Chaos titans crushed by overwhelming force on Hexis

In early 11.019M42 the chaos forces finally responded in strength on Hexis, launching a massive counter attack in the south led for the first time by an entire traitor titan legion. Fielding a mighty Warlord class as well as several smaller titans, Konev's army was expected to buckle then collapse in the south, having been severely disrupted by the awakening of Hive Fleet R'Lyeh just weeks before. Konev however had spies, and he had known for some time that the chaos forces intended to unleash a full titan legion against him.

To counter the attack, Konev placed his own titan legion - Legio Dominus, to the south of his lines, waiting in ambush for the chaos assault to begin. When it did, his main line would fall back, while the titans punched north west, encircling the chaos attack. Once this move had been completed, a combined force of Imperial Guard, Knights and astartes was held in reserve to move forward and rush the titan attack.

The entire plan worked perfectly for Konev. In the south, Legio Dominus launched a very successful counter attack against the traitor legion, severely damaging or destroying several chaos engines for loss of none of their own. Meanwhile the central forces fell back, giving ground before the Warlord, a reaver and two warhounds came up against the Imperium's main defensive line. Initially the firepower of the titans wrought havoc amongst the imperial lines, destroying several knights and tanks with single volleys from their awesome weaponry, but these were acceptable casualties. As Konev's own titans swept around the chaos attack's rear, the Grey Knights dropped from orbit, engaging the enemy war machines at point blank range. At the same time, a new force of "irregulars" joined in the attack, launching their own highly mobile squads of bikers and infantry against the titans.

The irregular forces were in fact the genestealer cult that had risen in worship of their good "R'Lyeh", and were part of the tyranid menace that had overwhelmed Konev in the north. However this was all part of Konev's plan. In his initial retreat, the imperial general had deliberately retreated into locations he knew were sites of genestealer cult infestation, and he made it clear to his own forces that they should not engage the xenos worshippers. Now, as the cult released their purestrain monsters on the enemy titans, his wisdom became clear. The warlord was brought low by the combined efforts of the Grey Knights and the xenos cult, while the hive mind itself overwhelmed the Warlord's mind impulse units, causing the war engine to flail around and shoot its own brethren in its death throes. This aided in the destruction of the Reaver, and having lost one warhound early on to the entirety of Konev's battle line, the remaining Warhound fled the field.

Very few of the chaos titans escaped the battle, and on 0911.019M42 the chaos line shattered, and in the plains of the south Konev's army ruthlessly pursued their enemy, surrounding the remnants of the chaos forces on Hexis who now sheltered in the ruins of Praxis around the device chamber. This was a great victory for Konev, but the forces of chaos still held the device chamber, and the tyranid threat on the planet remained.