Melberg: Quicksword defeated by Taves

Colonel Taves, now in command of Army Group West, fighting along side the Narmala and Terris Kingdom Alliance, continued his push towards the Sea of Marma, finally reaching it on 1108.007M42. He quickly became known for his agressive tactica, particularly in the way his AVR regiments utilised their stormtrooper squads. Often these Chimeras were seen charging across the battlefield to engage the Tau Crisis Suits and vehicles before they could withdraw.

Unsurprisingly losses among the mechanised infantry were high in 008M42, but morale remained high as the armies of the Imperium pushed the Tau back towards the ocean. Quicksword, commanding the Tau, reposnded with a series of counter attacks and an increased use of Hammerhead tanks. However the unerring accuracy of the AVR Basilik artillery and Leman Russ battle tanks inflicted monstrous losses on the aliens, particularly to their armoured fighting capability. The wrecks of Hammerheads and Devilfish littered the ground on the Eastern Plains, picking out the route of Taves' advance.

Facing such losses Quicksword withdrew south, giving ground rather than face annihilation, though this meant that by the middle of 008M42 Narmala had become beseiged. Conversations began in the Tau high command over the worth of the city and the merits of a breakout or evacuation. Longstride's invasion of Melberg was now seriously falling apart, and questions of strategy began to surface all the way back on Tau itself.