Chaos drive towards Southbourne

While their defences collapsed in the west, Lord Raziel, in command of the Chaos alliance in the south remained convinced his next attack would turn the tide. Months earlier the Orks on Sartano had been utterly destroyed, or so the Imperials thought. In actual fact thousands had been captured and, with little encouragement required, were swiftly inducted as ad hoc mercenaries working for Raziel.

In addition Raziel had massed several regiments of rebel Guard, and more than a legion of traitor marines, all aligned to the Night Lords’ banner. Now Raziel planned to use this force to strike east and south, annihilating the Imperial defenders and clearing the second front the southern theatre was facing.

On 0602.009M42 the expected attacked began, the Ork horde pouring out in front of regiments of well ordered Traitor Marines. The pace of the advance, led by Gargants and Chaos titans was swift, as Raziel knew the Ultramarines had landed at Southbourne a week previously.

On the broad plains between the tributaries of the Sarto river, the two forces met. In the north a huge tank battle erupted as Land Raiders and Predators fought with Ork Gun Wagons and traitor Land Raiders. In the southern portion of the battle fierce hand to hand assaults erupted as the Orks attacked first, annihilating themselves while inflicting horrendous casualties on the defenders. Then the Chaos Marines moved in and mopped up.

The Imperial forces fought furiously, massacring the Orks in an orgy of destruction, but behind them the Chaos Marines moved in, forcing the Ultramnarines and their allied contingents to withdraw after days of bitter fighting. Titans were employed on both sides, but once again they did not fight one another.

By 0902.008M42 the Chaos attack had taken the north of the Island continent and had advanced to within twenty Miles of Southbourne, cutting off the eastern Island chain and occupying most of the plains north of the Sarton Mounts. However to the south the lifeline to Southbourne was kept open, thanks to the Trebbians. Raziel had reduced the number of fronts to one, but that front now stretched along four hundred miles of mountainous terrain, all occupied by the Imperial defenders, who dug in.

Trebbian 9th continues Imperial advance

Following the rather surprising victory of the Porphyrians at Sapphire Island, General Cunningham wanted to immediately capitalise on their success. Seeing the forces of Chaos off balance and, according to intelligence massing forces on their eastern front, Cunningham immediately consulted with his commanders on the ground.

The Ultramarines had left, moving the bulk of their forces by Thunderhawk to Southbourne, as they perceived that the next Chaos attack would come towards the main city on Sartano. Obviously the forces of Chaos had realised fighting on two fronts was a bad plan.

This left Cunningham with precious few resources. Most of the PDF armies were ill equipped for an organised attack and the Librian Guard units were still re-equipping after painful attritional battles. The only force available were the relatively inexperienced Trebbians, several regiments of which had recently arrived with the Porphyrians.

The Trebbians had a bad record, and Cunningham knew it. Hoping that surprise would win out however he ordered the Guard into battle. Amazingly lightning managed to strike twice and the Chaos forces were in total disarray when the Trebbian units landed on the west of Sartano. They then made rapid progress, breaking through in the south and driving the rebel forces back towards their base in central Sartano. Briefly the Chaos position in the south looked perilous. Then came the main Chaos attack...

Porphyrians take Sapphire Harbour

Until 0502.009M42 the Porphyrians were held in some contempt by the Imperial Generals and other regiments alike. Since their arrival they had lost every battle they had fought, and usually badly. So when General Cunningham announced a new attack on Sapphire Harbour with the Porphyrians in the vanguard, it came as something as a shock.

Cunningham was not stupid however, rather he was a ruthless General who’s cold mind analysed every tactical situation and worked out the best possible result, even if that meant wholesale slaughter. On Melberg he had been the cheif proponent of the attritional strategy which almost bore fruit, even though it cost the lives of nearly one million Guardsmen.

Cunningham had been ordered by Du Prez to attack Sapphire Harbour, a strategically vital objective which the Chaos forces had occupied since the first day of the invasion. Cunningham considered this a foolish attack with little hope of success. After all the base was on an Island and heavily defended. With this in mind he ordered the Porphyrians to attack it. If they were massacred to a man, no great loss.

It was late on 0702.009M42 that Imperial intelligence became aware of something quite astonishing. The Chaos forces guarding the base had clearly not considered such a bold attack reasonable, certainly not by Imperial Guard forces, and their defences were not as strong as first thought. In addition the Porphyrians attacked on a broad front with skill and determination, which stetched the Iron Warrior defenders to the limit.

