaos fleet.

War in the Vastrid subsector

2011-11-27T02:13:00.002-08:00

With the conquest of Trian, general Pollack was preparing an assault against Aspaster and Hogan's Fall, when intelligence came in of movements of troops and warships to the galactic south. Orks and Chaos forces were reported moving in on the strategically important minor worlds of Spinitis and Gabriel's world, and this needed countering. Pollack knew his forces would not be able to react quickly enough, so the space marines of Aurora Angels chapter offered to deal with the threat.

At the same time, the Dark Angels fleet became available for use in the assault on Hogan's Fall which Pollack had been planning. This allowed the Imperial General to redirect the bulk of the fleet to search for the chaos vessels, while the Dark Angels dealt with the massive Rok fleet in orbit around the minor world.

The Dark Angels successfully defeated the haphazard fleet of asteroids, but took heavy damage in the process. They would now be unable to support Jellicoe's planned attack on Chaos, and returned to Corticant for repairs. They did manage to scatter the orks however, and the Ork forces on Hogan's Fall sound found themselves surrounded and destroyed by the Imperial troops landed while the Ork Roks were being dealt with. The planet was, for the third time in as many months, back in Imperial hands.

Meanwhile on Spinitus the Aurora Angels landed, securing a base on the planet before finding that forces of the Covenant of Damnation had got there some days before. The Astartes attacked and drove off the Chaos forces, expanding their zone of control and taking over the main outpost on the world.

The Covenant had also landed on Gabriel's world, but here the Orks had already appeared, creating their own ramshackle fortresses and setting up great workshops to build their war engines. Many of these were put immediately into use, attacking the Covenant forces, and no matter how hard they tried, the cultist forces couldn't seem to destroy the infernal Ork walkers, and were scattered into the wastelands of the planet, leaving the orks to consolidate their hold on the world.

Valboris consumed

2011-11-27T02:13:00.001-08:00

With the Hive Fleet in orbit Nemesis showed none of the lethargy it had during the early days of its infestation of Valboris. Driven by the imperative of the Hive Mind and freed from the need to grow re-enforcements in planetside reclamation pools hordes of Tyranids swept across the planes and skies of Valboris.

Long after other traitor legions had abandoned the planet to its inevitable fate the Conquerors of Gorgoroth tried to stem the tide. Taking up positions across a narrow isthmus they hoped to negate the Tyranids overwhelming advantage in numbers. Their efforts were in vain. Creeping forward under cover of darkness the Tyranids erupted from the ruins of Buffalo Crossing with alarming speed. As the ground was blanketed with writhing gaunts, the skies were filled with gargoyles, unhindered by the constricting terrain. Crazed with blood lust the berserkers of Khorne charged headlong into the wall of living bodies and disappeared under it without trace. Seeing their fate and realising their cause was hopeless the remaining traitor marines withdrew to Coyote Creek where drop ships waited to evacuate them.

No such salvation awaited the hundreds of thousands of cultists that made up the bulk of Valboris' defences. They were left with no choice but to make a last, desperate stand. Under the brutal control of their officers they managed to cut down the first waves of Tyranids with disciplined volleys of fire. Even the lowest of the Tyranids proved unusually difficult to put down, their will totally dominated by the overriding imperative of the Hive Mind, driven to achieve total victory regardless of injury. Suddenly, more Tyranids erupted into the defenders flanks and rear and the remaining organised resistance, already stretched to breaking point, collapsed completely. Nemesis fell on the remaining scattered pockets and devoured them voraciously. Soon, all was silent except for the thrum of ripper swarms stripping the dead and the planet itself of its biomass. With nothing left to resist the Hive Ships descended and began to feed.

Bitter fighting on Tyndareous

2011-11-27T02:12:00.000-08:00

By the end of 011M42 the war on Tyndareous had been going on for months without the swift resolution both sides were looking for. For every gain there there had been a reverse, and every initiative had been countered. Now as 12.011M42 approached, the Tau and the Imperium were both planning their new offensives.

On 2411.011M42 both sides began their offensives at dawn, and the two forces ran headlong into each other on the outskirts of Garrett. The Tau, commanded by Moonshine, had planned on taking the city, and were quite unprepared for the sudden appearance of a regiment of Zadocian Guard moving towards their lines. They reacted slowly to the situation, and by the time they had mobilised their reserves, Ranier Pass had fallen to the Imperium. Moonshine had no option but to withdraw from Garrett.

Just 24 hours later, the Tau attacked again, this time coming round the Imperial defences from the north, an area held by the Red Angels. After a protracted fight, Moonshine turned the Imperial flank, undoing their earlier gains and retaking Ranier Pass. The Imperial forces had to then pull back to straighten their lines, surrendering much of Garrett in the process. Then the swing of battle changed again.

The Imperial commander identified a weakness in the Tau assault, and drove home a new push by the Zadocians in the south of Garett. Here the Tau were inexperienced and less well equipped, as Shadowstrike's elite Cadre's had still not been employed. The new attack went in well, and the Tau had to give ground. By 3011.011M42 the front line was back where it started, with thousands dead on both sides.

The Imperium and Tau were both frustrated, but the Imperium were happier. Eventually the Tau would tire of the war of attrition - they expected - and either withdraw or overcommit their forces to Tyndareous, weakening them elswhere. This would also play into Xanthus hands. However, on 0212.011M42 the Dark Eldar suddenly attacked, massacring the Red Angels and completely cutting off the Zadocian Guard in Garrett. The Imperial regiment collapsed, soldiers either fleeing into the hills, surrendering to the Tau or being enslaved by the Dark Eldar, and thanks to this intervention, the city fell to the Tau without a further shot being fired. Now the Tau dominated the east of the colony, and had cut the Imperium in two. The war on Tyndareous seemed far closer to a conclusion than it had in weeks.

Vastrid Subsector: current situation

2011-11-21T10:33:00.001-08:00

Tyndareous: current situation

2011-11-21T07:30:00.001-08:00

Rillietan target Chaos and Necrons

2011-11-21T07:28:00.001-08:00

While Inquisitor Huron continued to try to raise a force to chase after the eldar, his options were becoming limited. Now the Orks had taken Hogan's Fall his initial plan had to be scrapped, and as 11.011M42 progressed, it seemed his quarry had returned once more to the Perseus Deeps, perhaps just to spite him.

The eldar now known to Huron as the Rillietan conducted two major raids as the end of 11.011M42 approached. Both times the eldar attacked in concert with the dark eldar kabal known as the Shattered Silence, so there could now be no denying that the two were working together on something, a fact both unusual and disturbing. The first raid was conducted against the forces of chaos on Carnage, with the Rillietan obliterating the Conquerers of Gorgoroth in open battle, before sacking settlements and blasphemous places of worship. The eldar then vanished back into the webway before reinforcements could strike back against them, the Shattered Silence appeared on the other side of the Conqueror's territory and soundly beat them, taking advantage of the confusion wrought by the Rillietan.

Two days later on 2211.011M42 the pair of forces appeared once again, this time on Zog, where the Imperial forces sheltered behind their garrison base walls waiting for the Necrons to attack. They were more than surprised when they received intelligence from their agents that the dark eldar and eldar had combined to attack their enemy. This time the Shattered Silence faired well, defeating the Necron army and sacking at least two tomb complexes, but the eldar of the Rillietan came unstuck when they themselves were ambushed by their Necron enemies en-route to their target. The Necrons beat off this second attack, but the damage had been done - giving the Imperial defenders some breathing space to prepare their defences.

Huron was still completely in the dark. The pattern of raids seemed random, almost arbitrary, and yet at the same time their seemed meaning and purpose behind them. Perhaps it was simply too complex for one human mind - even a great one - to unravel, especially as the lord Inquisitor was not in possession of all of the facts. Even some facts would be nice. Lord Huron worried that the rest of the races in the sector were merely puppets. dancing to an eldar tune.

Orks establish base on Hogan's Fall

2011-11-21T07:27:00.002-08:00

While the Imperium retook Trian from the forces of chaos, the Orks, under their more successful warboss, Thrugnik, arrived on Hogan's Fall. It isn't known if this was deliberate, fate, or accidental, but the Orks found the world deserted, with only the remains of an Imperial base to show that it had recently been an outpost of Man. After setting up an initial base, the Orks began building, excavating the rocky hills for the metal to make their warmachines, and as they did so, encountered strange objects. Eventually the leader of the Orks on Hogan's Fall ordered a "propa" investigation, and very soon the Orks had excavated an enormous tomb complex.

As they dug, they became aware that they were being watched. A small squad of shadowy individuals was observing their every move, and apparently making notes. Annoyed by this the warboss sent out an army against the small squad. The Orks advanced whooping and firing their guns in the air, each wanting to be the first to get to their enemy or miss out on the fun. Very soon the Orks had more than they bargained for however, as a host of daemons appeared between them and their prey. Rather than be put off by this however, this only encouraged the Orks, and even more joined the ad-hoc expedition. After a protracted battle, the daemons were banished, leaving the strange squad just ebough time to make good their escape.

Later, on 2211.011M42 the excavations soon bore fruit. Unfortunately the fruit was the mass activation of the Necron tomb complex they had unknowingly been excavating. The Orks however had numbers on their side, and the tomb complex was still waking up - the necrons appearing unfamiliar with their weapons and not fully awake. Despite losing hundreds of boyz to the mechanoid aliend, eventually the tomb complex was cleared and mercilessly pillaged of everything of worth.

When news of this event reached Inquisitor Huron, the lord Inquisitor began making connections. Twice the Imperium had tried to regain the world of Hogan's Fall. small and barely inhabited, and twice they had been removed from the world by the eldar. And yet the Orks had been allowed to stay. Huron thought of what would have happened had the Imperium, not the Orks been present when the Necrons roused from their long slumber. Perhaps the Imperial garrison, unlike the orks, would have fled, or been wiped out. Perhaps the Necrons would have awoken fully and roused more from sleep. Perhaps allowing the orks to take Hogan's Fall had been the design of the eldar all along, or perhaps the old Inquisitor was letting his mind run away with him.

Imperium takes Trian

2011-11-21T07:27:00.001-08:00

With the successful landings conducted by the Praetorian Guard consolidated, General Pollack brought together his military aids and subordinates to discuss the next phase of the campaign on Trian. However, just as the council got underway on 1711.011M42, they were interrupted by the arrival of none other than Erik Morkai himself. Stunned by this arrival, the Imperial Guardsmen listened in silence as he informed them that he had arrived with more than a hundred battle brothers, and he had a plan to take the world in just two days. None on the council dared to contradict the great astartes warrior, and they all nodded their assent to his plan when he presented it to them. Two swift strikes on the largest Chaos bases would, he said, destroy the hold the enemy had over the world and their following would crumble, leavin the Vastrid sector free once again of the taint of chaos.

The council agreed and drew up plans to deploy their guardsmen "if needed". Many were excited by the possibility of taking Trian so quickly while others doubted even the Space Wolves could pull off such a feat. One man was privately seething, and hoping Morkai's men would fail. General Pollack was silently furious. If the Space Wolves succeeded they would take Trian and all the glory - away from him.

The Space Wolves' plan went like clockwork. Just two days after arriving the astartes forces arrived without warning at the largest settlement occupied by forces loyal to Lorek. At once the cultist followers broke before the ferocity of the Space Wolves' charge, summoning daemons to do their fighting. Expecting this, the Space Wolves countered by using immediate drop pod reinforcement, and the daemonhost crumbled before their firepower. Meanwhile over three hundred kilometres away another force was attacking the Conqueror's of Gorgoroth. Taken off guard and by surprise the Chaos forces were unable to stop the Space Wolves' assault which thrust like a dagger at the command structure of their forces on Trian. After just one day of fighting, half the time Morkai had predicted, all organised resistance on Trian collapsed and the remaining defenders fled or laid down their arms as the Imperial Guard finally got the order to move out.

Trian had fallen, and the forces of chaos had been routed from the sector. Bells were rung in honour of the Space Wolves for the deliverance of the Cerrack Nebula, and celebrations took place across the subsector as the news spread across the void. Through gritted teeth General Pollack stood for propaganda vidpicts alongside the squad leaders of the astartes. Sidelined, slighted, and with a lust for glory re-ignited, Pollack began planning his next move against the Orks.

Tau retake the initiative on Tyndareous

2011-11-21T07:26:00.000-08:00

After a promising start the Tau invasion of Tyndareous had foundered. Many Cadres, veterans of the campaigns on Tarsis and Melberg, had been rotated out for much needed refits and re-enforcement. In place had been drafted in new Cadres under a fresh Shas'O and they had lost ground under the pressure of repeated Imperial counter attacks.

Shadowstrike implored the Ethereals to allow him to take command of the campaign. He explained that if Xanthus' faction were allowed to claim a victory on Tyndareous it would mean not only the loss of the campaign but also the imperilment of Tau colonies throughout the subsector as Xanthus' cause gained in credibility and support. Eventually the Ethereals assented and Shadowstrike began redeploying his Cadres to the beleaguered war zone.

The Tau position was fragile and Shadowstrike expected a concerted Imperial drive to remove the Tau base on Tyndareous once and for all. Sure enough, Stealth teams and aerial surveillance soon detected signs of large troop movements and the Tau prepared for the inevitable onslaught.

The assault was two pronged. Airborne Guard regiments swooped into Vallarender. Unsure where exactly the Imperials would strike the Tau were spread thin and an escalating engagement soon broke out in the suburbs of the city. The Valkyries and Vendettas of the Guard made repeated strafing runs of the Tau positions but each time they were met with disciplined and concentrated volleys of fire that forced them to break off and circle for another opportunity. With time running out and Tau re-enforcements arriving from all directions the Guard were forced to make ever more reckless attacks and paid the price. One by one the attack craft were shot down or crippled and the survivors broke off and returned to base, low on fuel and with little to show for their efforts.

Meanwhile a second attack targeted the main Tau base itself. The Tau easily picked up the armoured column of Space Wolf vehicles heading towards their perimeter and prepared a defence in depth, prepared to give ground and drain the attack of its strength with a withering onslaught of fire. They didn't notice the Strike Cruiser silently orbiting the planet until it unleashed its payload of drop pods. The attack was both audacious and risky. The combined orbital drop, mechanised assault and rear attack by infiltrating Wolf Scouts was impossible to co-ordinate with total precision but the brutality and surprise of the attack threatened to annihilate the Tau base. A less disciplined foe would have broken before the terror tactics of the Astartes, but hardened by years of constant campaigning Shadowstrike's Cadres displaying near perfect fire discipline. Not giving the Space Wolves time to consolidate and form a co-ordinated attacked they isolated each facet of the attack in turn. Astartes emerged from their drop pods, only to be gunned down without mercy by overwhelming firepower. The Space Wolves fire support succeeding in inflicting heavy casualties amongst the Tau and bringing down many of their armoured vehicles. Despite this the drop pod assault had failed and the Space Wolves had no way of holding the ground they were taking. Reluctantly they withdrew, saving their remaining strength for future fighting.

With the Imperial offensive blunted and their forces thrown into disarray Shadowstrike launched his own offensive. Airborne Cadres succeeded in securing Rainier Pass and Pardle Junction unopposed before Mechanised Cadres streamed into Tyndareous Base, destroying the aircraft based there and surrounding the Tyndar Plateau. Now the Tau had the advantage on Tyndareous and Shadowstrike intended to press it and finish this campaign quickly.

Nemesis launches new offensive

2011-11-13T03:12:00.001-08:00

On 0811.011M42 the Imperial battlegroup under Clinton-Baker had arrived at Caitlen Station, taking up position around an outer planet while all manner of resupply ships from the station itself brought much needed spares and crew to the waiting vessel. However, just days after their arrival strange surveyor reading readings should have alerted the Commodore to an imminent threat, but the readings were vague and unrecognised. Then without warning a mass of vessels appeared, strange living vessels bearing bioweaponry and vicious looking claws. Hive fleet Nemesis had arrived.

The appearance of the tyranids at Caitlen station was a complete surprise. The hive mind had acted with great and unexpected strategic planning. Instead of waiting above Alphe to be attacked by Commodore Clinton-Baker's battlegroup, the tyranids had ambushed their attackers in a situation favourable to them.

The hive fleet attacked directly, and despite the Imperial vessels coming to full alertness almost immediately, Clinton-Bakers ships were not in an ideal tactical formation and were far too close to their enemy. A violent battle erupted, with Nemesis losing a vast number of their smaller ships. Early on in the battle the light cruisers Arethusa and Galatea were overwhelmed and destroyed, but as the battle progressed the victory of the alien fleet was by no means certain. However Nemesis triumphed at last when the Oberon class battleship Hercules, stuck at the rear of a hastily deployed formation, faced the full fury of the tyranid battlefleet. Hercules' shields were overwhelmed and the mighty vessel was pummelled from bow to stern. The ancient battleship blew up with all hands and the rest of the fleet was forced to retreat back to the safety of Caitlen Station's Ramilles class starfort. Nemesis did not pursue, but the planned mission to Alphe was cancelled, the planet and its defenders left to their fate until more forces could be spared.

