Libria V: Prozan Cavalry defeated in Acronia Valley

Following the disaster in the Daralon Valley a force of Prozan airborne troops were called in to halt the inexorable advance of alliance forces down the Acronia Valley. It was felt their mobility would be a winning factor in any engagement against the tau, and they were readied for their mission as 09_014M42 began.

By the time the Prozans were ready to assault the advancing alliance, their enemy had gained nearly 100 kilometres of open ground and were well south of the snow line. The speartip of the alliance force was now led by rebel Librian forces, already referring to themselves as "Federal forces", their rebel leader having committed to joining the Federacy following victory in the civil war. The highly mechanised Librian forces were supported by tau battlesuits, including broadsides and Riptides, and the imperial commander felt this would be an ideal test of the Prozan air cavalry against a well equipped foe.

The initial engagements went well for the imperial forces, as although the ground troops facing the alliance took heavy casualties from the firepower of variant Leman russ and tau battlesuits, the federal army was forced to halt for several hours. On 0709_014M42 the counter attack began with the airborne units of the Prozan regiments screaming into battle, their speakers emitting their customary ancient earth battle music.

The counter attack took the alliance by surprise, as they had not provided dedicated air support. However the tau battlesuits soon found their rail rifles and missile systems an ideal answer to the airborne assault. Soon Valkyrie and Vendetta gunships were either sent blazing to the ground or exploded in mid air, as the rail rifles proved the more valuable anti-aircraft defence. Even a Vanquisher Leman Russ managed to score a lucky kill with its main cannon as a low flying Vulture briefly crossed its field of vision.

The airborne assault quickly became a shambles after that, as the imperial forces found the imperial tanks a tough nut to crack, and the tau battlesuits extremely difficult to dig out of cover. Some of the failure can be put down to pure bad luck, but it was also clear that the narrow terrain of the Acronia valley and its scattered industrial installations was favouring the alliance. Gradually the alliance forces picked up their advance once again, and by 0909_014M42 the imperium had once again gone over to the defensive on Libria V.