By 0902.009M42 the Iron Warriors had taken severe casualties to the heavy weaponry of the Porphyrian Guard, and they abandoned the Harbour, much to the disgust of Raziel and his Night Lords. The Porphyrians however were jubilant, and the Imperial high command, ever quick to capitalise on the psychology of success, allowed the bells to be rung up and down the continent of Tuva in honour of their newest heros, the Porphyrians... Cunningham of course, was quick to take the credit...

Fort Aerin falls. Praetorians hold the line

The Praetorians knew they had to hold at all costs. Their commander set up the “thin red line” and awaited the approaching Orks. In early 02.009M42 Nazghat’s forces arrived and charged into the Praetorians. Unlike the Porphyrians however, the Praetorians stood their ground, firing volley after volley of lasgun fire into the green tide.

Aided by their accurate mortar fire, the Praetorians quickly gained the Orks’ respect, and Nazghat was infuriated by his troops lack of progress. While the Praetorian’s continued to hold out the Administratum organised the evacuation like clockwork. Even the Praetorian withdrawal was a masterpiece of tactical planning.

Despite this, Fort Aerin fell on 0902.009M42 and Nazghat added another planet to his growing Empire. Immediately he dispatched a force to Keprok, informing the local Orks they were now part of Waagh! Nazghat, while another, larger force was sent hubward, deep into the Mabb Nebula to conquer the remaining Shadow Worlds.

Nazghat Closes on Aerin Victory

While most of the sector’s attention was focussed on Tarsis Major, the Ork Warlord Nazghat continued to pursue his campaign in the Mabb Nebula. The commander of Fort Aerin received reinforcements in early 01.009M42, with a Porphyrian and a Praetorian regiment bolstering the defences.

However the Porphyrians were inexperienced and had never fought Orks before. Nazghat’s veteran troops smashed into the front lines, causing chaos in the Porphyrian lines, and massacring over half of the regiment’s troops. The formation was quickly pulled out of the line and replaced with the tougher Praetorian Guard.
By now the Imperium realised that holding onto fort Aerin would be practically impossible. All they could do was hope the Praetorians could hold the line long enough for an evacuation to be effected.

Snazteef Grinds south once more

While the Imperium were grappling with Chaos in the south the Orks in the north still posed a serious threat and showed no signs of giving up. Even so General Jamieson found himself being ordered to transfer his best units south, to face the Chaos threat. Gradually the defences against Snazteef were thinned out, and Porphyrian regiments were rushed into the front line.

The move seemed unwise soon after, as on 1601.009M42 the Orks launched their latest offensive. Taken by surprise the Porphyrians were massacred, losing nearly a third of their number before retreating some one hundred miles. Between 1801.009M42 and 0802.009M42 Snazteef’s Orks managed another good push, defeating the Porphyrians once again, before the Imperial commander ordered his forces behind their defences, and the Ork advance was halted. Snazteef’s goading remarks, accusing the Imperium of “Kowardiss”, had no effect.

Tarsis Latest

Tarsis Dispositions - 02.009M42

Shadowstrike Sweeps South

As 01.008M42 drew to a close and Elan Ro appealed for more troops at Peraph, Shadowstrike prepared for his first spring offensive in south Merrin. This was the real reason why resources were denied to the off world commander. Shadowstrike was beginning his strategic plan, to dissect the Imperial forces in Merrin in sizeable chunks, defeating his opponent, General Cochrane.

The plan had initially been to attack in the north, towards East Plainbrook, but Shadowstrike learned that to the south the Imperium had brought in new, fresh reinforcements, the Porphyrians. Analysis proved the Tau had never faced the Porphyrians and Shadowstrike would use this to his advantage.

The Porphyrians were warned of the Tau’s rapid and mobile battle tactics, but they had little chance to absorb the new information, for just 48 hours after their deployment to the Merrin front, the Tau attacked. Shadowstrike struck with perfect timing and the Tau soldiers carried out their orders with amazing precision. Using the river Fuller to prevent the Librians and Tarsis PDF from interfering the Tau subjected the Porphyrians to a devastating “left hook”.

The flank attack forced the Porphyrian commander, who’s units were fighting valiantly, if in vain, to order a general withdrawal. Even so the Porphyrians lost some 5,000 troops and a further 15,000 captured as Shadowstrike’s first advance of 009M42 forced the Imperium back some 500 miles in just ten days.