Meanwhile on Alphe, listening posts and orbital surveillance satellites on Alphe had been maintaining a status of high alert ever since the discovery of Tyranid bioforms on the western archipelagos. Imperial intelligence believed the infestation was merely an advanced tendril of nemesis, sent to gather information and secure a beachhead for a full invasion. General Percival had ordered that all anomalous sightings were to be investigated, so when a meteor shower was sighted over the Alpmaadow Downs a company of Guard was dispatched to investigate. The sighting was far from the infested zone and the Pryford Meadows region was considered a rear echelon area. It was garrisoned only by the 24th Islandawandas, a large but poorly equipped regiment of light infantry almost entirely without vehicle and artillery support.

It was only when the company investigating the impact site failed to report in or answer hails that concerns were first raised at High Command and Percival ordered a surveillance satellite to be hastily repositioned to overfly the 24ths last known co-ordinates. What was shown on the orbital feed horrified him. Infra-red imagining showed millions of teaming xenoforms swarming around an impact site that was already obscured by an extensive hive node. The images barely had time to sink in before the satellites sensors detected an unidentified craft nearby and the feed went dead.

One by one the command post lost contact with all its satellites and orbital installations. The Hive Fleet had at long last arrived. Hours later all contact was lost with Pryford. A last panicked vox transmission reported a sea of Tyranids coating the plains in a heaving mass of chitin. Percival immediately ordered the redeployment of Guard regiments to contain the invasion and prayed that it would be enough.

Raids confuse Huron

2011-11-13T03:11:00.000-08:00

Inquisitor Huron arrived in the Vastrid sector with his entourage in early 011M42, but was unable to sequester any forces to carry out anything other than observations. Inquisitor Lord Hathek was unwilling to lend Huron any of his own indentured forces with Xanthus still at large in the Mabb Nebula, and Lord General Roover was prevaricating with Huron's request. Roover still had wars to fight in the Perseus Deeps, Alphe and Cerrack Nebula, not to mention the unwelcome sideshow of the war on Tyndareous thanks to Xanthus' xenophobia.

While Huron watched and waited, more raids were conducted by the eldar in the Vastrid subsector. First the Conqueror's of Gorgoroth were massacred by Dark Eldar forces on Trian, but in complete contrast to the raid the previous week, this raid only helped the Imperial invasion, but Huron was unwilling to believe the timing was mere co-incidence. This was followed by a smaller raid on the ork world of Aspaster, but the main raid came on 1711.011M42, when the Rillietan mounted a large assault on the Red Angels at their base on Quim.

The Red Angels were unprepared for the raid and their response to the lightning raid was unco-ordinated and haphazard. Once again the Marines suffered with lack of equipment, and General Pollack began to worry about the effectiveness of the Astarted force, although he was unable to voice these concerns. Huron meanwhile was still in the dark as to whether the Dark Eldar and Rillietan attacks were part of a wider strategy. The Shattered Silence attack on Hogan's Fall was more evidence, but evidence of what? Huron resolved to raise a force and go to Hogan's Fall, to bait the eldar into attacking. Maybe if he could capture a prisoner or two the meaning behind these raids would become clear.

Pollack presses home Vastrid offensive

2011-11-13T03:10:00.000-08:00

With the failure of the first invasion of Trian, General Pollack wasn't about to give up on his plan of making safe all the worlds of the Cerrack Nebula. Only a week after his initial invasion Trian was assaulted again, this time with better preparation and intelligence gathering. The groundwork paid off, and following heavy fighting with the Conquerers of Gorgoroth, two Imperial bridgeheads were established by the Praetorian Guard, led by the veteran 42nd regiment.

General Pollack also sent a regiment of Islandawandan Guardsmen, considered "expendable" by the Administratum, to investigate the loss of contact with Hogan's Fall. The poorly equipped Guardsmen landed without incident, but soon suffered the same fate as the previous occupiers of the outpost. The Dark Eldar of the Shattered Silence attacked the Islandawandans with a furious assault, but found to their frustration that the Imperial Guard were stubborn in their defence. However, after over a day of fighting the commander on the ground decided he was outmatched, and with Pollack's agreement the invasion was cancelled, although no consideration was given to the remaining defenders on Hogan's Fall. It was considered an unacceptable risk of valuable assets to extract the Islandawandans, and the entire force was wiped out. This setback didn't concern Pollack, such regiments were easy to replace. Learning his lesson, Pollack put plans to retake Hogan's Fall to one side and concentrated on planning the next offensive on Trian.

Trian debacle

2011-11-06T02:04:00.005-08:00

Following the success on Quim, General Pollack hoped to capitalise on the Imperial victory by immediately moving against the Chaos positions on Trian. His Cerberex Guard were exhausted, so could not be sent into another battle immediately, but Pollack still had three regiments of Librian Guard and a company of Red Angels to call on.

The Imperial fleet, led by the battleship Vanguard, met no resistance when it arrived at the Trian system, and Pollack was able to unload one regiment of Guardsmen and establish a bridgehead. However, within hours of creating this base, the Imperial forces came under attack from the forces of Chaos, who were far more numerous, organised and well equipped than Imperial intelligence had let on.

The first attack came from the little known Conquerers of Gorgoroth, who were able to deploy several land raiders, each filled with murderous Khorne bezerkers. The Librians, regiments largely untested in battle, suffered greatly as their tanks failed to deal with the enemy armour. Overall gunnery was poor, and the Conquerers managed to charge the Imperial infantry without too much trouble. The battle was bloody, but the Imperial Guardsmen stood little chance against the ruthless traitor marines, and before long the entire Imperial perimeter was compromised.

Facing a massacre, Pollack, still safely aboard the Vanguard, called for aid from the Red Angels, who duly deployed in order to buy the General more time to gather reinforcements. As they deployed, a second force appeared, taking the Imperial forces off guard. Traitor Marines belonging to the "Enraptured" warband, attacked the Red Angels, who were all on foot, with tanks and infantry. The result was a massacre, and the Red Angels took heavy punishment, The forces of the Enraptured and the Conquerers of Gorgoroth then completted the rout, meeting in the middle of the Imperial bridgehead and slaughtering the remaining defenders to a man.

Pollack ordered in more regiments, but with the bridgehead overrun and the forces of Chaos fully alerted, his sub commanders pleaded with him to abandon the invasion. Frustrated, the General assented, and the Imperial fleet returned to Quim, minus a complete regiment of Guardsmen and half a company of Marines. The Chaos presence in the Cerrack Nebula remained, and Pollack faced difficult questions from his commanding officer, Lord General Roover.

Swiftstar breaks into Perseus Deeps

2011-11-06T02:04:00.003-08:00

The Tau position in the Perseus Deeps had become increasingly desperate during the latter part of 011M42 with the loss of the Skera colony, and despite the protestations of Shadowstrike that the war on Tyndareous was unfinished, the Ethereals decided to reinforce their positions in the Deeps, particularly the main bases of Lucardium and Cernunnos.

Admiral Swiftstar was given the task of moving his considerable fleet from the Mabb Nebula to the Perseus Deeps, as quickly as possible. This meant travelling near to the Rim Worlds, the home of the Catechism. Recent fleet actions convinced the Tau admiral that the Catechism fleet, although formidable, might ignore the Tau fleet passing through their territory, given their recent losses against the Imperium.

Unfortunately for Swiftstar, whoever was commanding the Catechism clearly objected to the large Tau fleet lumbering its way through the Rim Worlds, and before long the Tau found themselves with a large Chaos fleet on their tail. Only able to make short warp hops, the Tau admiral knew he would have to give battle eventually, and the superior speed of the Chaos warships ensured the battle took place in the confusing mercurial zone of a solitary star near to Aornis, once a Tau base.

The Chaos fleet split into two divisions, with the greater part led by a Desolator class battleship, passing down the port wing of Swiftstar's "box" formation. This allowed Swiftstar to turn his fleet to starboard, lining up the smaller battlegroup of three cruisers in his formidable gunsights. Unfortunately in the difficult environment of the sun's radiation belt, the shooting on both sides suffered, and while the chaos fleet lost one devastation class vessel and had two more cruisers crippled, Swiftstar was frustrated that the damage wasn't more significant. He was more annoyed by the fact the two crippled cruisers managed to escape within the sensor baffling radiaton belts and plasma filaments.

Swiftstar then manouvered his fleet in a wide arc to face the remaining chaos vessels, suffering severe damage to two of his protector class cruisers and the loss of his escorts. The battle continued spasmodically for another hour, before both sides withdrew, neither side able to claim victory despite the greater material losses of the chaos fleet. By 1211.011M42, Swiftstar had made it to Cernunnos, significantly strengthening the Tau position in the Perseus Deeps, but the damage to two capital ships was an unwelcome setback.

The scourging of Hogan's Fall

2011-11-06T02:04:00.001-08:00

While the assault on Trian raged, there was fighting on two other worlds within the Vastrid subsector. On 0311.011M42 the Dark Eldar of the Shattered Silence fell upon the Imperial base on Hogan's fall. The base had only recently been wrestled back from the Orks, and the Imperial Guard at the base were entirely wiped out or captured before the Grey Knights, using the world as their base of operations within the subsector, could counter the alien raid.

The Grey Knights moved quickly to stop the Dark Eldar from entirely destroying the base, but the Shattered Silence brought murderous firepower to bear on the small Imperial force. Before long the Grey Knights were in retreat and were forced to ask for assistance.

The Dark Angels responded to the call but deployed straight into a Dark Eldar ambush. They lost many brave astartes warriors before aborting their mission, leaving the Grey Knights to fight off the aliens alone. Unlike their other raids, the Shattered Silence continued their pursuit against the Grey Knights until they were forced to completely abandon the world. The Dark Eldar Kabal had already taken a huge haul of slaves, so this action perplexed the Imperial forces and drew the attention of Inquisitor Huron, who in response moved his base of operations to the subsector.

By 1011.011M42 the Grey Knights had evacuated Hogan's Fall, leaving any remaining Imperial citizens, military or civilian, to an unpleasant fate at the hands of the Dark Eldar. Hogan's Fall had been destroyed as an Imperial base, at least for the time being.

Valboris almost consumed

2011-11-06T02:03:00.001-08:00

The slow death of Valboris continued as 11.011M42 began, with a determined assault by the Tyranids for the rest of Purgatory. Despite the impossible position the Chaos forces found themselves in, they still eagerly leapt to the defence of their world, and new warbands threw themselves enthusiastically at the alien foe. For some it had become an insane battle of honour, with various factions trying their forces out, almost always suicidally, against the Tyranid menace. There would be no evacuation, every man on Valboris would fight to the last.

The latest force to "try their hand" against the Tyranids were the new arrivals to the subsector, the Conquerers of Gorgoroth. This force was virtually unknown to Imperial intelligence, but it seems while the majority of the force travelled to the Vastrid subsector, a small force evaded the Nemesis scout biovessels above the world of Valboris and landed near Coyote Creek. Within hours of their arrival the crazed Khorne bezerkers were in combat, charging the Tyranid horde overrunning Purgatory...With predictable results. Nemesis accepted the biomass thrust before it, and moved impacably onwards towards Buffalo Crossing and Erin Bay. Analysts now reckoned Purgatory would be overrun by the end of the year, unless Nemesis chose to take even more time over its conquest of the outlaw world.

Eldar raids arouse suspicion

2011-11-06T02:02:00.000-08:00

11.011M42 began as 10.011M42 had ended, with more Eldar and Dark Eldar raids. The main focus of these raids seemed to have shifted to the Vastrid subsector, one of the main reasons why Inquisitor Huron moved his base of operations to the subsector. Huron was intent on knowing why the raids had increased during the year, to a far higher level than seen in the last century.

The latest raids on 0211.011M42 and 04.011M42 took place on Aspaster and Trian in the Cerrack Nebula. The first was conducted, as Huron managed to find out, by the Rillietan, the strange Eldar force led by the warriors of the Laughing God. The raid destroyed several Ork installations, and enraged the greenskins, whipping them into a frenzy which saw them launch their abortive attack on the neighbouring system of Quim a few days later. Huron couldn't help but draw a correlation. Were the Eldar deliberately goading the Orks?

The second raid took place on the Chaos world of Trian, days before the Imperium launched their abortive landings on the world. The attack saw a force of traitor marines wiped out, and the Dark Eldar take many prized astartes captives, but the real effect was to put the Chaos forces on full alert, just in time to defeat the Imperial landings. Huron grew more and more concerned. Were these raids linked? Were the Dark Eldar working in concert with the Rillietan? For them? Huron made plans to sequester a force of Guard and draw up a mission to find out.

Perseus Deeps: Strategic

2011-11-04T11:10:00.001-07:00

Necron implacable advance

2011-10-30T14:33:00.001-07:00

The Necron threat in the perseus Deeps increased in magnitude as 10.011M42 drew to a close with increased activity on two worlds. The first, Blight, a chaos daemonworld once called Sullidaan, saw an upsurge in fighting as Necrons began to advance ever closer to the world's capital on the western hemisphere. The Necrons were determined to retake their old empire, and this world they considered their own, no matter what daemonic entity now claimed it.

The Necrons faced mostly daemonic armies loyal to the faction known as the Covenant of Damnation, but some astartes warbands were also present. After initial gains the Necrons suffered a determined counter attack, buying the forces of Chaos at least time to deal with the threat, but with Chaos on the back-foot on all fronts across the region, losses in men and equipment were hard to replace. Again and again they were forced to rely on daemonic summonings to do their bidding, and these were often risky and capricious, and couldn't hold territory for long. This was made worse as the Necrons advanced, the daemonic grip on Blight loosening with every Necron gain.

While events played out on Blight, the weakened tau colony of Skera soon came under unexpected attack. Only weeks before the Tau had suffered at the hands of Dark Eldar raiders, and were ill-prepared to meet this latest invasion, which came in great strength. Bravely the Tau sacrificed themselves for the greater good, giving ground where they could and attacking ferociously where they could not. However the Tau found the Necrons particularly hard to deal with, noting in horror how the mechanoid race simply withstood firepower which would shatter the advance of other races.

Reading the transcripts of the commander of Skera's call for aid, Commander Shadowstrike realised that the commander with responsibility for the Tau colony world was out of his depth. Shadowstrike immediately dispatched a veteran commander and his hunter cadre to deal with the situation, but when they arrived the situation was dire. The Tau landed their forces amidst scenes of near panic as the colonists of Skera scrambled to get off-world as soon as possible. Advancing straight into battle Shadowstrike's cadre soon found itself on the end of withering firepower from the Necron invaders, and could do no more than delay the inevitable. They held on long enough for the colonists to escape, then enacted a fighting withdrawal, engaging in desperate firefights as the last of the Tau dropships made for orbit. Skera was beyond hope. Which world would be next?

Raids continue in Perseus Deeps

2011-10-30T14:25:00.003-07:00

Raids by Eldar and Dark Eldar continued, even intensified in the last week of 10.011M42, as the Vastrid subsector saw a number of small actions involving most factions vying for control of the Cerrack Nebula. A new Kabal, as yet unseen in the Perseus Deeps carried out three separate incursions with mixed results. One against Thrugnik's Orks on Aspaster was unsuccessful, but another, as well as a raid on Chaos held Trian, yielded better results and a healthy tally of captives.

Meanwhile in the Deeps the Lamenters found themselves under attack by the Shattered Silence while investigating the remains of a Necron civilisation on an unimportant world near Corticant. The Shattered Silence did not seem to want captives, so why they attacked the Lamenters remains a mystery, although speculation hints that there was something there the Dark Eldar didn't want the imperium to find.

Never-the-less the Dark Eldar raid was easily beaten of by the Astartes forces and the Kabal withdrew to lick its wounds in the webway, allowing the Lamenters to continue their reconnaissance unmolested.

Later in the month the forces of Chaos found themselves on the wrong end of a raid by the Rillietan on Calliden. This was the first time the Eldar of the Harlequin faction had raided a major Chaos world, and the action was quite unexpected and without apparent motive. Several Chaos installations were destroyed and the Chaos legion guarding them took heavy casualties.

Nemesis reaches end game on Valboris

2011-10-30T14:25:00.001-07:00

The slow but unstoppable advance of the Tyranid horde on the Chaos world of Valboris continued in 10.011M42, with the hive mind apparently willing to take its time in digesting its current meal. No new hiveships appeared, but there was no need, as long as they kept pushing the defenders back.

