Minos: Iron Warriors face new opposition

On Minos, the forces of Warsmith Stahl's Iron Warriors had been led on the ground by Sorcerer Ashoka, who till now had not suffered defeat. Fearing the rising power of Chaos, the imperial high command despatched an execution force of Assassins to eliminate Stahl's Lieutenants and draw the elusive Warsmith into the open. On 1010.015M42 the execution force launched their strike on Minos aided by the Apocalypse Riders. Ashoka sensed the presence (or lack there of) of the Culexus Assassin and attempted to keep as far from it as possible. Unbeknownst to Ashoka, the Callidus senior assassin was stalking him and struck without warning. The apparent loss of the the Sorcerer was the signal the Apocalypse Riders had been waiting for to launch their ambush. The Iron Warriors, despite mounting pressure maintained a counter assault, however with the apparent death of the overall commander along with being outflanked and outmanoeuvred meant they could not hope to win. Against these odds, after inflicting horrific casualties on the Apocalypse Riders themselves the Iron Warriors begrudgingly retreated from the Minos capital. The siege had been broken

The string of bad fortune continued to bedevil the Iron Warriors with their next attack on the imperial lines on 1310.015M42. The Iron Warriors attempted a dawn assault as they had done in the past against the Novgorod positions, only to find the massive figure of an Imperial Knight reinforcing the Imperial line. The apprentice of recently deceased Sorcerer Ashoka leading decided to stick to the plan, however his inexperience at such command allowed the Novgorod to spot the now typical tactic and launch a pre-emptive strike.

The initial fusillade succeeded in only causing moderate damage, but the Knight was the largest threat - having advanced right in front of the Iron Warriors primary assault section. The Maulerfiends of the Iron Warriors attacked, throwing themselves at the Knight. Despite suffering significant damage, the massive war engine remained standing and destroyed both the Maulerfiends and several Iron Warriors nearby. All the while the Novgorod themselves maintained their devastating bombardment upon the Iron Warriors' positions.

Ashoka's apprentice called for reinforcements but several mishaps in teleportation meant only two thirds of the Hellbrutes arrived. The Hellbrute equipped with melta weaponry meant the end of the Knight but the damage had been done. The Novgorod themselves were unscathed and despite the loss of their commander in the field, and suffering horrific casualties once again, these were far less than previous engagements. The Iron Warriors, cursing their misfortune, abandoned their attack leaving the battle of Minos far from over.