Stahl renews push on Tarlius Ii

The Loyalist Imperial forces on Tarlius II had been hard pressed by the forces of Chaos, but the Crusade forces had escaped Stahl's attention. This dramatically changed on 2804.018M42 when forward listening bases on the southern continent, held by the Crusade, suddenly went silent. The defence lines were readied by the Volscian Guard who, though lacking heavy armour support, had dug in with significant infantry divisions and fixed gun emplacements and mobile artillery. They believed themselves ready for the heavy armour assaults Stahl's Grand Company were known for.

Emerging from the preliminary bombardment unscathed the mortal cohorts of the Iron Warriors were pressed forward, with the Rhinos of Iron Warriors pushing at full speed. As the Volscian lascannon and rapier teams readied aim to cripple the assault, the Iron Warriors' own carefully calculated firing solutions opened up, destroying the anti armour emplacements. The Volscians had expected a headlong rush and were not expecting targetted long range fire and were even less prepared for the Helldrake aerial support that swooped upon the Basilisk artillery tanks. To the Volscians' credit, they maintained their focus,but their coordinated return fire was frustrated by smoke launchers and Iron Warrior warp crafted interference. In an instant the Iron Warriors and their mortal slaves were amongst the Volscian line, slaughtering all in reach and quickly overwhelming the defenders. Within hours, the Iron Warriors had brought further reinforcements, were tearing through the Crusade supply lines and were pushing rapidly to the Crusade command upon Tarlius II with nothing to stop them. The Crusade had been caught on the back foot and were forced to flee from the planet and quit their aspirations at Tarlius. The Iron Warriors further reinforced their positions, making clear that Tarlius would belong to Stahl and Stahl alone.


 - Mike Durrant