After taking Main Crossing and Mount Silston in the previous month, despite a momentary setback, Nemesis was on the move again in 10.011M42. By the middle of the month reports of Tyranid activity had reached the settlement of Purgatory, and fighting resumed. The Chaos forces deployed all they had against the invader, which in truth wasn't much in terms of men and equipment, but for a time dogged resistance held up the Tyranid advance. It was a forlorn hope however, and by the end of the month half the settlement had been infested.

The defenders of Valboris now faced certain death. Without massive reinforcement from Chaos forces - which were in retreat across the sector - Nemesis would have its prize. But the worshippers of the dark gods refused to go quietly and without a fight, and the doomed struggle on Valboris continued.

Quim taken by Imperium

2011-10-30T14:24:00.001-07:00

In the last week of 10.011M42, the Cerberex Guard under General Pollack began preparations for their final assault against the last Chaos stronghold on Quim. The Chaos defenders had only a handful of traitor astartes and fewer than a few thousand cultists, and Pollack was assured of an easy victory.

Unlike other Imperial commanders, Pollack was not so arrogant or dull witted to believe the forces of Chaos would give up the world so easily. Born and raised on Cerberex before its invasion by Moonface and the UFP, Pollack had seen what Chaos could unleash and had been trained to expect the worst from his enemies. He was right.

As his forces advanced the Covenant of Damnation unleashed a daemonic horde against the attackers, but because of his careful attention to detail and deep experience of his enemy, the General's advance was not slowed. Over a thousand guardsmen perished in the Cerberex regiments sent to extinguish the Chaos presence on Quim, but before the month was out, Quim was safely back in Imperial hands, thanks to a well co-ordinated and executed effort from all parts of the mighty Imperium of mankind.

Chaos secure Trian

2011-10-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

As Quim fell to the Imperium, the forces of Chaos avoided being wiped out in the Vastrid subsector as they successfully saw off wave after wave of Ork infantry attacks on their base on Trian. The war here had been going on sporadically for months, but in late 10.011M42 the Ork leaders decided to bring the fighting to a conclusion.

Believing the Chaos forces to be fatally weakened the Orks launched an all out attack, throwing in all their reserves and overwhelming the Chaos lines. Forced back the small band of Chaos marines tried desperately to halt the green tide, but just as it seemed the Orks were about to wipe their enemy from the face of the world, the Ork horde broke. Their leaders, or Nobz, had led the charge, but a small band of astartes had stubbornly refused to yield. In addition the Ork shooting was even more woeful than usual, the greenskins too eager to celebrate victory than aiming their shots.

Suddenly realising the Chaos Marines would not break, the Nobz fled, and that was the catalyst for a general collapse in greenskin morale. By 0111.011M42 the orks had fled into the hills or been wiped out, and Trian and its small bases was now back under the control of Chaos, their last foothold in the Vastrid subsector.

Raids spread to Vastrid subsector

2011-10-24T03:25:00.002-07:00

In mid to late 10.011M42 the raiding forces of the Aleph sector broadened their scope to the Vastrid subsector, and the Dark Eldar in particular launched a concerted operation on the Ork-Chaos contested world of Trian. Speculation suggests that Commoragh had initiatied a "tournament" or some kind of competition, challenging each Kabal operating in the region to take as many slaves as possible from the war-torn world.

The Shattered Silence Kabal began the operation, launching a small raid against a chaos warband deep behind the front lines. The skirmish resulted in a minor victory for the Dark Eldar, although the Shattered Silence were unable to take any slaves as the stubborn Chaos Marines refused to give up even when utterly surrounded, enabling the forces of Chaos to evacuate non combatant personell - or their own slaves - to areas far from the raiders grasp.

Another Kabal attempted to conduct a small raid against the Ork held portion of the planet, but found the area they chose for their assault guarded by Thrugnik's elite guard. The force was seen off, again with no slaves taken. The Shattered Silence were more successful later on however, taking a great haul of Orks as play-things following a much larger raid on the Ork encampments. They had chosen a softer target, far from Thrugnik's camp, and the Kabal emerged as the winner of the competition of Trian. What happened to the slaves taken in the raids no-one can say.

The Rillietan were also in action on Trian in the same month. Following a minor daemonic uprising in Chaos held territory, the full force of the eldar harlequins was unleashed on daemons loyal to the Covenant of Damnation, who were utterly massacred just before their planned attack on the Orks. Why the eldar intervened, essentially on the Ork side, remains a mystery, as the Rillietan continued to pursue their own and apparently unfathomable objectives across the sector.

Steady gains on Quim

2011-10-24T03:25:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the victories of the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet in the Quim system, annihilating the Claws of Lorek and deterring the Catechism from becoming involved, General Pollack was now able to launch his latest offensive on the two Chaos strongholds still left on the ground. Pollack now decided to throw in his reserves, mostly consisting of Cerberex regiments, against his enemy, in an attempt to regain the initiative on the surface of the now battle scarred minor world.

On 1810.011M42 the attack began, Pollack using his superior numbers to attack on the widest front possible, and initial gains were swift. Soon after the attack had started however, the Covenant of Damnation summoned a daemonhost, and the fighting became particularly intense. Having faced such enemies before however, without suffering an inquisition purge thanks to Lord Inquisitor Hathek's personal intervention, the Cerberex regiments were not phased by this turn of events. Relying on superior firepower and support from the Mechanicus fleet now in orbit, the first Chaos bastien was overrun in three days. Casualties were heavy, but the daemonhost was banished back to its other-worldly realm. Now Pollack had just one Chaos stronghold to deal with, and Quim would be his.

Rillietan raid Tau on Tyndareous

2011-10-24T03:24:00.000-07:00

The war on Tyndareous, which had fallen into sporadic fighting during 10.011M42, took a bizarre twist on 2110.011M42, when the main Tau base between Cranburg and Vallerander, came under unexpected attack from the Rillietan faction of the eldar.

Led by the avatar of the laughing god, backed up by eldar skimmer vehicles, the Rillietan appeared from nowehere and moved swiftly towards the Tau positions. They had already done significant damage to the Tau installation before the Tau responded, and when Fastblades Cadre deployed to counter the eldar attackers, the situation didn't really improve.

Despite the Tau being armed with broadsides and plenty of Hammerhead gunships, the Tau faired badly against their enemy. Eldar Fire Prisms took their toll on the broadsides, and inaccurate railgun fire didn't help. Fastblade was forced to give ground, allowing the Eldar to sabotage more of their equipment, and a last ditch effort by deep striking crisis suits was little more than a disaster. The leader of the Cadre, inexperienced at dropping from Orca, missed his drop zone by a wide margin, and then proceeded to fire wildly at the Eldar, doing little damage. He then fled the harlequins who attempted to engage him and his bodyguard in close combat, before being obliterated by the Eldar farseer himself.

The Tau now had nothing left to throw at the Eldar and were forced to abandon much of their base and withdraw to the safety of the inner compound. After several hours of wanton and apparently meaningless destruction, the Rillietan withdrew, leaving the Tau baffled as to the purpose of the attack. Why would they interfere on the side of the Imperium, and why were they interfering at all? The questions remained unanswerable, and Shadowstrike was urged to return to re-organise the Tau war on Tyndareous, which was fast becoming a fiasco.

Raiding Dark Eldar and Necrons plague Empire builders

2011-10-22T00:51:00.000-07:00

With Imperial resources slowly being swung into action against the increasing threat of Nemesis, and the downsizing of the Imperial crusade against chaos, an area missed by the Imperial planners appeared to be defence against raiders. Already Veers' forces in the Deeps had suffered numerous dark eldar raids, and on 1810.011M42 the Rillietan, most mysterious of all eldar, once again came for Corticant.

This time the target was the Space Wolves, who took significant casualties but were able to avoid defeat and prevent the dark eldar from getting past their defensive perimeter. Their losses were heavy however, and among non-astartes forces morale continued to steadily drop. Questions were asked more and more about the security of Imperial bases, as the raiders seemed to appear with no warning and disappeared just as quickly.

Meanwhile the Necrons were making steady progress on Zog, defeating the Red Angels to claim more than half of the settlements on the small, but strategically important world. As Zog fell ever more under the thrall of the ancient race, Thrugnik was having more success against the Necrons in the Vastrid sector. On 2110.011M42 a force of Necrons appeared on Aspaster, but Thrugniks massive army was preparing for invasion of new worlds, and easily crushed the alien incursion. This action whipped the Orks into a frenzy and very soon it became obvious that the green tide, so recently cleared from Glossop V and ???, would likely soon be making a return...

Claws of Lorek annihilated in space above Quim

2011-10-17T13:03:00.001-07:00

The Claws of Lorek, not content with their victories on Quim, moved to consolidate their hold upon the planet by dispatching substantial raiding fleets to secure the resource rich planets in the inner system. A battlegroup of seven cruisers led by the Acheron class Messiah of Pain was deployed to clear the meager planetary defenses under the cover of a particularly violent solar storm. Able to approach undetected they unexpectedly stumbled upon the Adeptus Mechanicus battleship Magos Vaspasian and her attendant cruiser escort, dispatched to the sector to test a newly found STC archeotech flare shield. The Chaos fleet rushed the Mechanicus, trying to capitalize on their surprise appearance, but were unprepared for the ferocity of the solar storm.

Radiation waves wracked the Chaos fleet, and tentacles of photospheric matter grasped the heavily ionized hulls of cruisers, disrupting communications and torturing the corrupted machine spirits. The Claw’s battlegroup was thrown into disarray and flew into a salvo of nova cannon fire, immediately losing a significant portion of their carrier strength, as the carriers Defiler and Fury of Chaos were crippled. Unable to communicate with his fleet, and prevented from ordering a general disengage, the Warmaster proceeded with the assault forcing his fleet forward into the waiting Mechanicus battlecruisers. The Mechanicus capitalized on this disarray and swept into the chaos formation. The Magos Vaspasian led the wedge into the center of the chaos fleet, magazines and lances blazing as her augmented weapons found their mark on chaos cruisers at her broadsides. Assault craft bays, engines and power relays were shattered in the initial assault before the chaos crews had properly braced them for battle. Following the lead of the battleship, the Mechanicus cruisers Esto Perpetua and Scienta drove straight into the crippled chaos cruisers expending ordnance, lance energy and batteries at a prodigious rate and taking full advantage of the enemy’s inability to react to the rapidly deteriorating tactical situation.

Haloed by the titanic solar emmissions from the Querros Star, the chaos fleet was unable to disengage and was rapidly dismantled by the radiation hardened Mechanicus cruisers. The Heavy cruiser Messiah of Pain managed to effect her escape using the rapidly expanding debris cloud left of her sister ships, but left the rest of the chaos fleet hulked and waiting for the Mechanicus ships, eager to explore the lost archeotech bounty left for them. The Chaos fleet faced a painful butcher’s bill as the cruisers Iron Juggernaut, The Defiler, Fury of Chaos, Prince of Murder, Harbinger of Pain, Black Wolf were lost to the Mechanicus salvage teams and towed for refit, for little battle damage on the part of the Mechanicus fleet.

The planet Quim was soon to be assaulted again however, as the Catechism fleet engaged the Adeptus Mechanicus on what was to be a far fairer field of battle. The Chaos Fleet was led by a Desolator class Battleship and was much better gunned than the previous raider fleet the Adeptus had faced. Two Acheron class heavy cruisers were escorted by two carnage class, whilst two devastation class carriers provided strike craft support to the battlegroup.

The body of the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet concealed their advance under the cover of a dense asteroid field whilst the cruisers Valente Deo and Gothic class Potentia drew the attention of the chaos fleet with Nova cannon fire at a stand off range, scoring a lucky hit on a devestation class and nearly crippling the chaos cruiser. The chaos warmaster was forced to close quickly with the cruisers to negate their range advantage, but left his fleet strung out with an opening for the Magos Vaspasian, Esto Perpetua and Scienta to drive through his center, unloading both broadsides into the staggered elements of the fleet. The Desolator launched a crippling salvo of torpedoes into the armoured prow of the dictator class Valente Deo, whose uprated turrets were unable to cope with the onslaught, collapsing her shields and forcing the cruiser to hide in the center of the Mechanicus Formation, where she managed to cripple another Catechism heavy cruiser with a lucky Nova Cannon shot before disengaging.

The Gothic class Potentia fared no better as a tentative shot from the devastation class vessel crippled the cruiser and inactivated her nova cannon. Potentia was forced to disengage as were three Chaos vessels, a devastation, acheron and carnage class, whilst the remaining chaos vessels focused fire on the Scienta and crippled her drives.

The Magos Vaspasian used her monstrous broadsides to cripple the leading desolator and another Acheron class vessel resulting in both the Acheron and the Scienta disengaging; leaving the Catechism fleet with an undamaged carrier, crippled battleship and a carnage limping its way around the system. The engagement devolved into a slugfest as the Esto Perpetua disengaged undamaged and left the heavier armoured and gunned Retribution class Magos Vaspasian to chase off the remnants of the chaos fleet.

Red Angels carry out punitive raid for Xanthus

2011-10-17T13:02:00.001-07:00

Following the raid on the Drk Angels by the Space Wolves in early 10.011M42, Inquisitor Xanthus was keen to uncover the slightest hint of heresy or treason within the ranks of Erik Morkai's company. To do this he employed the Red Angels, who were loyal Astartes and had fortunately had little contact with Inquistor Hathek in the preceding months. Citing possible heresy and deviation from the Codex Astartes, the Inquisitor Lord eventually managed to convince a very skeptical captain of the Red Angels to conduct a reconaissance against the Space Wolves on Hogan's Fall.

The Red Angels arrived on 1910.011 and began their investigation. However on the 21st they were discovered and forced to retreat from the Space Wolves' base. Suspecting enemies, and having had no communication with the intruders, the Space Wolves sent out a military force to track them down. Due to lack of communication and pride, ince again two Astartes forces clashed, with the Red Angels coming off much worse in the short engagement. After evacuating the Red Angels reported back no issues with the Space Wolves, and their skepticism quickly became cynicism. They did however blame the Space Wolves for opening the engagement, and enmity persisted between the two marine chapters for some time.

Vastrid Subsector: Orks beaten on Glossop but defeat on Quim

2011-10-10T06:26:00.001-07:00

The war in the Vastrid subsector continued on in 10.011M42, for most a distant war in the far flung reaches of the Cerrack Nebula on worlds of little importance. Few of the teeming billions of the Imperium were aware of the war, and even the major worlds close to the war-torn region were generally unconcerned by the ongoing fighting.

Overall command for the Cerrack Nebula fell to General Pollack, a subordinate to the military commander of all forces in the Vastrid subsector, Lord Commander Foche. This status was equivalent, in principle, to a garrison commander of a major imperial world, but the resources at Pollack's disposal remained meagre. However in 10.011M42 another company of Space Marines arrived, this time from the Blood Angels chapter, and their presence was immediately felt as they took the fight to the Orks on Glossop V. Leaderless and unco-ordinated, the remaining orks on Glossop were savagely dealt with, and within days of their arrival the Blood Angels had brought an end to the campaign on the minor world. Now Pollack needed to build up its defences in case of retaliatory attack from the nearby orks on Aspaster.

On Quim however the Claws of Lorek launched a major new offensive, determined to secure a permanent and uncontested base of operations in the Vastrid subsector. Lorek's two pronged attack came up against the Blood Angels in the south, while in the north Lorek's larger force ran into the Space Wolves of Erik Morkai, who had just redeployed from Glossop. In a savage battle the Space Wolves held their positions tenaciously, and the forces of Chaos found it impossible to secure their objectives. Further south however the Imperial line broke after the Blood Angels were defeated and forced to retreat. Both Astartes forces and a few thousand Imperial Guardsmen now held a small scrap of land on the world. Pollack now scrambled to move his resources from Glossop V to Quim to prevent a total defeat there, hoping that the Claws of Lorek fleet would not arrive in force.

Perseus Deeps: Dark Eldar and Necron Menace grows

2011-10-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

The ancient races of the galaxy continued to plague the Imperium in 10.011M42, and each other, as it became increasingly clear to General Veers, leader of the Perseus Deeps campaign, that just holding on to his recent gains would be a challenge, let alone push further into the great dark and largely unknown void of the region. In early 10.011M42 further Dark Eldar raids plagued Imperial possessions on Corticant, while the Dark Angels, based on Sentinel, were inexplicably attacked without warning by the mysterious harlequin led eldar of the Rillietann. The eldar did significant damage to installations on Sentinel, but Inquisitor Xanthus believed he had discovered the meaning behind the alien attack. The eldar had been looking for something which apparently he possessed, a suspicion further enhanced by the strange data crystal left behind, apparently by mistake, by the aliens. It would take Xanthus weeks to decode the xenos information, but then he would have his answer.

Meanwhile the Necrons were pushing the Imperium back on Zog. The Dark Angels were called in by a panicked Imperial commander, whose Imperial guard were woefully ill-equipped to deal with the skeletal warriors. The Astartes arrived soon after, since Zog was just a few days travel from Sentinel. However their attack was abortive and the Necrons continued their implacable advance across the world which was once theirs.

