Success for Imperium in Hadron Expanse

Towards the end of 023M42 the Imperium were still holding onto many bases in the Rifts of Hecate, as well as progressing with the campaign to remove the ork menace from the Hecate Gap. The order to retreat had been overturned and general Maximus sought new forces to prosecute his campaign into the Eastern Fringe.

At the imperial base of Helos Majoris, the Novgorod Imperial Guard regiment displayed unwavering courage and tactical brilliance as they successfully defended the Imperial base from yet another Tyranid raid. With disciplined ranks clad in their distinctive uniforms, the guardsmen fortified the perimeter upon receiving intelligence that another spore cloud of tyranids was incoming, laser-focused and resolute. 

As the Tyranid swarm descended upon them, the Novgorod regiment employed a well-coordinated defence, utilizing the rugged terrain to their advantage. Infantry squads held crucial chokepoints, while armoured support from Leman Russ battle tanks and Basilisks rained devastation upon the encroaching bioforms. Commissars inspired valour in the face of the alien onslaught, and the guardsmen fought with a determination that mirrored the indomitable spirit of the Imperium. As the last echoes of battle subsided, the Imperial base on Helos Majoris stood defiant, a testament to the Novgorod Imperial Guard's triumph against the ever-persistent Tyranid threat.

On Haven, the Adeptus Mechanicus demonstrated their formidable technological might as they decisively defeated an Ork army of the Blood Fang tribe. Facing the ork horde on the wide plains of the lightly populated northern continent, the disciplined ranks of Skitarii Vanguard moved with calculated precision, engaging the brutish Orks in relentless volleys of precise gunfire. 

The Mechanicus forces, under the strategic guidance of their Tech-Priest Magos, deployed advanced war machines, whose neutron lasers cut through the Ork vehicles with surgical precision. Enginseers led squads of combat servitors, providing a sturdy front line, while Sicarian Infiltrators infiltrated Ork positions, disrupting command structures. The culmination of disciplined strategy, advanced technology, and unwavering determination resulted in the Adeptus Mechanicus emerging victorious, though the advance was not enough to secure the planet for the Imperium.

By the beginning of 024M42 imperial fortunes in the Rifts of Hecate had improved, and the crusade general began looking for opportunities to push forward into the rest of the region.

Perseus Deeps: Imperium Establish bridgehead on Enaloth

By late 023M42 general Veers had finally been given the all clear by sector high command to pursue his campaign in the Perseus Deeps. For years the general had been sat on Bastien with no forces to command in direct battle. Though technically General Kutuzov's immediate superior, it was the latter who received the lions share of reinforcements to prosecute the campaign against chaos on Mordecai, and Veers, with little to do operationally, had become increasingly frustrated.

Though Imperial politics had prevented him from gaining the glory on Mordecai, Veers was now able once again to go on the offensive with the opening of the Foramen Nova between the Vastrid subsector and Bastien. Reinforcements were flooding through the passage, and over several months the general scraped together a force of Imperial Guard, as well as assistance from astartes chapters, in order to conduct a new offensive. This time while Kutuzov battled it out on Mordecai, the second wave of the Veers crusade in the Perseus Deeps would be aimed squarely at the necrons of the once active and deadly Harakhty Dynasty.

Why the necrons of the Perseus Deeps had apparently returned to dormancy remained unknown, but to Veers it didn't matter. This was his opportunity to gain systems for the Imperium of Mankind and one he was keen to take. The first target was the world of Enaloth, just to the galactic north east of Mordecai. If the necrons were weak, then he knew that he must go on the offensive, or the Tau would get there before him. With minimal preparation a task force reached the Enaloth system in 12.023M42 and immediately began landings on the planet.

In the first drop, the Adeptus Custodes faced off against far more active Necron forces than was anticipated, and the landings did not go to plan. The Custodes, clad in their gleaming golden armour, stood as paragons of martial prowess, while the Necrons, with their undying metal forms, brought ancient and formidable technology to bear. The battle unfolded with both sides fighting furiously, as it appeared Veers might have underestimated the capability of the Necrons to put up an effective defence. The Necrons, leveraging their advanced weaponry and reanimation protocols, managed to outmanoeuvre the Custodes, securing a tactical advantage that the Custodes struggled to respond to. The Custodes fought valiantly, their Guardian Spears clashing with the energy blades of their metallic adversaries, but despite their resilience, the Necrons' sheer numbers and otherworldly technology allowed them to claim a hard-fought victory, forcing the elite astartes force to withdraw from the planet.