Ultramarines & Night Lords clash

While Moonface made plans for his next move the Night Lords and their allies were fighting a series of ferocious battles in south Tuva during 01.009M42. First, the Ultramarines attacked in force, forcing the Chaos armies to leave the continent and retreat to Sapphire Harbour. However, on 2801.009M42 the Chaos legions returned, landing in force and pushing inland. The Imperial Guard units fell back, allowing the Ultramarines to engage in force, this time with titan legion support.

The Space Marines hoped that the sudden appearance of a reaver and a warhound titan would stall the Chaos advance, but to their horror the Chaos forces unleashed their own monstrous perversion of a warlord titan in response, while deep striking traitor Terminators destroyed the warhound titan and forced the rest of the Imperial forces into a slow and bloody retreat.

It was the first Chaos victory for several months in the south, and the two Chaos sectors on Tuva and Sartano were now once again joined up. General Cunningham was disappointed, while Lord Raziel of the Night Lords was desparate for a victory of his own before Moonface took over command on the southern fronts. Raziel hated Moonface and his allies, but to maintain his independence Raziel needed to prove the Night Lords and those loyal to him were a force worthy of respect. Early 009M42 saw the first steps of this revival.

Elan Ro Lands on Peraph

While the Tau fronts on Merrin stayed quiet in 01.008M42, not least thanks to the heavy snow which fell in the north, the Tau high command were far from inactive. Having shown himself to be an able commander in off world activities with his successful invasion of Tarsis Minor, Elan Ro was tasked with taking the Chaos controlled base of “Peraph”, in the Tarsis system, just outside the orbit of Tarsis Major itself.

The base was strategically important, as while the Chaos forces were not using it to resupply, they were using its defence lasers to put off the Tau from reinforcing the planet except from the far side. This cost them time and effort. Elan Ro would take the base, allowing their convoys to approach from any angle, allowing them to slip past roving Imperial and Chaos raiders far more easily.

Elan Ro’s troops arrived in stealth and in small numbers. Furious firefights in the cramped corridors of the vast facility followed, sporadic small actions taking place all over the installation. After gaining a bridgehead near the main landing pad however, Elan Ro found himself besieged and unable to make further progress. He appealed to the Tau high command for further forces but with cold logic, the ethereal judged that his invasion force had effectively put the base out of action for the time being, and taking the base was not a priority. The fighting for Peraph would go on.

Tarsis latest

The Powers Plan

300th post!

The winter on Tarsis Major brought rainstorms across all continents, as the planet swung away from its parent star and the heat in the atmosphere gave way to a general cooling. The bad weather and warp storms around the system brought a comparative lull in action on the ground as all sides went on to the defensive and planned their campaigns for the Tarsis Spring.

This was not true of Nazghat's Orks. Having secured a strong beachhead on Fort Aerin the Ork Warboss began planning the next phase of conquest. First he needed to secure the fort. opening a route from the south to the Ork world of Kallack. On Kallack Nazghat planned to assert his dominance, creating an even bigger Waagh! to take Fort Sparcos and dominate the Mabb Nebula and the Shadow worlds. If he achieved this the Tau on Melberg and the Imperium on Alphe would be in serious trouble.

Meanwhile back on Tarsis Major Snazzteef refused to give up on his dream of taking Tarsis Prime. To do this he secured the services of a (quite mad) big Mek who had delusions of grandeur. Imperial agents were quite concerned in 1901.009M42 when they discovered plans for a "Grate Big 'Uge Pully Beam" and frantically began risk assessments on the number of asteroids in the vicinity of Tarsis Major itself.

The Tau were by early 009M42 being largely led on Tarsis Major by Commander Shadowstrike and his influence. Sunstrike already hated the venture but Shadowstrike's influence with many in the Ethereal caste meant his strategic decisions were given greater weight and the war on Tarsis Major would continue. Shadowstrike and his subordinate commanders agreed on a policy of "Imperium first", taking the southern part of Tuva while performing a holding action against Chaos and acting strategically against them.

The plans of the Catechism, and the Night Lords remained to take Tarsis - and quickly. By early 009M42 the alliance of the Night Lords and the Catechism had already become strained with the Catechism's continued use of Daemon armies and the Night Lords' apparent inability to make progress against a tough Imperial defence. The Chaos cause suffered another blow early in the year as the Night Lords fleet was decisively beaten in a skirmish with the Imperial fleet, delaying supplies and allowing a reinforcement convoy to land nearly 100,000 more troops on Tuva.