It wasn't only Inquisitor Xanthus that came under alien attack either. Uncaring of the petty internal Imperial squabbles, the Dark Eldar launched another raid on Inquisitor Hathek's base of Corticant on 0810.011M42, and although the Space Wolves attempted to intervene the Dark Eldar managed to hold them off long enough to complete their slave raid, capturing a significant proportion of the inhabitants of Shadowshore and Lochford. Fearful, the population of Corticant began to move to the well protected cities, adding a refugee problem to Veers' already faltering crusade. Even with a fleet of ten capital ships and millions of men under arms, Veers appeared powerless to defend even his own base.

On Gamador meanwhile, the aeons old war between eldar and necrons continued, with a successful raid by the Shattered Silence Kabal on the necron tomb world of Gamador. Whether this second raid in as many weeks was a deliberate act of war on the necrons or an act of internal one-upmanship remains unknown.

Inquisition War: Dark Angels sent in against Space Wolves

2011-10-10T06:24:00.000-07:00

After weeks of quiescence the Inquisitorial dispute between Xanthus & Hathek flared once again in 10.011M42, culinating in an unfortunate engagement between the Space Wolves and Dark Angels. Hathek had been concentrating on shoring up the Perseus Deeps crusade, while Xanthus was now deeply mired in the campaign on Tyndareous. He had his war with the Tau and it wasn't going all that well. Even so, the Tau-Imperial truce held in the Perseus Deeps, and wider conflagoration of the kind Xanthus was looking for, failed to materialise.

Lacking Inquisitor Lord Hathek's significant naval and Imperial Guard resources, Xanthus was always looking for ways to improve his situation. He still coveted the mysterious Catechism "device", called the "soul hole" by Moonface's demented followers, after his close encounter with it in 007M42 on Myrentas II. For months he had been gathering information on the device, and seeking the components which, he hoped, would allow him to construct one of his own.

Few knew what the Inquisitor Lord was up to. Many, including the Adeptus Mechanicus, would consider his "work" heresy, and Hathek considered such investigations as extremely dangerous and another reason Xanthus needed removing from the Inquisition in general. In 10.011M42 Hathek received word that Xanthus was building a heretical device, and asked the Space Wolves to investigate. They agreed and deployed a force to Sentinel, Xanthus' base. Sentinel was however also the main base of the Dark Angels, and when the Space Wolves arrived they were not welcomed. The Dark Angels considered the investigation of an Inquisitor Lord as inappropriate and an unlawful operation to carry out, even if another inquisitor lord had requested it. In addition, the Dark Angels considered Hathek a traitor for entreating with Aliens.

Pride and suspicion then ensured combat followed. The Space Wolves attacked the Dark Angels and, after putting up a determined resistance, gave way to their fellow Astartes. The Space Wolves found nothing however, as the delay had allowed Xanthus to flee the world. Hathek bitterly regretted his request. Now Xanthus was missing, somewhere aboard his Inquisition vessel in the depths of the void, and two space marine chapters had again come to blows, though neither actually sustained any fatalities. The Dark Angels and Space Wolves managed to reconcile their differences following a martial tournament of arms, and both now became extremely cynical of the behaviour of both Inquisitors. Even the actions of the third Inquisitor Lord in the sector, Huron, was now viewed with skepticism.

Nemesis tighten grip on Valboris

2011-10-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

On Valboris the Tyranid infestation had long been lethargic, expanding its control of the planet only sporadically to exploit weaknesses discovered in the Chaos battle lines. A series of co-ordinated attacks had repulsed the Tyranids from Mount Silston and cleansed much of Batertown. When there was no reprisal the defenders began to speculate that the infestation on Valboris had already reached its zenith, that exhausted and expended the threat posed by this tendril of Hive Fleet Nemesis was finally over.

Such hopes proved false. Without warning the Tyranids on Valboris suddenly went into full offensive. Swarms of bio-killers flowed out of the central Appolooso Mountains in unending waves to crash into the prepared positions of the Chaos defenders. The fighting was fiercest in Batertown, where determined not to give up their hard won gains Traitor Marines of the Claws of Lorek dismounted from their transports to entrench themselves in the still smoking ruins of the city.

The fighting was bloody and brief. The forward positions of the Claws of Lorek barely had time to realise they were under attack before swarms of gargoyles lead by a massive winged Tyrant landed amongst their positions. The fire support they had been expecting failed to materialise, their covering Havock teams suddenly assailed from behind by genestealers. These were repulsed with minimal casualties but it was already too late. Despite a desperate counter attack that slaughtered many of the aliens the Chaos defences collapsed completely and the Tyranids began rampaging through the Claws of Lorek's positions.

Soon the reason for the sudden Tyranid onslaught became apparent. Fresh from completing its consumption of Betor a large Hive fleet had appeared in the Valboris system. As they took up positions in orbit millions of Tyranid spores began to rain down on Valboris, blanketing the western continent. What had begun as an orderly retreat became a route. The highly mobile and well equipped traitor marines loyal to Lorek managed to escape into the east but thousands of cultists were cut off and slaughtered as the skies turned black. Batertown fell first, then Mount Silston and Main Crossing. With a space of a day all of western Valboris lay under the control of the Hive Mind. The situation looked grim for Valboris' defenders, but all was not yet lost. One of the Hive Ships had been crippled in a space battle in the system's outer reaches and the orbital blockade of the planet was incomplete. Re-enforcements could yet arrive from off world.

Tyndareous: Imperial offensive continues

2011-10-05T02:55:00.000-07:00

Only a week after the Space Wolves had regained the initiative on Tyndareous, the Cerberex Gaurd, Inquisitor Xanthus' elite loyal force, were sent in to make good the gains won by the Astartes forces.

The difficulties in maintaining the level of equipment supplied to the Cerberex regiments following their exile from their homeworld had by now become apparent. Losses in the field meant that the organisation's use of Vendettas and heavy tanks was now restricted to a few veteran regiments, while the rest made do with whatever could be scavenged from the scant resources Xanthus could put their way.

This fact saw the division which went into the Ranier Pass equipped with a host of equipment. While the regiment could still call upon heavy tank support and the use of flame tanks, cavalry were also employed, and most men, unlike in other Cerberex formations, went into battle on foot. Despite this the initial attack by the Cerberex men caught the Tau off guard, and succeeded in destroying a number of the defenders' infantry carrying skimmers, thanks in part to a very well placed initial artillery bombardment.

The Tau then put up a stiff defence, destroying the enemy tanks with accurate railgun fire, and using crisis suits to deep strike behind the enemy positions. At one point it looked like the attack had been beaten off, but the Cerberex Guard continued their offensive without pause until late on 0210.011M42 the pressure finally told and the Tau line broke. This was mainly due to the massive casualties sustained in the centre of their line and the Imperium had their victory, if the end result flattered a little.

The Tau were barely able to scramble back to defensible positions in the mountains, and their hold on the western portion of the Tyndareous starport and military base became untenable. Now the Imperium and Inquisitor Xanthus had the upper hand. One more concerted push would see the Tau assault on Tyndareous end in defeat.

Raiders extend reach

2011-10-05T02:54:00.000-07:00

In early 10.011M42, following the raid by the Shattered Silence, more Dark Eldar raids followed, and this time they were reported much further afield, as far as the Vastrid subsector as political intruiging and the desire for power in Commorragh drove the amoral aliens to ever more frequent assaults.

The Shattered Silence Cabal led the assaults, attacking Ork settlements in the Cerrack nebula, who were woefully unprepared for the sudden and lethal attacks launched from the webway. Following these successful raids, and apparently not wishing to be outdone, another Cabal launched its own series of raids, one of which resulted in an unfortunate encounter with the Necrons on Gamador. Unfortunate for the necrons that is, whose force was forced to retire after receiving a heavy mauling from the Dark Eldar.

Meanwhile the Claws of Lorek found themselves under concerted attack from the strange and capricious Rillietann eldar or "harlequins", who themselves appeared to bear some resemblance, or were using the equipment of the dark kin of the eldar.

The eldar attack was initially held, but the Rillietann quickly regained the upper hand in the raid on Blight, and by 0710.011M42 the unusually sustained eldar attack forced Lorek's forces to abandon several settlements to their fate. A week later they were able to return, the Rillietann having vanished as quickly as they had come. Three settlements were now completely devoid of their population, and an important library on Blight, containing thousands of arcane books, had been completely stripped of its contents.

The Aleph Sector - current ground campaigns

2011-09-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

Glossop V: Thrugnik suffers setback

2011-09-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

During the summer of 011M42 the war between the Orks and Imperium on Glossop V had become a lonely and sporadic affair. Ork Warlord Krumpgutz had apparently lost interest in his conquest in the world, although this was no comfort to the Imperium, as the fickle ork leader was known to change his mind often and for no apparent reason.

Thrugnik, the other major warlord of the Cerrack Nebula, decided to take on the defenders of Glossop V for himself, in order to secure himself the undisputed leadership of all orks in the Vastrid sector. Fortunately Imperial Intelligence intercepted increase manic chatter from crude vox networks on Aspaster, and Imperial Psykers felt the unmistakeable growth of Ork power around Thrugnik's homeworld.

Realising an attack in force was likely, and reasoning that Glossop V was the obvious target, the commander on the ground appealled for help. Once again the Space Wolves of Erik Morkai's great company responded to the call, and arrived with little time to spare. Thrugnik's Waagh! had landed and was moving swiftly towards the small Imperial base on the planet. Deploying rapidly, including the use of Drop Pods once again, the Space Wolves were able to halt the Ork advance, allowing the Imperial Guard stationed on Glossop V to take back several small outposts lost to the orks in the spring. The position on the minor world remained in the balance however, and one small band of Space Wolves together with a few thousand Imperial Guardsmen wouldn't last long if a concerted Ork attack materialised.

New Dark Eldar Cabal encountered

2011-09-26T05:16:00.000-07:00

General Veers remained in overall command of all forces in the Perseus Deeps as the summer of 011M42 drew to a close. His forces were now spread out after the campaigns of Corticant, Bastien and Parthenope, and the Inquisition disputes, still rumbling along in the background, meant that a new offensive against Chaos didn't seem likely in the near future.

The Tau too were stretched. Very few forces had been sent into the Aleph Expansion Sphere from the Tau Empire during 011M42, as wars elsewhere demanded more attention. In addition the fighting on Tyndareous soaked up any reinforcements which may have been forthcoming.

The net result was that in 09.011M42 the Imperial and Tau posessions in the Perseus Deeps were vulnerable. This vulnerability was taken advantage of in late 09.011M42 by a new Dark Eldar cabal, known as the "Shattered Silence", and led by Archon Kuro Kenshi. Within the space of a week, the Dark Eldar had raided Skera in the Tau sector, and landed in force on Gamordal, the most exposed Imperial territory.

The result on Skera was a catastrophe for the Tau, who were brutally massacred by the Dark Eldar. After taking vast numbers of (inferior) Tau slaves for their own depraved consumption, the Cabal systematically razed to the ground several Tau settlements and laid waste to much of the Tau colony. Skera was badly mauled amd some Tau even questioned its continued viability, as it now appeared unable to defend itself from deliberate invasion.

On Gamordal the Praetorian 42nd, refitting and resting after their long and futile campaign on Tarsis Major, were ideally and fortuitously placed to react when news of the Dark Eldar arrived at thier base. Kenshi had clearly not included the presence of a full Imperial Guard regiment in his attack calculations, and the arrival of the 42nd was an unwelcome surprise. In a battle which raged for two days, both sides fought each other to a standstill, before the Shattered Silence Cabal withdrew under the cover of darkness, back to their fastness in the warp.

Valboris: Lorek halts Nemesis

2011-09-26T05:04:00.000-07:00

With his campaign in the Perseus Deeps in tatters, and his new venture in the Vastrid Sector in reverse, the Chaos warlord Lorek turned his attention to Valboris. For many months the Tyranids had spasmodically extended their control of the world, and much of the western hemisohere, including settlements in the North Reach and Badlands, were now all but consumed.

Nemesis however hadn't committed its entire force to Valboris, the main hive fleet moving on and now somewhere in the Zadoc subsector. Even so the Tyranids slow advance had been relentless, the aliens apparently not worrying about the time it would take to consume the world, rather that it would, in the end, be consumed.

Lorek was determined to stop the slow digestion of an important chaos world, and in late 09011M42 a force of marines loyal to him arrived at Mount Silston. From here they moved in force to the infested settlement of Bartertown, and after several days of hard fighting, managed to dislodge the Tyranids from a significant portion of the town. The resistance had been determined however, as if the hive mind was irritated by its food fighting back. Lorek realised that to fully cleanse Valboris would be a hard task indeed.

Tyndareous: Space Wolves regain initiative

2011-09-26T04:51:00.000-07:00

The recently appointed Imperial overall commander on Tyndareous, General Devereux Trescott, received some welcome aid in 09.011M42, as a company of Space Wolves arrived to take the war to the Tau. With the Tau fleet protecting supply convoys from attack, the Space Wolves were able to slip a single strike cruiser into Tyndareous orbit. The Space Wolves then conducted a combined offensive, driving overland from the secure base at Arrenton, co-ordinating with accurate drop pod assaults.

Despite at least one drop pod arriving late, the drive across the Burbeck plain was savagely successful, as the Tau were unable to deal with the Space wolf forces at close range, and many were slaughtered in vicious hand to hand fighting, where the Astartes troops had overwhelming superiority.

The Space Wolves did suffer losses from Tau firepower, and many of their vehicles were destroyed by accurate railgun fire. At Pardle Junction, an entire squad of Space Wolves was cut down by mass fire, but in general the Tau were forced to retreat. Pardle junction fell on 2509.011M42, and on the next day a second drop took the strategically important Tyndar Plateau. The Tau still occupied Vallerander, Burbeck bay and much of the Tyndareous starbase, but the Space Wolves had cut the Tau occupied zone almost into three, and now the Imperium had the initiative on Tyndareous. General Trescott now needed reinforcements, and fast.

The Aleph Sector 09011M42

2011-09-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

Tragean vs. Craddock 1709.011M42

2011-09-18T02:12:00.001-07:00

Lord Tragean moves in force 1709.011M42

2011-09-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

While admiral Thok led his force out of the port of Mordecai, Lord Tragean was leading a much larger force of seven capital ships, led by the desolator class battleship Irredeemable Apostate, out of Kendrenec. This was the first time in ten years the warlord had personally led his ships, and it was the largest fleet Kendrenec had seen leave its docks in a decade. Fully half of Tragean's force left port in a series of escalating engagements which began to alarm Jellicoe. It seemed the Chaos fleets were testing the Imperial blockade. The Imperial admiral now worried that a truly apocalyptic fleet battle may ensue. What if all the forces of chaos sortied simultaneously? Could they, or would they, co-ordinate such an effort? His blockade had to isolate the Chaos bases from each other, as well as bottling them up.

Tragean's force was indeed impressive, but Admiral Craddock was well placed to intercept from his base in the Valitane subsector, as his fleet was on exercise near Zog at the time. Beattie already had to contend with Thok, so Craddock's force, the battleship Vanguard, cruisers Redoubtable, Aboukir, Dreadnought, Invincible and the light cruiser Ajax, immediately turned towards the Kendrenec space lane to give battle to Tragean's force.

The two fleets converged on 1709.011M42, the same date as Beattie's victory over Thok, the Imperium's six capital ships facing an enemy of seven, though the latter lacked escorts. Craddock's fleet lacked a ship armed with a nova cannon, and so the admiral chose to close the range, moving his fleet in formation towards the chaos fleet. Tragean's fleet did the same, and the two fleets maintained formation as they passed one another in between dense asteroid fields.

In the opening salvoes Invincible and Dreadnought took most of the firepower, and were forced to take evasive manouevres, throwing off their gunnery. Even so the heavy fire crippled the overlord class heavy cruiser Dreadnought, although somehow Invincible remained unscathed. Vanguard fired back, supported by the Aboukir's lances, and this weight of fire quickly took its toll on the slaughter class vessels Doomblade and Reaver, who's high speed and short range meant they had taken up position closest to the Imperial line.

Suddenly and without warning Doomblade exploded in a catastrophic warp drive implosion, crippling her sister ship and doing even more damage to the dreadnought. Desparately Dreadnought and Invincible, now crippled, attempted to move away from the chaos battle line. Invincible was successful, but Dreadnought's captain evidently failed to order a general power down of his vessel, and the battlecruiser's augur signal remained a bright beacon to the chaos vessels. Within minutes of Doomblade's destruction the Invincible also exploded, a critical hit to her plasma engines detonating the vessel and damaging Ajax in the process.

