Friday, December 08, 2023

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.

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