While Moonface prepared his army to strike at the heart of Imperial power on Tarsis, it was becoming increasingly obvious that his forces may not be able to control the daemons indefinitely. Already the Chaos marines had been forced to attack their own daemon allies and now ominous portents were growing in indicence. Milk spoiled for no reason, the mutation rate skyrocketed, several statues began weeping blood and strange storms were seen in the skies over Merrin. In addition astropaths began having fits and Navigators travelling to the system reported unnerving experiences sent to them from the warp. One described perceiving a huge vortex centred around the planet and another a giant maw opening up and engulfing the planet in its gape. Overall the signs were bad and even mortal generals serving the forces of Chaos began questioning the wisdom of using daemons as allies.

The Imperium, though disturbed by the daemonic portents, kept to their attritional plan, attempting to throttle the Tau and Ork reinforcements while pitching their main offensives in 009M42 against the forces of Chaos. General Du Prez admitted he would most likely sacrifice Merrin and Sartano, while building up the defences on Tuva to make an "unbreakable bastion" against which the Tau, Chaos and Orks would exhaust themselves. However some began planning the "final solution", should the daemonic incursions get any worse.

Tarsis Major Current

Eldar ambush Ork Supplies

While the Orks were invading Fort Aerin the bases of the Orks in the Mabb Nebula such as Coronus and Bothorion were left in the hands of one of Nazghat's lesser commanders. The wisdom, or lack of it, in this decision was soon evident when the Eldar appeared on Bothorion through an unseen webway portal. Still celebrating their victory the Orks were unprepared for this new raid and by the time they responded several thousand tonnes of supplies had been destroyed.
When the local Ork commander finally committed his speed freaks to attack the Eldar, who were by now falling back to their webway portal, it was too late, and the blundering Orks fell straight into a well placed trap. Thousands of Orks were slaughtered before the Eldar disengaged, and Nazghat was enraged by his subordinate's failure. Only time would tell whether the incident would have long term implications.

Fort Aerin: Bloody Invasion

Fort Aerin first realised it was under attack when some one thousand "craft" of varied design and construction (often the construction varying wildly from the design) appeared in the outer reaches of the system on 0212.008M42. Quickly the commander of the base, Commander Ferrod, drew together his staff to predict the arrival date of the mass of ships. When they realised it was in under two weeks the Commander relayed a message to the Imperial Navy for immediate assistance.

Admiral Jellicoe reviewed the situation from Caitlen station but his forces, scattered and in action across the sector could not be brought together in force at Fort Aerin for at least five weeks. Any smaller task force would have little impact on such an enormous horde, despite the fact few were actually fighting ships. The defenders of Fort Aerin would have to face the Orks alone, until reinforcements could be found. At least, thought several strategists, they now knew where Nazghat and his formidible Waagh! were.

The initial invasion was uncontested but Ferrod, unable to know exactly where the Orks would choose to land, was forced to spread his forces around the complex, ready to meet an attack from any direction. In the end the Orks wrong footed Ferrod, choosing a violent assault on a narrow front, seizing the initiative from the Imperial commander and driving a wedge some 30 miles into the Imperial defences. After initially falling back the Imperial Guard regiments (10 in total, some 100,000 men and their equipment), began to fight heroically for every building in the settlement of Epaks, to the north of the main fortified area. Even so by the end of 008M42 losses had been heavy and some one million Orks had landed on the planet. Without reinforcement it seemed even the defences of Aerin would not hold. On 0101.009M42 Ferrod appealed to the Blood Martyrs for aid.

Eldar in Action

Towards the end of the year the wider sector saw a renewal in serious actions between Eldar and Necron forces on planets across the Mabb nebula. This was cause for concern to the major powers as many feared a resurgence in Necron activity could impact their lines of supply to the theatre on Tarsis Major. However, by 2412.008M42 it appeared neither side had managed to gain the upper hand in a string of inconclusive battles.

Daemons wipe out remaining orks

While the Orks in Merrin met their demise a similar fate befell those besieged and beleagured on the Island of Sartano. After a series of battles against Catechism forces the greenskins had been forced back into a narrow pocket, following the collapse of their defences and their resolve. Moonface decided to deliver the coup-de-grace through the use of his daemon allies, and following their summoning every Ork on Sartano was ruthlessly slaughtered.