The two fleets passed, Reaver disengaging on the chaos side and Ajax and Invincible similarly leaving the fray. Repeated charges by the four sword class escorts were woefully poor, and three were destroyed in their futile attacks. As the battle wore on the gap between the two fleets opened out, briefly allowing Vanguard to rake the chaos flagship with heavy fire, but the chaos vessel remained battleworthy. Admiral Craddock then had a choice. Turn his fleet to starboard and accept a long range firefight he couldn't win, and risk the faster chaos vessels crossing his T behind his fleet, or turn to port taking shelter behind an asteroid field.

Craddock had little choice and turned to port, although this in itself didn't guarantee the rest of his fleet's safety. Only manic changes of course by Redoubtable saved the dictator class vessel from being crippled, and Vanguard herself took damage from the long range guns of the chaos fleet. Clearly Craddock was outgunned by a superior fleet, and it was equally clear that the scourge of Admiral Choraeous had returned to lead his fleet once more. The Imperial fleet fled back to the Valitane subsector for repairs, allowing Tragean's fleet clear passage to Thok's base at Morecai. The chaos forces were concentrating their forces as Jellicoe feared. Soon Jellicoe himself would have to face an enemy his predecessor had failed to best almost a decade earlier.

Thok defeated by Beattie

2011-09-18T02:10:00.001-07:00

Following Thok's forces' latest sortie into the Perseus Deeps in 08.011M42, the Imperial Admiralty based at Caitlen Station decided to increase the blockade of Chaos by adding their newly arrived task force, including the Oberon class battleship Hood, to the blockading fleets.

Admiral Jellicoe now had a battleship and five cruisers at strategic locations across the Deeps, ready to intercept any breakout from any of the Chaos fleet bases. Admiral Dreyer's formidable task force, including the Emperor class battleship Iron Duke, was stationed at Farport. Admiral Beattie, commanding Tiger stood closest to the chaos forces on Corticant, while Jellicoe himself raised his flag aboard the Victory class Agamemnon, guarding the space lanes between the Perseus Deeps and the Zadoc subsector from Caitlen Station.

Before Rear Admiral Clinton-Baker's battlegroup could fully join the blockade however, a force of Thok's ships once again slipped their moorings and headed into the Deeps. Admiral Beattie's force immediately moved to intercept, despite the fact that Glorious and Firedrake were still undergoing repairs and would not be able to join their comrades in battle. Beattie, leading Tiger, tracked down Thok's battleforce in an uninhabited system on the Perseus Run, and in the ensuing battle decisively defeated the chaos vessels.

Queen Hel was reduced to a hulk, while the grand cruiser Mjolnir was heavily damaged. The heavy guns of the fast battleship Tiger and the venerable vengeance class Canopus proved to be the difference between the two fleets. Despite running the gauntlet of asteroid fields, Thok's ships were unable to mount a co-ordinated attack, and the Mjolnir herself proved to be significantly outclassed by the Imperial fleet, which Beattie handled well, keeping his vessels in formation and concentrating fire on the most threatening vessels. Unfortunately for the Imperium, Thok was not the only chaos warmaster at large on 1709.011M42.

Tau consolidate position

2011-09-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

With Vallerander lost commander Starfire himself, Shadowstrike's right hand and overall commander of the Tyndareous campaign, decided to personally lead the attack on Burbeck Bay. His attacking force made up of veteran cadres who had fought on Tarsis and Melberg, and they were well used to Imperial tactics and capabilities. The Zadocians however, were unfamiliar with the Tau, the Imperium having destroyed their only units which had significant experience fighting them.

Starfire's forces stormed into the city, anihilating the Zadoc regiments defending the perimeter with well practiced precision and minimal casualties. The survivors of this assault fell back into Burbeck and to their credit mounted a fierce guerilla resistance. Starfire's cadre then had to fight from street to street, eventually securing the city and port after many days rooting out the last remnants.

Whilst this was happening, further south and east, mechanised cadres pushed through to capture Rainier Pass and air mobile cadres were deployed into the hills surrounding the Tyndareous Base while pathfinders periodically launched seeker missiles into it making imperial operations hazardous. Stealth suit infiltrations and drone patrols began ambushing any Imperial forces that attempted to leave the base to track down the pathfinders. The tau now had a massive strategic advantage and the Imperial forces on the planet had been widely scattered, their supply lines cut.

Meanwhile wider Tau strategy saw them returning to the Rim worlds, still dominated by the Catechism. For now the Tau were simply there to observe. They needed to know what the chaos forces were doing, what they were likely to do and what forces they had available to them if they were going to ramp up their campaign against the Imperium. The last thing the Tau needed was an opportunistic attack by the Catechism from an undefended flank.

The Tau pathfinder teams landed on Aornis, but the Catechism air force soon responded in force, and the tau air caste was forced to deploy defensive baracuda screens. After several dogfights the results were inconclusive, and the pathfinders were withdrawn as a precaution. The Tau were satisfied that the Catechism had no imminent plans to attack outside their own domain, but were none-the-less concerned with the strength the chaos forces still had at their disposal in the Rim Worlds.

Tyndareous campaign: current

2011-09-07T00:41:00.001-07:00

Thok sends out raiders – 08.011M42

2011-09-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

For many long months Jellicoe's fleet had successfully blockaded the chaos fleet bases of Kendrenec, Calliden and Mordecai. Tragean's large fleet rarely set out from its base as it was usually needed as a threat to the many warring tribes within the chaos held system. Shaidar Haran hadn't been seen for years, and many Imperial Navy officers felt it likely the force had either disappeared or been mothballed. The Catechism rarely ventured further than the Rim Worlds, Moonface's domain, but that still left Lorek and Thok.

Lorek's disasterous defeat at the hands of Jellicoe on 2201.011M42 during the invasion of Ares had seemingly deterred him from launching further fleet actions, but Thok's fleet had recently been enjoying relative success against the Imperial fleet, and it was only a matter of time before the mad admiral ventured forth from Mordecai once again. Jellicoe's biggest fear however was for the various fleets of chaos to join up and assault their jailer, the blockading Imperial fleets.

Jellicoe had adopted a policy of distant blockade. This was made easier with the Imperial-Tau "swap" of Minos for Aganthus, and with major fleets based at Farport, Corticant and Caitlen Station, Jellicoe could react in sufficient time to protect the vital Imperial worlds and waystations in the Perseus Deeps, without risking his capital ships in long deep space sweeps. To perform this role commanders Tyrwhitt and Harwood were given large squadrons of escorts to patrol the warps lanes for raiders. If the chaos forces made any major move from port, Beattie would react first, with support from Dreyer's powerful Farport fleet. If the chaos move was large, Jellicoe would lead his main fleet from Caitlen Station for a decisive victory.

On 3008.011M42 reports came in that several cruisers had left orbit around Calliden and had slipped into the Perseus Reach and were heading for the Farport lane. From here they would be able to threaten General Veers supplies which were vital for the cleaning up operation to keep Bastien and Parthenope under Imperial control. Jellicoe had to react, and sent four cruisers from Beattie's force to intercept, while the remainder of the Vice-Admiral's battlegroup remained near Corticant, in case the fast battleship Ragnarok should re-appear.

Glorious, Centurion, Intrepid and Agincourt successfully tracked the chaos ships down to a small red dwarf system midway between Calliden and the Imperial base at Corticant, while the chaos fleet were preparing to make their next warp jump. Both fleets were well scattered, and a confused action developed as both sides tried to form into a fleet formation. During the action the Glorious and Intrepid were heavily damaged, and Centurion, outnumbered and caught without support, exploded. On the chaos side, Midgard was destroyed, while the cruisers Brunhilde and Heimdall were crippled.

Overall the confused action was a draw, with both sides losing one capital vessel and having two others badly damaged, but once again Jellicoe's fleet was unable to deliver a victory with equal forces against a foe the admiral was used to beating. Now he feared Thok would be emboldened by this fact and launch ever larger raids into the hard won north-west Perseus Deeps. Jellicoe was sure however, that he had the resources available to meet the mad chaos admiral if he came out in force.

Perseus Deeps - Fleet Dispositions (current Chaos/Imperial)

2011-09-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

Alphe Current

2011-09-06T14:07:00.001-07:00

Astartes gain in Cerrack Nebula

2011-09-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

At the end of 08.011M42 with setbacks in the Zadoc sector, activities in the Vastrid sector were almost going to plan. Sector command had been consolidated under General Alexander, a veteran of the successful campaigns on Tyndareous and Coronus, and several companies of space marines had lent their aid, forming a Vastrid command council. The space marines of the Lamenters chapter and the space wolves were soon in action, and on 0209.011M42 they launched a combined operation against chaos forces on Quim and Hogans Fall, reasoning that the limited forces loyal to the Lorek, the ousted "Master of Chaos", could not defend both places at once.

In the event, the forces of chaos put up a reasonable defence on both worlds, but were overrun on Quim and Hogan's Fall. The Claws of lorek found themselves in a desparate situation against the Lamenters, and Hogan's fall was liberated on 0509.011M42, with the Claws abandoning their deepest base in the Vastrid sector. On Quim, the space wolves annihilated the defenders, despite daemons being raised to halt their progess, and established a firm beachhead on the world. As the Space Wolves dug in, allowing Imperial Guard units to land, an urgent request came in for aid against the Tyranids.

Nemesis gain on Alphe

2011-09-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

The situation on Alphe worsened as 09.011M42 began, as tendrils of Nemesis began to appear on the mainland of Hulme Island and on Snowwald Island. The PDF put up a spirited fight in Springbay, but the situation soon became desparate. Sensing an opportunity to cleanse the islands with one quick thrust, the recently arrived Ultramarines immediately planned a strike.

The marines landed on the north of the island without incident and attempted to locate the focus of the hive mind on Snowwald. Once again however, it appears that Nemesis was one step ahead, somehow understanding Astartes tactics and using them against them. The tyranid hordes successfully ambushed the Ultramarines forces, diverting them from their larger assets and swamping them with a horde of bodies. Taking casualties they could ill afford, the Ultramarines evacuated, abandoning the brave defenders of Springbay to their fate.

Meanwhile the Praetorian Guard formed their thin red line on the mainland near Moorden. The ranks of Praetorians, resplendent in their red tunics and white helmets, fired volley after volley into the advancing hordes, but the tyranids swarmed relentlessly, a tide of bodies overrunning the Imperial positions. Even the dour stubbornness of the Praetorians couldn’t face Nemesis indefinitely, and after a hard battle the Imperial line finally broke, the guardsmen fleeing their positions, leaving Moorden to be overrun.

With the situation on the front line deteriorating rapidly, General Percival was also forced to divert precious resources into policing, as order on Alphe began to break down. Panic gripped the citizens as they realised that this new enemy was far far worse than the forces of chaos. Now only percivals troops, and badly battered Astartes chapters stood between the population of Alphe and total annihilation.

Necrons resume activity

2011-08-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

The Necrons of the Perseus Deeps had been almost inactive since the short Necron-Tau war of 02.011M42, which ended in defeat for the ancient race. For the Necrons however, who had existed for aeons, such a timespan represented less than an eyeblink to mere mortals. And, in 08.011M42 the Necrons appeared in action again. Having already reclaimed almost a third of the chaos world of Blight, the Necrons now appeared on the Tyranid infested world of Enaloth. Whether or not the planet had originally been a Tomb world remains uncertain, but a splinter of Nemesis had infested Enaloth since 010M42, and on 1808.011M42 Necrons and Tyranids engaged each other on the otherwise now uninhabited world.

It is presumed that Nemesis had failed to complete consumption of Enaloth because its main hive fleet was still many light years away in the Zadoc subsector. The hive mind was now readying itself to consume the valuable biomass of that subsector, which consisted of many more nutrient rich systems than the relatively barren Perseus Deeps. In any case, the Tyranids on Enaloth remained relatively isolated from the rest of Nemesis, and the Necrons appeared to take advantage of this, securing a spectacular victory against the bioloical enemy and establishing themselves on the world.

Shortly after the Necrons had resumed their activities in the Deeps, they themselves came under concerted attack on their tomb world of Gamador. In two apparently co-ordinated raids, the Eldar and their dark kin ravaged several Necron tombs, causing massive damage and forcing Necron forces to phase out on two separate occasions. Both forces attack with violent hatred, a pathalogical detestation passed down from generation to generation over countless millenia.

Of most concern to Imperial analysts however was the apparent co-ordination by two forces who many in the Imperium naively considered bitter enemies. If the strange Harlequin led Eldar were prepared to work with the Dark Eldar on this mission, what would it take for them to work together - against the Imperium - on other occasions?

Less than a week later, on 2408.011M42 the Dark Eldar appeared on Corticant once again, catching the Imperial defenders off balance by appearing from an area the Inquisiton of the Ordo Xenos had considered "safe". The Grey Knights were quick to respond, but as ever failed abysmally to counter the alien threat. Inquisitor Hathek then received intelligence that the Dark Eldar had appeared from an almost unknown Eldar webway portal. Perhaps the eldar had "repayed" their dark kin by showing them new ways to raid the lesser races of the Perseus Deeps.

Alphe Invasion

2011-08-21T08:36:00.001-07:00

Nemesis Vanguard reaches Alphe

2011-08-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

With the loss of the Peraph asteroid base in 07.011M42 Imperial commander General Percival readied his defence of Alphe. Coming only months after the withdrawal of chaos forces from the planet the news that Tyranids were encroaching on the Alphe system came as a bitter blow, and the news was kept secret from the general populace, even from the governor, Albers Torak. Percival had Imperial Guard regiments readied and the PDF re-mobilised under the pretext that chaos forces had still not left the system. A lie, but one which kept the system on a state of alert. Forces from the Salamanders, Lamenters and Blood Martyrs chapters arrived by early 08.011M42, and Percival pursuaded them to make themselves visible to the troops on the ground, thereby increasing morale. The Imperium braced itself for the inevitable onslaught, which then failed to arrive.

For much of 08.011M42 augurs searched the void of space and the warp for indications of the hive fleet arriving en masse, but nothing appeared. Admiral Jellicoe kept his fleet on alert at Caitlen station, but continued his usual fleet duties. Where were the Tyranids? Then, on 1508.011M42 worrying news reached General Percival. Since the 8th, there had been reports of general disorder, rioting and "beast attacks" from the Island settlement of Linshore, which had been devastated in the chaos invasions of 09-10M42. These were shrugged off at first, there were still outbreaks of mutation and even daemonic possession across the world, and the local adeptus arbites forces had become well used to handling such outbreaks, usually brutally.

On 11008.011M42 contact with Linshore was lost, something unremarkable on a world where so much infrastructure had been ravaged by war. However, when contact hadn't been re-established by the 15th, Percival sensed something was wrong. The Salamanders agreed to investigate, landing near the city of Linshore on 1908.011M42. At first they found nothing, then as they investigated the city itself, this very discovery became alarming. The entire population of over one million had disappeared without a trace, and the city, ruined by shelling, had almost disappeared amongst creeping vines and floral overgrowth. Very quickly the Salamanders realised what this meant, and hastily withdrew, signalling to Percival that the tyranids had indeed arrived. Then the monsters appeared.

The Tyranids had arrived on Alphe apparently by stealth, something which was not in keeping with their usual mode of operation. Nemesis, Imperial intelligence realised, was different, employing a breadth of strategy not usually encountered in the extragalactic menace. The Salamanders fought bravely, but the forces of Nemesis had taken the by surprise, cutting their forces off from their Thunderhawks. Within a day, contact was lost with the Astartes company.

The Lamenters immediately declared their intention to rescue their battle brothers from the alien hordes, despite the objections of Percival, who desperately wanted to keep the marines from hot-headed action. He managed to pursaude the Blood Martyrs from throwing in their lot with the Lamenters and began the process of quarantining Redkeep Island. on 2108.011M42 Inquisitor Darell Yintard arrived with instructions from his mentor and overseer, Inquistor Hathek. Yintard was to restart Hathek's investigations into Nemesis while Hathek dealt with the rogue Xanthus in the Perseus Deeps. Meanwhile the Lamenters went ahead with their rescue mission, and met ferocious resistance from the aliens. Few of the battle brother survived the assault, much as Percival had predicted.

Tau forces secure Vallerander

2011-08-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

Following the successful if desparate air attacks on the Tau by the Imperial air force, the Imperial garrison was strengthened on the ground by a company of Salamanders. The overall position of the Imperium on the ground was however, pretty dire. The Tau had greater numbers and more equipment, and the destruction of the Librian guard units now left the commander of the theatre with just one Zadocian Guard regiment, a handful of PDF units and a few companies of marines. Tyndareous needed Imperial Guard reinforcement desperately, but that was weeks away, and the Tau new it.

