New Necron advance on Corticant

After months of quiet stalemate on the necron front on Corticant, early 03.014M42 saw a return to violent conflict, with a series of bloody actions which pushed the imperium back over one hundred miles, and saw another major settlement fall to the invaders.

It appeared that the necrons had waited for the forces under general veers to deal with the threat posed by the eldar, before renewing their offensive, but the forces faced in this latest assault were different from those faced before. Necron warriors and vehicles displaying never before encountered iconography smashed into the imperial front line on 0103.014M42, encountering first the entrenched positions of the Darantine Guard at Arrenhal junction

The rocky and wooded terrain on the Hartford plain saw the first significant defence by Veers troops, with the Darantine guard putting up stuff resistance to the necron advance. Annihilation barges fell victim to imperial firepower, while canoptek wraiths were destroyed by storm troopers dropped from Valkyrie into the heart of the action.

The necron army was notable for its heavy use of flying vehicles, and the skies above the battlefront were soon swarming with Night Scythes. The Darantines responded with flights of Vendettas, and an aerial battle developed while the necrons consolidated their positions on the ground. Despite the spirited defence however, the imperial forces were slowly pushed back, and on 0303.014M42 the strategically important Arrenhal junction fell to the alien invaders.

The advance pushed on, with one arm of the necron army advancing easily along the iron road, only slowing through the need to avoid becoming over stretched. In the north a second larger force pushed on to Shadowshore. Here the Adeptus Mechanicus forces counter attacked, and their mobile guard units, supported by astartes warriors, looked like halting the necrons at first.

On the right wing of the attack the Mechanicum had superiority in terms if numbers, but the presence of annihilation barges, whose quantum shielding proved a source of constant annoyance, held up the imperial advance long enough for the necron air forces to tip the balance of the battle in their favour. With virtually no air cover the Mechanicum army was easy meat for the aliens, and after a brutal battle the imperial forces were obliged to beat a hasty retreat, leaving the settlement of Shadowshore to the necrons.

In just a week the necrons had expanded their territory on Corticant by 30%, and had pushed Veers' forces back almost to the gates of fort Bastion itself.