Again the fragile alliance with the Night Lords was strained, but no-one could dney the success of the Catechism and its daemonic hordes.With the Orks beaten and the new front line against the Imperials in southern Sartano about to open, Moonface and his allies were extremely critical of the prosecution of the invasion by his Night Lord allies in the southern portion of Tuva. Here, unlike on Merrin or Sartano the forces of Chaos had known defeat. Moonface was determined to remedy this in the coming year.

Tau wipe orks from Merrin

As 008.M42 drew to a close the remaining Orks on Merrin were finally eliminated by concerted efforts by Tau forces led by StarFire. The sequence of skirmishes saw the Tau take the Merrin industrial heartlands and the Imperial Guard, less than a hundred miles away, were powerless to stop them. The commander on Merrin knew that the fast moving Tau would take the opportunity to decimate his forces if he left his defences and by 2312.008M42 all Ork territory had been taken by the Tau. Very few Orks survived the slaughter.

Current Tarsis Map

Nazhghat Changes Tack

Bothorion had been fairly quiet for months, with the Eldar having ensured the Orks stayed away from their sacred sites and the Orks content to leave the Eldar in peace, given their numbers and the high cost of prosecuting a war on Tarsis Major. However on 0912.008M42 Warlord Nazghat returned, angry and determined, and ordered the Eldar to be removed from Bothorion so that the world could be geared up as a base of operations for the upcoming war in the Mabb Nebula.

The Orks were galvanised into action, and with Nazghat leading them a mighty Waagh! fell upon the sparsely defended Eldar positions. Surprised, the Eldar fell back but to their credit were able to respond with a meaningful counter attack late on 1012.008M42. However luck was with the newly enthused Orks and nothing the Eldar tried seemed to pay off, the Orks could not be stopped. Rather than continue the bloodbath the Eldar vanished via thier webway network, allowing Nazghat to begin construction on his new prize.

Tau Assault Orbital Docks

While Montyr' Shi was suffering at the hands of Axtes in space, the remainder of the Tau fleet were supporting the latest Tau plan to gain the upper hand in the Tarsis system. Elan Ro and the recently arrived Commander Fastblade were given the task of taking the Tarsis Orbital docks, a vast construct able to house thousands of men and home to the facilities which once kept the Tarsis trading fleet in working order.

The Docks were defended by several companies of Adeptus Sororitas, who had prudently turned the entrance ways into mini fortresses, meaning that any attack would have to blast its way in. The Imperium hoped that the Docks were too unimportant to assault directly, but too valuable to destroy out of hand . So far this had proved true, as the Tau had not attempted to take possession of the Docks nor had they turned the big guns of their fleet upon it.

On 0312.008M42 the attack began, with scouts dropped on the facility followed by swarms of manta-borne crisis suits and skimmers. However access to the Docks would prove difficult as the Sisters of Battle refused to give any ground, and forced a battle in the near vacuum low gravity environment on the surface of the facility. Here the battle was deadly, as any breach in the suits worn by tau and human alike meant certain death. Infantry units found it difficult to maintain their footing and many tau vehicles were destroyed by small arms, the slightest breach causing catastrophic decompression.

After several hours of fighting and at huge cost the Tau forces finally managed to get a foothold inside the station, forcing a slow and bloody street battle through the inner complexes of the station. Though they had succeeded in breaking in, it would be many more days before the complex was fully under Tau control, and once again concerns were raised of too much cost for too little gain.

Commodore Axtes raids Tau fleet

The Tau had enjoyed relative space superiority in the Tarsis system ever since their landings, and since 10.008M42 the Tau commander had been unmolested by attacks from any of the main powers' fleets. However, Admiral Jellicoe, aware that the Tau fleet had just been raided by a force of cruisers belonging to the renegade Admiral Thok, became aware on 0312.008M42 of a glittering opportunity to rob the Tau of their dominant position in space.

Jellicoe immediately contacted Commodore Axtes, who commanded a substantial force of cruisers and whose battlegroup had been shadowing the Tau in the Tarsis system, wainting for an opportunity. Commanding from the bridge of the mars class heavy cruiser Illustrious, Axtes also had the dictator class Redoubtable and newly refit dauntless class Ajax under his command, along with an escort squadron. This powerful carrier force was now ordered to raid and destroy as much of the Tau fleet as possible, since the Tau heavy carrier Vigilence had taken heavy damage against Thok's fleet and was unavaiable.Axtes travelled immediately to the inner biosphere region where his forec quickly located a force of three Protectors and three escorts on an intercept course. Axtes slowed his fleet, launched a defensive fighter screen and engaged with Illustrious's Nova Cannon. Meanwhile the Tau began frantically launching waves of Mantas and torpedoes, while closing the range.

