Imperial advances on Sentinel

On 2704.012M42 General Ritchie launched another major offensive against his enemies on Sentinel. Ritchie knew that for his forces to survive he needed the spaceport to allow supplies to get to his troops. Food, amunition and spare parts were all running low, and none of these vital commodities could be manufactured on Sentinel itself. The planet was mostly barren, except for a few sparse patches of scrubland and tangled trees, and the planet had never been colonised for its natural resources. Its very name described what it was, a waystation between sectors, which the Imperium had planned to use as a naval base, but never got round to it. In the end Sentinel had become a rather lawless trading post, home to some half a million Imperial citizens, and as many outlaws.

The fall of Sentinel to Chaos had changed everything for the inhabitants of Sentinel, but since its recapture, and subsequent re-invasion in the device affair, the Imperium was not about to let the world fall into alien hands again. Ritchie was given an urgent message in 04.012M42 by his commander, General Veers, to "get on with it" and finish the war on Sentinel once and for all.

By the end of 04.012M42 General Ritchie had not recieved any new reinforcements for his renewed offensive, but he could still call two Librian mechanised regiments, a regiment of Cerberex Guard and a fresh unit of Prozans, a highly mobile force which thus far Ritchie had held in reserve. Despite the fact the Space Wolves and their brother Astartes had left Sentinel to apply their rapid strike capability elsewhere, the Imperial General was confident of his plan to attack both his enemies simultaneously, using his fastest and most heavily armoured units as an armoured speartip.

Resting the Cerberex regiments, Ritchie finally gave the orders for the Prozan Cavalry to prepare for their attack, their target the forces of Chaos, now supported by the Iron Warriors once again, who stubbornly refused to quit the planet. Meanwhile the Librian XXth mechanised regiment would swing west to cover the Prozan's flank, directing their attack against the Eldar occupying the vital highlands overlooking the spaceport itself.

The Librians launched their assault in the early morning and soon found themselves up against a highly mobile and well equipped foe. The eldar employed fast vehicles and mighty Wraithlord constructs, but the Librian commander seized the initiative, launching a full out attack as soon as his scouts came into contact with the aliens. A furious battle erupted as the Eldar desperately tried to counter attack, but although they caused casualties and many chimeras and Leman Russ battle cannons were lost to the fearsome D-Cannons employed by the larger walkers, the sacrifice was worth it. As the battle raged the colonel of the regiment personally led an outflanking manouevre which cut the eldar supply lines, forcing their retreat.

As soon as Ritchie received word that the Librian attack was going to plan, the Prozans were released to destroy the Iron Warriors holding the far end of the Spaceport compound. As expected the Iron Warriors fought hard, but found it difficult to land telling blows on their enemy. The Prozans fought just as doggedly, and once again the Prozans demonstrated fearlessness in the face of the enemy, with officers leading the charge into battle once the infantry had dismounted from their Valkyries. In the face of overwhelming firepower and an enemy which was not afraid to engage in close combat, the Iron Warriors scattered into the vast wasteland region which covers much of Sentinel. By the end of 04.012M42 the Sentinel Spaceport had been secured once more and freight landers could once again arrive without the threat of being destroyed on approach, delivering much needed supplies to Ritchie's jubilant army.