Realising the opportune moment was now, the Tau attacked Vallerander in force, hoping for an easy victory against poorly equipped planetary defence troopers. What the Tau didn't know was that the Salamanders had identified Vallerander as a key strategic position and had moved quietly into position on the night of 1808.011M42. As soon as they attacked, the Tau came up against concerted resistance and began taking losses they did not expect. They were however of the Ksi'm'yen sept, by now the most respected Tau fighting force of the whole Aleph expansion sphere, and their experience and tactical knowledge against Imperial tactics proved invaluable, while the Salamanders, undoubtedly humanity's finest warriors, lacked exposure to Tau fighting methods.

After a bitter struggle lasting more than a day, the Salamanders grudgingly gave up Vallerander and moved off the high ground. There was no sense in losing their entire strength and they had at least inflicted significant casualties on their enemy. The commanders on Tyndareous now wondered how many reserves the Tau had, as their own forces were looking rather thin on the ground.

Tyndareous 2008.011M42

2011-08-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

War in the Air

2011-08-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

On Tyndareous, with the Tyndar Plateau secured, the Tau forces now moved to expand their territorial holding on the Imperial world, to prevent the Imperium from wiping them out with one concerted Space marine strike. Their next target was the remote region known as the Vallerander Heights, and several air drops using Orcas, supported by Baracudas, were drawn up in early 08.011M42.

The initial scouting landings went well, but soon follow up drops were intercepted by Imperial navy fighters based out of Arrenton and Burbeck Bay. The Tau pilots however showed their experience, as many had fought in the Tarsis campaign of 08/09, while many of their Imperial adversaries had never seen combat - certainly not against the Tau. The landings succeeded and the Imperium lost many fighters, and the crucial road intersection of Pardle Junction were secured by 1208.011M42. The Tau now planned to move on the rest of the central high ground to isolate Vallerander.

Frustrated by their losses, Air commodore Stewart requested pilots to be sent planetside from the carrier Intrepid, which had recently arrived in the system along with a number of other Imperial vessels, in order to find the Tau vessels which had initiated the invasion. Captain Dingemans agreed, and after a short orientation course on their new aircraft, the experienced fighter pilots of the Imperial Navy began to make a difference.

on 1708.011M42 the Imperium struck back, assembling a rather ad-hoc force of fighters and bombers to attack the newly constructed Tau base on the Vallerander heights. The Tau air cadre responded with force against the Imperial bombing mission, but this time the Imperial pilots were equal to them, and the Tau lost many Barracudas before breaking off. They did manage to inflict significant damage on the inbound Imperial wing, but the Tau base was heavily damaged. The Tau postponed their plans to take Vallerander. For now the Imperial air force had earned a stay of execution.

At the same time, another Imperial attack was taking place, an ill-conceived plan which saw a small force, including the Mars class battlecruiser Glorious, travel to New Sparta in the Rim Worlds. The Imperium considered the chaos defences of the world to be weak, and New Sparta ripe for the taking. Such a victory would see the crusade started with renewed vigour, and the weakened Catechism could be eradicated. In addition, a base in the Rim worlds would eas pressure on Caitlen Station, and allow more forces to be directed against the Tau in the Mabb nebula.

The first stage of operation Albatross called for the destruction of any chaos air power, though none was actually anticipated. The Imperium could not have been more wrong, The Catechism air forces appeared almost as soon as the Imperial craft entered the atmosphere, and attacked with gleeful abandon. Of the 300 aircraft sent in to defeat the Catechism, only 46 returned, and the operation was called off amid much embarrasment.

Imperium launch assault on Tau Base

2011-08-06T02:38:00.000-07:00

The battle of the Tyndar Plateau took place on Tyndareous on 0108.011M42 between the Tau forces which had dug in on the Imperial world, and a hastily formed conglomerate of Imperial troops, which were thrown against their enemy with such speed that the Tau were taken completely by surprise. The Tau found themselves isolated and without air support. The Imperium, under the direction of Inquisitor Lord Xanthus, had managed to secure the support of the Lamenters, the Blood Angels and two regiments of Zadoci Guard, as well as a large amount of Librian equipment. The Librians themselves, who could not be trusted, were interred for the duration of the war on Tyndareous.

Lamenters scouts established the position of the base some days before the battle, skillfully avoiding the alien perimeter patrols, and began planning the attack. The plan called for the Imperial Guard regiments to take the brunt of the Tau firepower, attacking head on towards the main Tau watchtower. Meanwhile the Astartes troops would attack from the flanks, isolating the Tau base from support and ensuring its capture, along with the vital intelligence and important personell the Imperium knew were present.

The attack went as planned, with the Imperial assault soon threatening the inner sanctum of the Tau base. The Lamenters and Blood Angels in particular were murderous, slaughtering all who stood in their way, and hundreds of Kroot and Tau fire warriors died appalling deaths at the hands of the space marines. The Imperial Guard meanwhile suffered badly at the hands of Tau railguns. Tanks were blown apart and the Imperial assault began to stagger.

At the height of the battle the Astartes forces looked like breaking through the Tau defences, and the xenos desperately tried to evacuate their personell before the Imperium overran the base. While calling for air support and significant reinforcement, the Tau commander on the ground knew that only intervention from the Hunter Cadre of the Ksi'm'yen sept could save them from certain disaster. The cadre of the Ksi'm'yen sept, stationed some kilometres away, were one of Shadowstrike's own, and the Tau commander's legendary promotion of rapid deployment and manouvre now came into play. Shadowstrike's forces counter attacked at the height of the battle, and in a desperate attempt to rescue the ethereal who remained in the watchtower with the troops of Fastblade. completely uncaring of casualties, Shas'el Swift Tide lead the rescue attempt and died in the fighting, while Commander Moonshine's forces attempted to stave of a furious assault from the Lamenters on the Tau left. Fastblade's forces too made huge sacrifices, suffering 80% casualties trying to buy time for the evacuation of key personell.

What the Imperium didn't know however, was at the very time they were launching their assault the Tau were already planning their full invasion of Tyndareous. As the outer Tau base fell and the battle raged, fresh troops were being landed by Manta onto the bases' central airfield from the orbiting tau fleet and their arrival, and the threat of aerial attack forced the imperial forces to withdraw.

The Tau had managed for the most part to prevent the Imperium from getting hold of vital intelligence, but at terrible cost. Casualties were horrendous and the sacrifice was immediately hailed and was ranked among the great Tau battles in the sector. The Imperium had inflicted terrible damage on the Tau and learnt some of their motives, but now they found themselves with a determined enemy who now had fresh reinforcements. Xanthus now had a real war on his hands.

Nemesis advance on Alphe

2011-07-23T02:25:00.000-07:00

In 07.011M42 the tyranids of hive fleet Nemesis continued to make probing attacks around the system of Alphe. The resurgence of the alien menace in the Alphe system also drew other parties into the area. Raids by the Dark Eldar increased, and at least one raid was spectacularly successful, with the Dark Eldar capturing a large number of varied monsters to entertain their brethren in Commoragh.

Later in the month the Imperium, under General Percival, launched an all out attack against the Tyranids at the Peraph base in the outer reaches of the Alphe system. A whole regiment of Islandawandans was thrown against Nemesis, but the Imperial guard soon found themselves in deep trouble. The fighting turned desperate and the ISlandawandans were barely able to hold the Tyranids long enough to mount an evacuation. By the end of 07.011M42 all remaining Imperial forces had been evacuated from Peraph, and the base was firmly in the hands of hive fleet Nemesis.

Lamenters punish "disloyal" Librians

2011-07-17T03:01:00.000-07:00

With a significant Tau presence now confirmed on Tyndareous, the forces of Inquisitor Lord Xanthus now had to ensure that other Imperial forces on the world remained loyal to him, and carried the fight to the Tau. Almost immediately after the Tau launched their assault the Librian 271st mechanised infantry regiment sent messengers to the Tau to try to halt the fighting. Xanthus moved swiftly, declaring the Librians traitors from a traitors' world and asking the Lamenters to eliminate them from the Tyndareous battlefield.

The Lamenters launched an immediate attack on the Librian positions at dawn on 1607.011M42. As the sun rose the mechanised marine forces of the Adeptus Astartes moved into range of the Librian guns, but the Imperial Guard opening barrage was woefully inaccurate, and the Lamenters were able to get within murderous close range before the Librian fire began to take its toll. In the end the Librians gave a good account of themselves, but virtually all the infantry were slaughtered by the Astartes or fled the field, while the armoured units took heavy damage.

By 1807.011M42 the Librian forces on Tyndareous had been broken, with all their equipment lost and their soldiers either captured or fled, some to the Tau. The Lamenters had taken out the Librians as a threat to Xanthus' war, but at great cost to themselves. With much reduced forces on Tyndareous, many now wondered if the Tau invasion could be stopped.

The governor of Tyndareous was outraged at the events, and the people of the world also began to look ever more suspiciously at Xanthus and his "loyalist" forces. Xanthus had broken the treaty Hathek had negotiated, at least in the Mabb Nebula, but appeared as isolated as ever within his own Imperium.

Xanthus provokes war with Tau

2011-07-16T01:07:00.000-07:00

In early 07.011M42 Inquisitor Xanthus once again attempted to break the Tau-Imperial peace agreement and this time he succeeded. Xanthus had previously tried to break the treaty by provoking the Tau, but with little success. His opponent, Hathek, had always managed to box in his forces and smoothe over Tau anger whenever he did manage to land blows on the alien empire.

Xanthus realised that while he was close to Hathek's powerbase in the Perseus Deeps, he would never materially influence the course of events, so he moved in secret to the Mabb Nebula in the Zadoc subsector.

With the help of the Dark Angels and Blood Martyts, Xanthus managed to move a small portion of his forces to New Cerberex, a fiercely puritan Imperial colony. On 0407.011M42 the Dark Angels launched an attack on Hylas, inserting a small force of just a few marines, killing Tau colonists indescriminately and capturing a Tau ethereal.

The Grey Knights, loyal to Hathek and the crusade council, uncovered Xanthus' plan and rushed to New Cerberex to attempt to capture the puritan inquisitor. After being unsuccessfully ambushed by a squad of Blood Martyrs, the Grey Knights then attempted to rescue the Tau diplomat, but the Dark Angels were not above killing their fellow astartes. The Ordo Malleus force was unable to penetrate the Dark Angels' base perimeter, and the Tau captive was tortured and murdered, his head sent back to the Tau as a warning, or statement of intent.

By 1107.011M42 Xanthus' plan had borne fruit. The Tau, unknown to the Inquisitor, had contacted Hathek. The peace treaty in the Perseu Deeps would hold, but such attacks in the Mabb nebula could not be tolerated. Hathek was told in no uncertain terms that since he could not deal with his fellow Inquisitor Lord, the Tau would.

The next Tau move was to deploy a small scouting force to Tyndareous, who were accidentally discovered by a patrol of Blood Martyrs marines who had arrived with Xanthus some weeks before. Xanthus knew the Tau would attack either New Cerberex or Tyndareous, so posted forces of marines on both worlds. The Tau were able to defeat the Blood Martyr's patrol, and before the astartes could get warning to other Imperial forces on the planet they launched a sizeable strike on the planet's main airbase.

The Tau arrived without warning, a tiger shark and several baracuda air superiority fighters screaming in low over the plateau on which the base stood. Taken by surprise the Imperial base was almost defenceless, but a squadron of Prozan Cavalry valyries and vultures still scrambled to intercept their enemy. The battle was utterly one sided. Without taking any damage, the prozan aircraft were smashed from the sky, and the Imperial base was heavily damaged. War with the Tau was well and truly joined.

Grey Knights fair badly

2011-07-09T02:45:00.000-07:00

The Grey Knights, who had been concentrating on furthering the Imperial Crusade in the Perseus Deeps, moved their attention to focus on the Vastrid sector during 06.011M42. This was mostly in response to the increased chaos presence in the Cerrack Nebula, which presented a thread to the major populated centres of the subsector. Their first mission in strength came on 3006.011M42, where they deployed a significant force on Hogan's Fall to root out reports of daemonic incursions in the chaos forces which had invaged the Imperial outpost.

In finding the daemons the Grey Knights were succesful, but in defeating the abominations they were not, and the daemons proved to be more dangerous and tactically adept than the Grey Knights had expected. The Imperial assault was unsuccessful, and in repsponse the chaos forces mounted a counter attack which saw the Imperium lose ground on Hogan's fall. By 0707.011M42 the Imperial base was besieged and the world had all but fallen to the ruinous powers.

To make matters worse early 07.011M42 saw the Grey Knights mired in the inquisition dispute once again, this time coming to blows with the Lamenters chapter of space marines on Zog. The Lamenters had deployed to the world in order to assess the risk of the Necron presence, before carrying out an unknown mission. The Ordo Malleus astartes chapter had received intelligence that the Lamenters had declared for Xanthus and were planning a strike on Parataea or Skera, both Tau worlds, and that their real reason for deploying in the Perseus Deeps was this, rather than the official explanation.

The Grey Knights arrived in the Zog system and demanded the Lamenters "explain themselves". Once again however the aggressive arrogant display did not have the desired effect, and the Grey Knights were requested to leave the system. When they refused fighting once again broke out, and after several hours of sporadic skirmishing the Knights realised they had no choice but to leave, allowing the Lamenters to carry out their mission - "traitorous" or otherwise.

Eldar stir up hornet's nest

2011-07-09T02:31:00.001-07:00

During 06.011M42 the Eldar became more and more active in the Aleph sector, appearing from time to time and in a number of places, attacking and raiding all sides apparently at random. Inquisitor Huron began to take an acute interest in the appearance of the Eldar, and he had already identified that it was the same group attacking forces across the sector. Now he had to find out why.

The latest attacks all occurred on Valboris, a chaos world now infested by Tyranids. Concentrating on Betor, the Tyranids had considered Valboris somewhat of a second front, and progress had been slow, but steady. Now the extra-galactic xenos found themselves under attack from the Eldar. Nemesis was caught off guard by the surprise attack, and the fast moving Eldar were able to inflict considerable damage on the aliens before withdrawing to the webway.

The hive mind was clearly angered by this attack, and began offensive moves once again, potentially to uncover and block of the webway portals and defend itself against this new avenue of attack. As they moved towards Main Crossing however, the chaos defenders summoned a horde of daemons to block their progress. In a bloody battle, the daemons carved through the Tyranid menace, allowing other chaos forces to exploit the breach and take back Silston from the alien creatures.

It appeared the Eldar were interested in stoking up the fires of war on Valboris, but the daemonic success may have been unexpected, as the Eldar found themselves with daemonic forces between them and the webway as they prepared to depart. Faced with no other choice the Eldar, led by their harlequin troupes, launched themselves at the forces of chaos. The fighting was bloody, but neither side could force the other to withdraw. The daemons however could not maintain their existence in the material world indefinately, and the Eldar were able to wait their enemy out, leaving Valboris a much hotter warzone than when they arrived.

Meanwhile Nemesis' tendrils began fanning out across the Zadoc subsector. With Betor apparently consumed the location of the hive fleet remained unknown, but xenos vanguard creatures began to appear on various planets in the Mabb Nebula. A particularly large force of Tyranids manifested itself on Hylas, the smallest Tau colony in the region. Fortunately for the Tau their forces, led by a protege of Shadowstrike, were prepared for the attack, and defeated the scouting Tyranid forces. The Tau high command decided to fortify all its bases in the sector, identifying Hylas as a priority.

Tyranids appear in Alphe system

2011-07-02T02:26:00.000-07:00

It had been months since anything had been heard from the Betor system. Psykers still reporting nothing but a thick all encompassing psychic fog emanating from the region, and to attempt to penetrate it caused seizures and even death. The Imperial defenders on the world had been left to their fate, but it wasn't until 06.011M42 that the final fate of Betor became apparent.

The tyranid warp shadow began to wane in late 05.011M42, but when astropaths tried to contact Betor, they got no response. They sensed nothing from the world and the Inquisition and Imperial High Command had to accept the total destruction of one of the emperor's worlds. As the warp impression died however, the Imperium lost track of the tyranid menace as the vast hive fleet was swallowed up by the even more vast blackness of the void.

Then, in mid 06.011M42 the Peraph asteroid base in the Alphe system sent a garbled and unintelligable message before falling silent. Five thousand Imperial workers had gone quiet and no one from the base could be raised. Responding to the distress call a half company of Blood Martyrs diverted to the area and set down two squads near the base to investigate.

On landing they found the base a wreck, but couldn't find a single shred of biological matter to confirm what had happened to the Imperial workers. Then, a firefight broke out and within minutes contact with the Blood Martyrs had also been lost. A single word from the sergeant leading the expedition brought fear to the Alphe system "tyranids".

The Blood Martyrs were anguished that their gene seed had been lost and was now available to the monstrous alien menace, but were unable to send in more troops quickly. Fortunately by now a small force of Space Wolves had arrived and quickly recovered much of the precious gene seed before too many tyranids appeared.