However in the ensuing engagement the Nova Cannon won the day. Excellent shooting from Illustrious first crippled one protector, then another, forcing the enemy fleet to disengage before they were even in range with their main weapons. Worse was to follow for the Tau as one of the Protectors, badly damaged, could not flee, and another precision shot from Illustrious blew her apart. Only Ajax suffered minor damage from torpedoes and manta waves, the fighters from Illustrious and Redoubtable doing their job protecting the big ships.

At the end of the engagement, wary of Shadowstrike's fleet intercepting them, Axtes retreated once more to the outer reaches while his message was received to much rejoicing at Caitlen Station, home of Imperial Navy High Command, and on the bridge of the Vanguard. Axtes received news of his promotion to Rear Admiral on 0912.008M42.

Orks annihilated by Catechism

While on Tuva Chaos forces were retreating ate breakneck speed, and Maybourne was being liberated, the Catechism was concentrating on the Orks. Its best units were thrown against Nazghat's remaining forces, forcing the front line back towards the Ork landing zones. Then, at the appointed moment the daemons were released. The gibbering, capering monstrosities tore through the Ork lines before materialising amongst or even behind the greenskins' defences. In a very short period, less than a day, the Ork line, which had held strong for weeks against the best of the Catechism's troops, collpased catastrophically once they realised their leader and his best Nobz had "skarpered" to invade elsewhere.

By the end of 1212.008M42 the Orks had fallen back to their crashed Rok's which made up their landing zone, and were desperately trying to work out how to get off the planet!

Orks renew offensive

Following the catastrophic defeat of Snazteef's Orks in late 11.008M42, the Orks in the north of Tuva were still not beaten. Recently arrived Praetorian units soon found this out when a renewed assault by Snazteef fell upon them on the early hours of 0612.008M42. Despite a valiant defence they found themselves outgunned and outnumbered, and the front fell back some fifty miles, much to General Jennings irritation. The planned celebrations of victory over the Orks had to be put on hold.

Intercepted Ork “Press release”
“Following the cowardly withdrawal of Warlord Nazghat from Tarsis major, Warboss Snazzteef has declared himself Kaptain Snazzteef, Grand Bastard of Tarsis Mayja. Despite a succession of knockbacks in the fighting recently, Snazzteef remains in the face of the humies re-occupation of his territory. With his sights firmly set upon Tarsis Prime and orkuppying the Mars Pattern Command there to built more warmachines for the Evil Sun WAAAGH! All other warbosses on the planet are ordered at pain of gettin' their runty 'eads kicked in to stop playing hide n' seek wiv da fish'eads and spiky chaos gits and start bashing the guard and marine forces in da norff.”

Chaos driven from Tuva

On 0511.008M42 General Cunningham launched his much expected major assault against Chaos forces on the southern tip of Tuva. With the recent arrival of strong Daemonhunters and Dark Angels units, Cunningham now felt he had the tools he needed to attack on a broad front, utilising the Dark Angels and other elite forces to crack the difficult nuts in the Chaos defence, while his own Guard forces would engage the weaker and less well equipped cultist legions.

The Catechism was off balance fighting Orks in the east, and the Night Lords had just recovered from the Tau attack on their base on Typhon, and significant resources had gone into their counter invasion of Rhesisus. Cunningham, Lord General Du Prez and the senior Commander of the Dark Angels all agreed that now was the ideal time to strike.

The Chaos forces on Tuva actually struck first, with Iron Warriors making progress on the north eastern end of the Barrier Mountains, before the major advance by Cunningham's army began. Then, as Guard units swept down to the sea, the Dark Angels encircled an entire Chaos army in Maybourne and wholesale slaughter began. The Daemonhunters too went straight for the city, intent on ridding it of the Chaos taint, and the two elite Imperial forces, their enemy surrounded them, hunted them like prey. By 1012.008M42 the defensive axis of Chaos on southern Tuva had been broken and the Imperial Guard had forced cultist forces back to the entrance to Sapphire Harbour.

Meanwhile in Maybourne the last elements of Chaos forces, both traitor marine and traitor guard units, had been annihilated. Then the ugly spectre of "cleansing" by the Inquisition began. Maybourne had been a city with a population of 10 million before the invasion, and the 4 million who had managed to survive the Chaos occupation soon wish they hadn't, as a further 2 million were executed at the merest suspicion of being tainted. Even so the Imperium hailed the offensive as a great victory and the bells of Tarsis Prime were rang for the first time since the invasion.