Meanwhile the Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter achieved a decisive victory against the ancient Necron forces during the initial invasion. Led by their indomitable Chapter Master, the Dark Angels executed a meticulously planned assault against the northern Necron tomb complexes. The Deathwing Terminators spearheaded the assault, breaching the Necron defenses and engaging in close-quarters combat with the mechanical horrors. The Ravenwing provided crucial reconnaissance, pinpointing hidden tomb entrances and neutralizing key Necron units. As the battle reached its crescendo, the Dark Angels unleashed overwhelming firepower from their Primaris forces, exploiting weaknesses in the Necron phalanxes. The once-invulnerable Necron constructs crumbled before the might of the Dark Angels, marking a significant triumph and securing a bridgehead on Enaloth against the ancient mechanical threat.

Further south, the Imperial Guard faced off against the mysterious and formidable Necron forces, resulting in a resounding victory for the Novgorod regiments taking part in the initial landings. The Necrons, led by an Overlord, deployed with an array of fearsome units, including imposing Monoliths.  Amidst the chaotic skirmish, a squad of Lascannons emerged as unsung heroes, engaging in a protracted duel with a Monolith. Despite the massive firepower directed at them, the Lascannon squad displayed remarkable resilience, dodging the Monolith's energy beams with uncanny agility. Their precision shots gradually chipped away at the Monolith's formidable defences, ultimately securing a notable victory by destroying the fearsome xenos war machine. The Novgorod regiment, although losing their commander in the heat of battle, emerged triumphant, ensuring the Dark Angels' initial success was exploited to the full.

By early 024M42 the Imperium had secured a sizeable foothold on the necron world and began feverish preparations and logistical build-up for the next assault. General Veers was once again in the driving seat of an imperial advance.

Mordecai Primaris - Imperial Breakout

On Mordecai the war was progressing slowly, far more slowly than imperial high command would have liked. Although Kutuzov now had the strategic advantage in logistical supply, actually delivering, marshalling and organising the millions of men and millions of tons of supplies necessary to prosecute a war on a planetary scale, was taking its time.

By late 023M42 the Imperium had established two bridgeheads, one centred on the joined sprawling cities of North Averbrike and Westosa, and the other near Menoria. The latter bridgehead remained quite small, and Kutuzov was unable to load Guard supplies directly into the pocket as fire from the surrounding chaos held hive sprawl posed a serious threat to the transport landers. To mitigate this and provide the Imperium with two zones of Imperial Guard build up, the Hammers of the Emperor conducted an all out offensive to expand the imperial zone of control in late 12.023M42.

The assault was almost textbook, with the astartes bulldozing their way across the front lines and dealing deftly with a daemonic army summoned to block their advance. By the end of the year enough of Menoria had been cleared by the Hammers to facilitate a rapid build up of forces and supplies, signalling a renewed frontal offensive to begin some time in early 024M42.

Tau progress on New Cerberex thanks to Eldar

Having failed to take New Cerberex quickly as planned, the Tau were finding it difficult to finish off imperial forces on the world despite the strategic situation favouring the Empire. In late 011.023M42 the tau skirmished with a marines force from the Inheritors of the Hunt chapter, who had arrived in small numbers to bolster the Dark Angels' positions. The astartes were proving a nuisance for the Tau, holed up on mount Bone, a series of ravines and rugged ridges where the space marines were now engaging in guerilla tactics, launching raids from their fortress.

 

The astartes could wait however. If the rest of the planet fell then the space marine threat could be contained at least, or dealt with via overwhelming orbital firepower. With this in mind the Tau forced their way south testing the imperial defences. The Librian mechanised forces opposed the Tau at every step, but despite inflicting casualties on the xenos, the Librians were unable to stop their remorseless advance. In particular the intervention of the Kel Sandros Eldar proved pivotal, as a raid then a full scale ambush of Librian forces using their grav tanks and highly mobile infantry forces.

 

Although the Imperial Guard were able to give as good as they got against the eldar infantry, the grav tanks proved exceptionally devastating, with many tanks of the Librian Mechanised 8th regiment reduced to scrap by fire prisms. By the end of 023M42 the Librians were almost out of vehicles and heavy equipment, and were now holed up in the inner defences of Feducia itself.

Tau Invade Zadoc

The Tau had been planning an invasion of Zadoc for some time by very late 023M42, with a blockade placed around the planet and invasions of the outlying bases and space docks. Preparations by the Tau empire then started to land somewhere on the planet, waiting to see if there was any retaliation from chaos forces to the blockade, but the Emerald Serpent and other major factions seemed occupied with events elsewhere. Confident that the landing would not be opposed in space, the Tau launched their planet fall in late 11.023M42.

 

The initial battles around Chettalo were fierce but one sided, until the chaos defenders summoned a host of daemons to slow the xenos down. This proved more of a challenge to the invading forces under commander Malkaor, but by late 12.042M42 the daemons had been banished, and the tau were moving out of the Chettalo area. By the Beginning of 024M42, the Tau empire had a solid bridgehead on Zadoc.