Alerted to the two Astartes chapters however, the hive mind of Nemesis began to mount stronger and stronger responses, and very soon the small force of Blood Martyrs and Space Wolves found themselves hemmed in. A bitter and bloody struggle followed while the space marines made plans to evacuate the four squads of marines.

No quarter was given and both chapters slaughtered more than their fair share of xenos abominations. after hours of valiant fighting the tyranids were almost exhausted, the blood of their kind soaking the soil of the former Imperial base, corpses piled high. Time however ran out for the marines, and the last man standing, a Blood Martyr caught in the full flood of the blood rage, was mind shrieked to death by a Zoanthrope as he attempted to charge it down in single combat. The Asteroid base had fallen but the Imperium now knew where Nemesis would strike next.

Xanthus bid to coerce Aethor fails

2011-06-25T03:21:00.000-07:00

With the loss of Ares to his cause, inquistor Xanthus attempted to sway Aethor to his side during 06.011M42. Aethor lay on the critical Perseus Run warp route, and Xanthus desperately needed a secure supply route from sectors towards the Imperial Hub and his base on Sentinel. Hathek and Huron had made sure he couldn't have Ares, so Aethor would have to do. Xanthus' position was bolstered by the arrival of half a company of Blood Martyrs space marines, but the Inquisitor lord remained marginalised and isolated.

Lords Hathek and Huron hadn't been blind to the move on Aethor, and had made provisions for its defence should Xanthus try anything. So it cam as no surprise when on 1906.011M42 the Grey Knights discovered that a small squad of Blood Martyrs had attempted to force their way into Aethor's main communications array. They had no idea what the purpose of this raid was, but pursued the Blood Martyrs into the wilderness of the world, finding themselves bitterly opposed by the astartes chapter forces. In a brief skirmish the Blood Martyrs lost half their team, but the outnumbered Grey Knights disengaged first, realising they could not afford to lose men at the hands of fellow space marines, and the remaining Blood Martyrs escaped.

Only later did Hathek learn what Xanthus' agents had been up to. Without warning the population of Aethor suddenly found their normal vidcast programmes interrupted by an address from High Priest Garrett Van Buerden, extoling the virtues of the emperor and imploring all to follow His will. Realising this was turning into a propaganda coup for Xanthus, Hathek immediately asked the Grey Knights to shut down the broadcast. No-one outside the council yet knew of Van Buerden's rift with the Crusade and Hathek, and the wrong words now could uncover the rift and start a civil war as the general population of the world, or even the sector, took sides. This had to be stopped.

Unfortunately the communications station was defended by units of the Prozan Cavalry, leading to an unfortunate firefight between the two Imperial forces. The Grey Knights couldn't explain why they had to destroy the communications array, nor could they merely say it was on the orders of Hathek, or suspicions would be raised. The unfortunate Imperial guardsmen were slaughtered and the broadcast stopped before too much had been said, and Inquisitor Hathek "explained" the situation to the planetary governor. Suitably impressed and trusting of the high inquisitor, the world of Aethor pledged its support to Hathek's position and another world was lost to Xanthus' cause.

War on Glossop V

2011-06-25T03:19:00.000-07:00

During 06.011M42 the war on Glossop V, under-resourced and neglected by the Imperium, continued. The world wasn't of massive strategic significance and only a few regiments of Imperial Guard held the line between the human colonists, numbering 500,000, and the ever growing green tide of Waagh! Krumpgutz.

Unexpected help did arrive on 1806.011M42 in the form of a handful of Grey Knights units. The Ordo Malleus had a growing interest in the Cerrack Nebula with the recent appearance of chaos forces on Triam and Quim. As the only Imperial held world in the nebula the choice of Glossop V as a base was obvious, and the astartes forces agreed to help the guard defend the world from the orks. To this end the Imperial forces planned and executed several small raids against the ork horde, searching for weaknesses.

The Grey Knights were reasonably successful, establishing the size, disposition and weaponry of the ork forces arraid against the Imperial perimeter, but the Prozan cavalry suffered at the hands of the greenskins. One raiding force found itself completely cut off and surrounded by angry orks, with a desperate airborne rescue only able to extract one or two of the elite commandos. The war on Glossop would continue, largely forgotten by the rest of the sector.

Inquisition war hots up

2011-06-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

Although the Inquisition dispute between Hathek, Huron and the council on one side, and Xanthus on the other, had cooled off after the Astartes settled the score on Ares, neither side was content to leave things as they were. Xanthus was now effectively outlawed, cut off from his usual endless resources and only commanding a few regiments of guard and a flotilla of Jellicoe's ships. Xanthus needed to sway more governors and Imperial representatives to his side, and to do that he needed to discredit the other two inquisitor lords.

To this end the Ordo Hereticus inquisitor once again planned to disrupt the Imperial-Tau alliance. Through still loyal agents, Xanthus gave false information to the Grey Knights, suggesting that a daemonic incursion was imminent on the Tau held world of Skera. Unfamiliar with the Tau dispositions in the Perseus Deeps and not bothering to check with the council, the hot headed Astartes immediately set out for the Tau system. Their strike cruisers easily evaded Tau warships and deployed a force of Grey Knights on the planet, close to the suspected daemonic outbreak centre. Unsurprisingly they found nothing, except an angry Tau force who asked why they had been assaulted. Pride quickly got in the way of negotiation and the Grey Knights soon found themselves under attack. After a brief skirmish the Ordo Malleus strike force abandoned its attack and fled the system, but the alliance still held thanks to swift interevention from Inquisitor Hathek once again. The Tau informed him however that he was on his final warning.

Hathek then directed the Grey Knights to Ares, recently retaken by the Imperium but still reporting minor intrusions from the warp. On Ares however the Grey Knights met with a government hostile to their presence, and the recently installed planetary governor refused to allow them to land, The Astartes did anyway, and found the Blood Angels already on the world pursuing their own aims. The Grey Knights demanded that the Blood Angels confirm their alliegance to the Crusade council and declare Xanthus a traitor. When they refused the Grey Knights found themselves in another uneccessary battle, although this time the Blood Angels were forced to withdraw, complaining bitterly that the Knights were exceeding their remit.

Hathek meanwhile began machinations of his own. Realising the governor of Ares was hostile to his faction, the inquisitor resolved to remove him. He reasoned, correctly that the Grey Knights could be easily swayed and used as a tool in his plans. He planted the suspicion that the government of Ares were complicit in the recent daemonic incursions on the world, and planet suitably damning evidence. On cue the Grey Knights declared the governor a heretic and attacked the capital. The ill-equipped 24th Islandlwanfa found themselves in the way and were defeated in short order by the Knights, suffering apalling casualties. The governor, all the time protesting his innocence, was summarily tried and executed under Hathek's supervision. The inquisitor then replaced the entire government with his own sympathisers, cutting another link in Xanthus' supply chain.

Parthenope Secured

2011-06-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

General Veers' Crusade in the Perseus Deeps received an unexpected boost from the Blood Angels in late 05.011M2 when they arrived in orbit around Parthenope. Veers met with their commander, and although their quest was unrelated to the cleansing of the planet, the forces of the Astartes agreed to co-ordinate their strikes with an all out offensive planned by Veers to take the Vregal peninsular.

The Blood Angels dropped from orbit on 2905.011M42, landing near Gand and on the Lone Isles. Searching for ancient artefacts it is believed the Blood Angels were successful, but for the Imperial high command the real good news was the destruction of Anticross and Shadow Suns traitor Astartes forces.With the elite soldiers of chaos smashed apart by the fury of the Blood Angel's attacks, the door to Gelanath and Torradi now lay open. Veers assembled his best regiments of Librian Guard and deployed the feared Cerberex mechanised regiment he was keeping in reserve for the final push. The Imperial guard advanced on a narrow front, the tanks of Libria and New Cerberex punching deep behind enemy lines and by 0106.011M42 the remaining chaos forces prepared for their final stand.

Just east of the settlement of Cayal the forces of chaos played their last card, summoning a huge gibbering mass of other-worldly daemons in the path of the advancing troops, aiming to blunt the spearhead and allow the traitor marines units to recover from their defeat at the hands of the Blood Angels, and drive into the flanks of the Imperial advance.

The daemons appeared in a concentrated mass, right in front of the Librian main firepower, and were punished severely. Leman Russ tanks and massed multilaser fire proved devastating to the daemonic host, and the Punisher variant of the Librians' main battle tanks proved particularly adept at blowing apart the warp-beasts.

While the Librian regiments bottled up the daemonic horde, the Cerberex mechanised force managed to drive forward through the chaos lines and deliver a decisive blow. Too late the chaos commanders realised this had left the Cerberex right flank almost undefended, but the forces summoned to exploit this weakness were insufficient to prevent a decisive Imperial victory.

The battle lost, the daemons disappeared back to their blasphemous realm, leaving the Imperium to mop up the final defenders of Parthenope. Thousands of cultists were put to the sword, but few traitor marines were ever discovered, most having used their daemonic pacts to depart from Parthenope when it became clear all was lost.

Veers had another victory and finally secured the Farport region of the Perseus Deeps. Now however the crusade faced a crisis. What now? Where next? The council soon fell into argument. Many suggested redirecting troops to the Cerrack Nebula to respond to the activity there while others were more bullish, recommending an all out attack on Mordecai or Calliden. Some in the military ranks preferred the Rim worlds to be the next focus of the campaign, while others felt it was time to draw a line under the Perseus Deeps crusade. This against the backdrop of simmering discontent within the Inquisition made General Veers far more downcast than a conquerer of worlds had any right to be as 06.011M42 progressed.

Vastrid Subsector War

2011-06-11T04:01:00.000-07:00

During the second half of 05.011M42 and early 06.011M42, small forces in the Cerrack nebula were reinforced, and a general escalation of hostilities began to take place. With the invasion of Glossop V by orks, the Imperium responded by sending two regiments of Prozan Cavalry, but the greenskins of Waagh! Krumpgutz proved a difficult opponent, and the airborne regiments were defeated and forced to retreat. The orks now had the initiative on the world, despite the rather unexpected appearance of eldar aircraft in the world's atmosphere on 0306.011M42.

The Orks intercepted the incomming Eldar Sky Host and a fast moving airborne engagement eventually resulted in the Eldar withdrawing when it became apparent they would be unable to penetrate the swarming ork fightas without suffering heavy casualties. The aim of the raid wasn't apparent to the Imperium, but may have been a reconnaisance mission. The interevention however only seemed to stir up the ork aggression even more than before, perhaps the real intention of the aliens.

Meanwhile newly arrived regiments from the world of Islandlwanda found themselves posted to the supposedly safe world of Hogan's Fall, established as a base by Inquisitor Cicerus in M39. However within weeks of their arrival daemons loyal to Lorek suddenly swarmed out of nowhere and fell upon the guardsmen, who were entirely unprepared to deal with such an attack. Though the Islandlwanda tribesmen fought with zeal and faith, the Imperial line was forced to pull back, allowing chaos to gain an important foothold on the planet.

Dark Angels prevent Warp Rift

2011-06-02T01:31:00.000-07:00

With the threat of civil war averted for now and tensions returned to a low simmer, Captain Angelus redeployed his company in support of the invasion of Parthenope. The war was proceeding well. The Librian Guard had advanced deep into the Vregal Peninsula when forward reconnaissance reported a spatial distortion ahead. Conditions on the ground were too risky for mere guardsmen, many of the scouts had already gone insane and needed to be put down. Fearing daemonic incursion Ritchie requested the aid of the Dark Angels.

A task force was immediately dispatched. It was headed by the 4th's Company Chaplian, Azurath El'Ressius, to ensure the mental fortitude and purity of spirit of the expedition. The mechanised column deployed onto the planets surface some distance from the anomaly and advanced cautiously. This caution proved well founded – daemons began pouring out of the warp rift as soon as the task force had visual contact. Rather than the usual tide of lesser daemons Azurath counted not one but five greater daemons and princes of chaos, their bloated forms sustained by the unnatural energies of the portal. The task force opened fire but their weaponry, whilst accurate, seemed powerless against such terrible entities.

Azurath lead his brothers in prayer, calling forth the power of the Emperor to aid them against the dread forces arrayed against them. Lifted by the power of their faith and devotion to the god-emperor of mankind the Dark Angels raced forward, unleashing a torrent of firepower into the colossal daemons. Bolter rounds seemed to glow with a holy radiance and Azurath's Crosius crackled with arcane balefire. In a matter of moments all but one of the mighty daemons fell and scores of lesser minions were slaughtered. Only one dark champion remained and he bellowed his devotion to the blood god Khorne and charged into the Dark Angel's ranks. For a moment the battle hung in the balance as Khorne's champion set about an unholy slaughter, but its rampage was brought to an end when Brother Kaleal of the Ravenwing fearlessly skidded his bike between the daemons legs and hamstrung it with his power fist. The daemon fell.

The Dark Angels had carried the field but the remaining lesser daemons still had to be hunted down. The daemons were cunning and spiteful and it was dark before the last was banished. Many battle brothers lay dead or injured. Chaplain Azurath was heavily wounded in the fighting and Brother Kaleal of the Ravenwing fatally eviscerated by a Blood Letter's blade. His bravery had secured the Dark Angel's victory so his dying body was recovered to be interred in a mighty dreadnought. When the fighting finally ended a Thunderhawk brought down Librarian's Metatron and Bartharion who sealed the warp rift. The battered task force were carried back to the Strike Cruisers orbiting Parthenope.

Necrons gain on Blight

2011-05-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

While the forces of chaos fought amongst themselves for dominance and began their new reign of terror in the Vastrid subsector, they also found themselves on the defensive on Blight. Necron raids continued to plague the planet as 05.011M42 continued, and on 2505.011M42 the Shadow Suns were once again on hand to defend the chaos outpost. The Shadow Suns followed the trail of destroyed villages and abandoned settlements and found their enemy in the northern latitudes of the world. The chaos marines fell upon the aliens with savagery and once again forced the Necrons to phase out.

It had been a trap however, as no sooner had the Necrons been engaged in the north another force appeared further south. With limited resources to spare on their colony worlds the Claws of Lorek had to resort to summoning daemons to halt the Necron advance, but the Necrons were more than equal to the slavering hordes raised from the immaterium. Lorek's loyal servants were easily banished back to the warp and whole swathes of territory fell to the aliens. Blight was fast becoming an unwelcome sideshow in the Aleph sector and the necrons threatened to ruin Lorek's plans to restore chaos domination in the Deeps.

Chaos factions vie for supremacy

2011-05-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

By the end of 05.011M42 it was obvious that the Imperium were going to win on Parthenope. The system was totally cut off and even with Thok's machinations in the Vastrid sector the Imperial fleet ensured that no reinforcements would be reaching the chaos ground forces, save those summoned by the infernal pacts with the warp. The factions of chaos had therefore decided to abandon the world to its fate, summoning daemons to aid them to ensure the utmost bloodshed amongst the Imperial invasion force.

With Parthenope all but lost, the various factions which made up the chaos presence in the Aleph sector continued their struggle for dominance. Three of the major factions were vying for the overall control of chaos forces in the region, but of late Lorek's title as Master of Chaos had crumbled to ashes. Now the Shadow Suns and the Covenant of Damnation held dominant positions.

Lorek first attempted to wrestle control over the Covenant, in a ritual-esque engagement of daemonic forces on Parthenope. The daemons of Lorek clashed with those loyal to the Covenant in a battle of supremacy, but Lorek's bid for power backfired and his daemons were banished back to the warp. Later, Lorek attacked the Shadow Suns in the Vastrid subsector with similar results. The former master of chaos had lost to both his biggest rivals in the space of a week.
Meanwhile the Covenant, high on their victory over the Claws of Lorek, took on the Shadow Suns in an attempt to secure their own place as the supreme power in the Aleph sector.

Transported to the Cerrack Nebula by the warfleet of Lord Traegan, their attack on the Shadow Suns on Trian was savage and unexpected, and a daemonic horde summoned by the Covenant obliterated the Shadow Suns forces on Quim. The assault, and their bid for power was, it turned out, uneccessary. The Shadow Suns, though a formidable force, had arrived in the sector merely to indulge their lust for battle. They had no interest in setting the agenda or planning grand strategy and were happy to be directed to the most savage warzones available. The Covenant now had their mastery, but at the needless cost of forces which were badly needed in the fight against the Imperial crusade.

Thok at large in the Vastrid Sector

2011-05-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

For months it had been believed that admiral Thok's renegade battlegroup was safely contained in the region of space around his lair at Mordecai, and Imperial intelligence had been concentrating on supporting the invasion of Parthenope. Somehow Thok's ships had slipped through admiral Jellicoe's blockade and on 2505.011M42 a fleet of chaos cruisers suddenly appeared at the Imperial forward fleet base at Gamarok, between Vastrid and Hemera on the main warp lane between Farport and the rest of the Vastrid subsector.