Current Tarsis Map

Rhesius falls as Tau gambit backfires

The plan devised by Shadowstrike to topple the Night Lords in the Rim Worlds had a sound foundation. It was only since their domination in this part of space that the forces of Chaos were able to launch their assault on Tarsis. Additionally the presence of strong Chaos garrisons on Typhon, Priam and Daedalon threatened the recent Tau gains of New Sparta, Rhesius and Aornis.

With this in mind a fleet of Tau warships exited the warp near to the planet of Typhon on 1711.008M42 and made their way to the Night Lords' base. Upon landing however it seemed as if somehow the defenders were expecting the attack, and soon after Commanders Hawkeye and Ores Kais had landed their Cadres, the Night Lords seized the initiative, advancing immediately on the Tau at their landing zone. Very soon the Tau found themselves pinned down in their beachead, and the bold plan became unstuck.

After several days of fighting on Typhon the Night Lords launched their final murderous assault, causing horrific casualties in the Tau defenders. Hawkeye and Kais, unable to manouvre and surrounded realised their task had become hopeless and began to evacuate. Less than half those who had landed returned, though casualties had also been high amongst their enemy's troops.
Late on 2711.008M42, as the battered armies returned to Tau space they received a worrying transmission. Without their normal defending strength and with the fleet away. a Night Lords Strike cruiser had penetrated the defences around Rhesius. There were fewer than 30,000 Tau on the planet's newly constructed base, and these were all slaughtered in a matter of hours by the marauding Chaos Marines. Changing course for New Sparta Hawkeye knew this was a bitter blow to Tau aspirations in the Rim Worlds, on Tarsis, and in the wider sector.

Catechism forced to shore up defences as Daemonhunters sweep in

During late 11.008M42 the battle lines in southern Tuva moved a number of times as General Cunningham's diverse forces fought a range of units employed by the Chaos forces along the southern coast. In the previous week the Night Lords had extricated themselves from a tricky situation by devastating Cunningham's Librian units around Maybourne, but Cunningham, in consultation with the commander of some freshly arrived forces in the area, agreed that a swift counter attack would undo the Night Lords' recent work.

Imperial intelligence realised that the Chaos forces, their eyes fixed on Merrin and the more dangerous Orks of Nazghat, had left weaker forces in the region of Maybourne. On 2711.008M42 a force of Daemonhunters spearheaded an assault into Chaos territory, brushing aside weak cultist forces and only meeting real resistance in the form of a company of Nurgle Marines. These were similarly destroyed, but at a higher cost. Even so the move brought Cunningham's army to the south coast once more and cut off the city for the second time since the invasion. Upon hearing the news Moonface knew he would have to sort the situation personally.
On 2911.008M42 the Catechism launched their attack. Towards Maybourne the assault was lead by the daemonic hordes the Catechism were now routinely summoning for battle, though for the second time their handlers lost control and much of the region descended into anarchy as the daemons feasted upon any soul they came across. Very little of eastern Maybourne was left by the end of the month.

Meanwhile Moonface's most trusted troops led the assault against the Librians defending the newly liberated territory further to the east of the city. The Guard units had been unable to dig in, but the Catechism still found the going tough as they were ambushed heading west. Several troop transports were immediately destroyed, forcing the Traitor marines to advance on foot into a withering hail of fire. Many veteran marines were cut down but eventually the genetically enhanced warriors reached the Imperial lines and ripped the guardsmen apart in ferocious hand to hand fighting.

Skirmished like this continued as Cunningham fought a bitter fighting withdrawal north west, making the Catechism pay in blood for every mile. By the end of 3011.008M42 the chaos forces had been halted before they had taken back all the recent gains.

Snazteef’s hordes blunder into trap

The continuing southward push by Snazteef's Orks became concerning in 11.008M42, and by the end of the month General Jamieson, commander of Tuva North, had consulted with overall commander General Du Prez to devise a strategy to push back the orks. The plan was as brutal as it was simple. As Snazteef broke out into the plains of Tuva and out of the bottleneck of the Northern Peninsular, his forces would have to spread out, allowing small, rapid forces to find and exploit any weakness.

