Kutuzov’s grand offensive takes Slaydon

Having taken a great deal of territory off the chaos armies on Mordecai Tersius, general Kutuzov was keen to keep the momentum going and take the enemy’s final stronghold of Slaydon itself. Taking the capital and space port would seal the remaining chaos armies’ fate and bring the war on the planet to an end. 

Despite having limited time to prepare, the Novgorod armies drew up an assault plan for the attack on the capital city. Although the operation was hastily planned, this also meant the forces of chaos had no time to dig in, and the forces defending the city were made up of Death Guard forces of the Host of Eschar, rather than the elite forces of Stahl or the Emerald Serpent. 

Kutuzov’s plan was brutally simple. Send in wave after wave of Novgorod Guard until the defences were breached, then exploit any gaps in the chaos lines with fast moving cavalry formations. The imperial general was however concerned to find out that the Nurgle defenders were better equipped than expected. Not only were Death Guard astartes present, but the Host of Eschar now fielded a large number of dreaded plagueburst crawlers. 

The imperial army launched their attack on 2707.019M42, and were forced into hellish close quarter fighting. Company after company of Novgorod Guard were cut down, many units melting and bubbling into biological goo as the gifts of nurgle were visited on the loyalists. For hours the chaos lines refused to break, and Kutuzov began to fear that he would run out of men before the city could be taken, or that the plague host would hold on long enough for reinforcements to arrive, undoing the imperial strategy. 

The imperial general finally committed his cavalry, even though the chaos defences has not been breached, but they had little impact on the battle. As the light of the agri-world’s day began to dim, it was the Host of Eschar who succumbed to the brutal war of attrition. With only isolated Plagueburst crawlers remaining and their poxwalker screen eliminated, the nurgle force no longer had the firepower to hold back the human tide washing into the city. The remaining chaos forces abandoned Slaydon, and on 3007.019M42 a relieved general Kutuzov reported the city secured for the Imperium.