On the second day of the invasion of Hexis, general Konev had secured his hold in the north, and his base had been fortified. The forces of chaos had been contained, but the alliance still represented a serious threat to imperial plans. Konev planned his largest assault against them, by driving through the western wastes and seizing the Haknur plateau and Akrash pass. If successful, the imperial attack would cut off and surround the federal base, cutting it off from the suspected webway portal in the Helmases mountains. The alliance forces, lacking Malkaor’s tau cadres, consisted primarily of federal ground forces from Tallax and Libria, under the overall command of Commander in Chief Jain Kuwalski. Kuwalski’s force of ground troops was enhanced by their pact with the eldar, who had deployed significant strength from the Kel Sandros Craftworld with elements of the Rillietan. Two mighty Revenant titans had been sent to Hexis, the largest deployment of Aeldari in the sector since before the coming of the great rift.
The Imperial forces were hardly subtle in their move south towards the alliance front lines. The main battle between the two took place at the site of a ruined settlement or outlying suburb of Praxis proper, on the Haknur plateau. Kuwalski deferred to Allarielle, commander of the Kel Sandros, who took over strategic planning. The alliance forces formed the centre of the defence, while the eldar mostly formed up on the flanks, with the titans held in reserve.
Konev has something special planned. His guard regiments scouted out the alliance positions and determined their disposition. As expected the federacy and eldar forces quickly moved forward to utilise their devastating short range firepower and gain the tactical positions on the sprawling battlefield, while the traitor artillery positions pounded the imperial lines. Konev remained unconcerned. The initial fire from the alliance was mostly inaccurate and ineffective, and Konev’s losses were slight. Having weathered this initial counter attack the imperium now threw in their greatest assets.
Knights of house stroganoff and house Eagleclaw strife into battle along with a warhound of Legio Dominus. The appearance of these war engines shook the alliance forces and the eldar especially took heavy casualties. The Sicorax tanks were drawn up around their Shadow sword, able to pound the Librian long range tanks, leaving only infantry and hellhounds to contest the centre of the battlefield. However, the Librian artillery still posed a problem.
In a dramatic and ultimately suicidal move, the Crusaders of the Novgorod Guard, trained from the finest warriors of Omsk, were thrown into battle, flying deep into enemy lines and assaulting the alliance artillery from behind. The alliance had virtually no close combat troops to counter this move, and although the crusaders were eventually eliminated, their arrival put the alliance battle plans into disarray and denied them vital long range fire support when it was most needed.
In response to the warhound the eldar deployed their own titans, and the warhound and several knights were taken out as the alliance committed their reserves. On the right flank the Kel Sandros Eldar held their own against the knights and mostly Novgorod regiments, but they lost their avatar of khaine and heavy Cobra battle tank.
On the left, the Rillietan suffered as Konev deployed his greater force, with an entire regiment of Lycannon Guard following up behind the warhound and knightly orders. In the centre the Last of Sycorax suffered horrendous casualties at the hands of the Librian flame tanks, and were unable to secure the centre of the battle ground. Konev didn’t mind. Sacrifice was necessary and the guardsmen had fulfilled their function.
As the battle wore on it became clear that the alliance left flank had collapsed, and as the Lycannon moved into the centre ground Close combat knights reached the Librian artillery positions, silencing them once again. Allarielle decided to call a halt to the bloodshed, and withdrew the eldar forces back to the web way portal in Akrash pass, while the Librians fell back to their fortified base outside Praxis. The imperium followed up, chasing the eldar all the way to the portal, taking the plateau and moving into Akrash pass.
The alliance forces on Hexis were now in a precarious position. The Rillietan suggested the eldar should have taken the central positions, sacrificing their allies on the flanks if necessary, while Kuwalski blamed herself for the lack of preparation and consideration of Konev’s daring - and ultimately battle winning move with his sacrificial crusaders. Callous calculations on the imperial side has achieved victory, and now the alliance had been split in two. Nevertheless they still had a well defended base, a fleet in orbit and the necron key. The war would go on.
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