Thok's battlegroup was led by the fast battleship Ragnarok, a ship Jellicoe has fought had to bring to heel in 009M42. Thok had managed to repair the blasphemous vessel and now it got its revenge as the entire chaos formation opened up on the Canopus, in orbit around Gamarok IV. Caught by surprise the Imperial force of four cruisers stood little chance, and Canopus was quickly reduced to a drifting hulk and the cruiser Intrepid was forced to disengage.

Cressy and Agincourt however put up a spirited fight against the chaos ships, refusing to disengage and performing a series of impressive manouevres, using the planet's gravity well to gain position on Thok's fleet. The fightback saw Rheintochter caught in an appalling crossfire and she was reduced to a flaming wreck. Midgard was also badly damaged before the chaos fleet fled. The damage had been done however and the loss of the grand cruiser was a severe blow to the Imperial fleet.

A week later Jellicoe dispatched a force of cruisers led by the battleship Resolution to a remote system near Trian in the Cerrack nebula. Rear-admiral Craddock split his fleet up in an attempt to flush out the renegades, but this played straight into the hands of the renegade admiral, whose faster ships quickly ambushed the cruisers Agincourt and Centurion. Rushing to their aid the light cruisers Firedrake and Phoenix managed to get behind the Acheron class cruiser Baldir, crippling the vessel, but by then the cruiser Audacious had had her main drives crippled, and the massive cruiser plunged into the planet Mor Khan, obliterating the Imperial base on the planet.

Phoenix and Firedrake now found themselves caught between chaos vessels on two sides, and the crossfire from Ragnarok pummelled both Imperial cruisers, reducing them to wreckage. By now the Imperium were staring defeat in the face, but the appearance of Resolution and Bulwark turned the tide, battering the chaos fast battleship and forcing her to disengage. Skoll was also crippled and once again the chaos fleet fled the scene.

Although both sides had taken damage in both engagements, Jellicoe's fleet had come of worse, losing four capital ships, while Thok's fleet had lost only one. The Imperium managed to recover three of the hulked vessels and had crippled four enemy vessels including the Ragnarok, but it had been bested by Thok significantly for the first time in years. Jellicoe immediately moved a portion of the Imperial crusade fleet to Vastrid to counter Thok's move while trying to work out the motives behind the insane admiral's latest actions.

Rumblings in the Deeps

2011-05-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

While the Imperium concentrated their efforts on the crusade against chaos, the other races active in the Perseus Deeps were far from idle as 05.011M42 wore on. The Necrons showed their hand once again after months of inactivity, this time appearing on the chaos held world of Blight.

The forces of chaos were rightly concerned when Necrons appeared on the planet once known as Sulidaan. The system, lying close to the known Necron tomb world of Gamador would clearly be a target for the necrons, should they have expansive desires, and there was now growing suspicion that the entire region may have once been under the sway of the ancient alien race.

The first attack came on 1705.011M42, but the Necrons had clearly underestimated, or not expected, the strength of Covenant forces in the region, and the necrons phased out after a brief if violent battle. The necrons weren't done however, and just days later the aliens returned and mercilessly punished a warband of the Shadow Suns, defeating them and laying waste to several settlements on Blight. The scourge of the necrons remained a present threat.

While the necrons reappeared on Blight, the Grey Knights were also pursuing their own agenda in the Deeps. While nominally attached to the Perseus Deeps crusade against chaos, the Knights were also intent on solving the mystery of the strange Eldar who had been conducting raids apparently at random over the preceding months. The Ordo Malleus, worried by the continuing appearance of the enigmatic avatar of the laughing god, sent a significant expedition to an unknown location in mid 05.011M42. The Grey Knights successfully intercepted the eldar force, but were decisively beaten when they attempted to fight their way into one of the aliens' prohibited locations.

Imperium forges ahead on Parthenope

2011-05-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

Following their victories against the Imperial Crusade on Parthenope in mid 05.011M42 the Shadow Suns mysteriously disappeared from the front line on the chaos held world. Despite being the most successful chaos faction in the pantheon it appeared the Shadow Suns held no interest in shaping the destiny of chaos as a whole in the Aleph Sector. Imperial Intelligence suggested that led by a Khornate elite, the Shadow Suns were more focussed on killing and wanton destruction than grand strategy.

Armed with this information, General Veers met with Ritchie to decide on the plan to breakout of their insecure bridgeheads on Parthenope. Ritchie's plan was direct and simple, and quickly accepted by his superior officer. The plan would see the Librian Guard drive south and west from Dalisac, along the main road to Centosar. Centosar itself was believe to be held by Claws of Lorek legionnairies, but it was thought that numerical superiority would enable the Imperial assault to largely bypass the town, with Ritchie intending to push on to Gand and cut the Chaos forces in two.
The Imperial assault began well, with Ritchie able to call upon the forces of the Librian 11th Armoured, 99th Mechanised and three infantry regiments. In addition the Grey Knights agreed to assault Gand directly, holding it until Librian forces arrived.

The drive on Centosar went well, and by 1705.011M42 the loss of territory to the Shadow Suns assault was quickly reversed. By 2005.011M42 Centosar haad been reached with the forces of chaos putting up little or no resistance. That changed once the Imperial force reached the city, as the Claws of Lorek refused to relinquish the settlement. The Imperial advance slowed and despite the support of the powerful tanks of the 11th Armoured regiment, the Librian foot soldiers found the going hard against the Claws' elite soldiers in the labyrinthine streets of the city.

The Claws of Lorek suffered horrendous casualties in the fight for Centosar, which lasted two days. Librian tanks, including Demolishers and Vanquishers, tore apart the Claws' armoured units with ease, and only a determined rearguard action by the ordinary traitor astartes (if such genetically modified superhumans can be called ordinary), slowed the Imperial advance.

Despite the heroic last stand thew Claws of Lorek were forced to abandon Centosar on 2205.011M42 and although the determined fighting had delayed the advance, the Anticross had faired badly in Gand to the Grey Knights. With his allies defeated in Gand and the loss of Centosar, the lord of Parthenope found his forces cut in two, just as Ritchie's plans had envisaged.

Seeing Lorek in serious trouble, the Covenant of Damnation began to demand concessions and a change of strategy from the chaos lord. Incandescant with rage, Lorek sent his forces in to crush the Covenant and teach them who was in charge. However the Covenant forces were prepared and the Claws of Lorek were badly defeated in an action in the Vregal Peninsular. Lorek's forces were crushed and the former master of chaos now found himself losing Parthenope and totally without influence in the Pantheon of Chaos. For now the Covenant of Damnation held the ascendancy. They would now decide whether and how to defend Parthenope.

Parthenope: Imperial breakout

2011-05-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

Parthenope Invasion

2011-05-16T00:29:00.001-07:00

Dark Eldar raid Corticant

2011-05-16T00:22:00.001-07:00

While Veers back was turned, concerned as he was with the full scale invasion of Parthenope. worrying reports of raids on Corticant were overlooked. At first the scores of locals going missing from settlements near Fairmoor and Wellake, far from the main Imperial base at Ironhaven, were put down to rogue bands of chaos worshippers which were still abroad in the brushland wilderness which covered much of the planet. By mid 05.011M42 however, increasing stories of wanton destruction and strangely clad warriors drew the attention of the grey knights.

While many of their number fought on Parthenope, eager to root out the seed of daemonkind as part of the crusade, one company made for Fairmoor where the latest reports had suggested something more than mere rogue chaos warbands. When they arrived they got a nasty shock, finding a Dark Eldar attack underway. The Grey Knights deployed to meet them and a fierce battle ensued. For two days the Ordo Malleus astartes were assailed by xenos forces, sweeping in on their raider vehicles. Despite repeated attempts to force the aliens back, the Grey Knights were held until the Dark Eldar had finished collecting their slave haul, and when the Imperium finally managed to make it into the burning ruins of Fairmoor, the settlement had been utterly devastated.

Parthenope Invaded

2011-05-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

The second invasion of Parthenope began on 1105.011M42 and was much stronger than the first. The strike force included five Librian Guard regiments, two companies of Grey Knights Astartes and a company of Space Wolves. Veers still had total superiority in space and used this to good effect, and the entire Imperial Guard force landed without incident in the southern steppes, just to the east of Cradossi.

The Space Wolves landed with the Guard, intending to act as a mobile reserve should the task force encounter any surprises, while the Librian regiments quickly took Cradossi. The Grey Knights meanwhile assaulted Centosar, a city believed to be the centre of daemon worship on the planet, but they got more than they bargained for.

Imperial intelligence had noted several units of Anticross and Claws of Lorek Traitor Legions on the planet, as well as large formations of traitor guard, most notably those of the Covenant of Damnation. However the Grey Knights soon found out that Imperial Intelligence had completely missed the strong Shadow Suns presence on Parthenope.

The Shadow Suns quickly reacted to the appearance of the Grey Knights, taking the daemon hunters completely by surprise. Seizing the initiative of the engagement, the Shadow Suns quickly reduced the Grey Knights transports to burning wrecks and inflicted heavy casualties on the foot troops contained within. The shock was so bad the commander of the company seriously considered pulling his entire force out, but duty made him and his forces stand and fight the traitors. Unfortunately the situation didn't get any better for the Ordo Malleus force and by the end of the day their attack on Centosar had collapsed, their force all but wiped out.

General Ritchie, in overall command of the new invasion, did not immediately find out about the disaster in Herescia and his Librian regiments made good progress, smashing through to Dalisac, a major city, before pursuing the Covenant forces all the way around the Brackeri sea into Konossa. The carnage amongst the traitor guard forces was horrendous, as Librian forces quickly eliminated their armoured formations with accurate, if somewhat lucky lascannon shots from their own Leman Russ tanks and heavy weapons platoons. Still the Covenant did not give up and they threw wave after wave of infantry against the mechanised Librians. By the end of 1405.011M42 the Imperial advance had slowed as ferocious if suicidal counter attacks took their toll on the loyalist guard units. In the first phase of the battle 5,850 Librians were killed or wounded, but the losses of their enemy are believed to total around 15,000 after less than a week.

While the Librians ground the Covenant forces down General Ritchie also received some welcome news. Disorder had broken out in the Chaos ranks with a set of skirmishes erupting in the west between Anticross and Covenant forces. Presumably over supremacy of command, the battles only aided the invasion and by 1405.011M42 the second invasion was going to plan. The Claws of Lorek mounted a night attack against Cradossi on 1505.011M42, encountering the second company of the Grey Knights. The action however was a confused and sporadic affair made worse by the poor lighting conditions. This attack petered out, but much worse was to follow for the Imperial invasion.

Since their rout of the Ordo Malleus, the Shadow Suns had once again been either overlooked or lost by Imperial intelligence, who were still playing down their overall threat to the campaign. Never had the Shadow Suns proved themselves to be a significant fighting force, and recent defeats to them had been put down to bad luck. Now those views were about to change. The Shadow Suns struck on 1605.011M42 with a lightning strike running west to east. They cut the Imperial supply lines between Dalisac and Cradossi before charging headlong into the rear of the Librian advance, encountering the Space Wolves company deployed to meet this very threat.

As the marines of Fenris moved out to give battle, they were suddenly appalled by the numbers and organisation of the Shadow Suns. Led from the front by a chaos lord and khornate retinue in an ancient Land Raider, the rest of the army was far from a disorganised rabble. Instead an elite fighting force of traitor marines tore into the Space Wolves, who knew immediately they were outclassed, but fought on valiantly none-the-less. Casualties were horrific, with the Space Wolves suffering their worst loss in the sector to date, much of the carnage caused by the chaos lord and his retinue. Eventually the Wolves were forced to withdraw, allowing the Shadow Suns to loot and pillage, cutting the Imperial Invasion into three pieces. Now General Ritchie faced a difficult siege and the second invasion's survival hung in the balance.

General Veers and the Space wolf captain attached to the crusade laid the blame squarely at the feet of Imperial intelligence. How had the strength of the Shadow Suns been so underestimated? Who was the chaos lord leading their army and leaving destruction in his wake? they had butchered the Grey Knights, Dark Angels and Space Wolves on Parthenope in little over a week. Who could now stop them?

Necrons surface on Zog

2011-05-08T03:32:00.001-07:00

It was 05.011M42 that saw the re-emergence of the Necron threat in the Perseus Deeps. Arriving without warning on 0705.011M42 the unliving aliens fell upon the defenders of the small and unimportant planet of Zog which had only recently been wrestled from the alien grip of the ork. Unprepared to meet this new threat the local PDF called for aid and were soon joined in their defence by several units of Adeptus Sororitas battle sisters - the very same units forced to flee from Libria just weeks before.

Even the faith of the Sisters of Battle was not enough to overcome the resurgent Necrons however, and the defenders of Zog found themselves retreating in the face of their implacable foe. Veers however was reluctant to send reinforcements to the unimportant world, embroiled as he was in the messy first invasion of Parthenope. For the time being then, the defenders of Zog were on their own.

Inquisition War begins

2011-05-08T03:31:00.002-07:00

The first real shots of the Inquisition war were fired on 0805.011M42 when the Grey Knights attacked the Dark Angels on Ares. Believing that Inquisitor Xanthus was on the planet, the Grey Knights moved to arrest the Inquisitor lord and stop an Imperial civil war before it started. Lord Hathek wasn't even consulted as the Knights believed that as Xanthus had broken from the council, and the primary function of the crusade was to destroy chaos, the Inquisitor was now a traitor and aiding heresy.

Hathek and Huron didn't try to stop the Grey Knights, they knew better. However unknown to the astartes chapter, Xanthus wasn't on Ares at all. Certain that the planet was now in Imperial hands, the Inquisitor lord had left for Sentinel to bolster his forces. Instead the Grey Knights found themselves facing the two Astartes chapters who had been responsible for returning the planet to the Emperor's light, the Lamenters and the Dark Angels. The Lamenters didn't interfere with the arrival of the Knights, but the Dark Angels, when asked to withdraw and allow the Ordo Malleus marines to carry out their investigations, they refused.

This refusal led to an immediate attack by the Grey Knights on the Dark Angels positions. By now the knights of the Ordo Malleus had decided that the Dark Angels had declared themselves "for Xanthus", and by their reckoning were already traitors. The attack caught their opponents by surprise and the battle quickly went away from the 6th company. Still they refused to yield and the Dark Angels took heavy casualties before finally departing from Ares in their strike cruisers. By then the Lamenters, still basking in the glory of their victory on Ares, had made themselves scarce. The gauntlet had been thrown down and now the sector waited to see what retaliation or worse, escalation, the Dark Angels would pursue.

Although ostensibly represented on the Crusade Council, the 4th Company of the Dark Angels under Captain Angelus El'Zahariel had taken no part in the crusade since its deployment to Bastien back in 1810.010M42. Since then they had pursued their own goals, brutally suppressing the Aganthean Apostacy in the neighbouring sub-sector. On receiving news of the treaty with the Tau, and with their campaign against the Apostates successfully concluded, El'Zahariel redeployed his company back to the Perseus Deeps.

Before the 4th could rejoin their battle brothers on Ares, El'Zahariel received an astropathic communicae detailing the attack by the Grey Knights. Whilst El'Zahariel was under no illusions about the stubbornness and intractability of his brother captain he was infuriated by the actions of the Grey Knights. Ardently pro-Hathek the Grey Knights had been acting like a loose cannon, attacking Imperial forces without hesitation and pushing the Imperium towards civil war.

Although keen to see the heretical alliance with the xenos Tau broken, Captain Angelus was anxious to avoid a split within the Imperium. This left him in an impossible position. To fail to respond to the attack would be humiliating and make the Dark Angels appear weak and pathetic. To respond in force, and against such a renowned chapter as the Grey Knights, would escalate tensions and plunge the sector further towards civil war.

Having monitored the Grey Knights base of operations on Ares, the 4th deployed a task force of roughly equal strength. They then issued a formal challenge to combat – an honour duel to the death to maintain the reputation of the chapter and hold the Grey Knights to account for their actions. The Grey Knight's pride gave them no choice but to accept and they sallied forth to give battle.

The two astartes chapters manoeuvred through the ruins of Ares, but it was the Dark Angels who struck the first blow, attacking with a fury born of righteous retribution. The Grey Knight's lead vehicles were quickly destroyed in lightning attacks by the Ravenwing, then Dark Angel's fell upon the survivors without mercy. Using their superior mobility they picked apart the Grey Knights, inflicting heavy casualties whilst sustaining few themselves. Clear winners of the duel, the Dark Angels declared honour satisfied and withdrew rather than push forward to attack the Grey Knight's base.

Although costly, the honour duel defused the tension building between the two chapters and the contained, formalised resolution of the dispute met with the approval of the ruling council on Ares. The threat of outright civil war had lessened for the time being.