On 2311.008M42 Snazteef's attacks were unceasing. For weeks now the Imperial Guard had tried in vain to slow his advance but now the Ultramarines waited patiently to make their move. Subordinate commanders in the Imperial Guard were not informed and the Librian 34th Regiment in particular took heavy casualties on the 27th as Snazteef's main force bludgeoned its way through their lines, led by unstoppable Mega Armoured Nobz.

However later on the same day the ultramarines found a gap in the widening Ork lines and, combining a frontal assault with an orbital drop, neatly cut the Orks supply lines and opened a gap over one hundred kilometres wide in the Ork front line.

Jamieson immediately ordered his armoured units, including the 17th Librian heavy tank division, to exploit the gap and hundreds of tanks rushed north before deviating east to cut off the Ork line of retreat. With no supplies and communications the Orks in the pocket began to lose their co-ordination, but still fought savagely. It would be many days before the pocket was mopped up but once it had the orks had been pushed right back to the Tuva Bay where they had landed.

Montgate falls despite heroic defence

The final nail in the coffin at Montgate came on 2711.008M42 when the final battle for the city began. The Catechism employed their elite Legions as well as summoning another horde of daemons to complete the destruction of Corchorans North Merrin Army.

The combined power of the Traitor Legions and their daemonic allies soon swept aside any lingering resistance from the shattered remnants of Corchoran's Librian, Zadocian and Tarsisian divisions, but the real fighting erupted as a large force of Daemonhunters, recently arrived having heard of the daemonic incursions on Merrin, engaged with the main force of the Catechism's strength.

Once engaged the second part of the Imperial plan came into play as once again the Ultramarines utilised their drop pod capability, arriving right at the heart of the action. As 2811.008M42 began ans the Catechsims' cultists prepared to move into the city proper, on the outskirts the violent battle between the Daemonhunters and the Catechism continued without pause. The Ultramarines were initially successful following their drop, but gradually the Traitor Legions and the daemonic horde began to gain the upper hand. Late on 3011.008M42, just minutes before the daemons faded back into the work, the Imperial resolve fell and the Catechism's troops managed to outflank the Imperial positions, forcing the Daemonhunters, minus several good men including an inquisitor, and the Ultramarines, similarly battered, to abandon the city of Montgate to its fate.

Thousands of Guard died and those that were captured quickly wished they had too.

More on the Night Lords...

Brother Pravis Caedo The Apostate.

Imperial files on the leadership of state that the company has always been under the command of Brother Captain Pravis Caedo. Pre-Heresy files are scant, as always, but what can be derived from these records suggests that Pravis was originally a Terran, drawn from the first innates into the original Legions. No further pre-heresy files exist and therefore any further information regarding his pre-heresy activities would be pure conjecture, although the lack of files may suggest he was not a high ranking member within the Legion.

During the Heresy it seems that he had risen to a notifiable rank; leading a sizable band of renegades from, the Legion. It would seem that he did not take part in the Siege of Terra, rather chose to rampage across Mars, presumably taking part in the slaughter of tech adepts and civilians across the planet. After the fall of Horus files suggest he followed the Legion into it’s genocidal rampage across the galaxy. The Port Maw atrocities can be attributed to his specific band of renegades, as there was no attempt to remove the data crystals after the incident. The surviving attendants on the station are reported to have developed serious psychological problems following the incident and had to be liquidated by the Inquisition pending further investigation into the reasons pertaining these changes to a humans mental psyche.

Files suggest that the polar ice caps incident on Jhanna was also attributed to Pravis Caedo. During the Age of Apostasy Lord Vandrie ordered orbital gun batteries to melt sections of the polar ice ring on his planet, resulting in the deaths of 4 billion people. Inquisition files claim that Vandries actions were under the influence of Caedo’s marines. Supposedly where Caedo acquired the name ’The Apostate’ after the ruling caste of Jhanna was found to be corrupted beyond redemtion. The planet was censed by the Ordo Hereticus after Imperial order had been restored. The **Department of Intelligence** has deemed that the intruding force in this case used this opportunity to incite a culture of free thinking into Vandrie before others were corrupted, then, as more of the ruling caste was brought on side, playing them off against each other to create an atmosphere of fear within the bureaucracy.

5th Company Night Lords Legion

How Caedo came to command an entire company of Renegades is unknown, although his exploits at Port Maw won him much, albeit unwanted, credit in the eyes of the Gods. The company itself lost it’s master in the age of apostasy, his cruiser crippled then boarded by dark angels while enroute to Rignat, near the Maelstorm in the Gates of Varl. After replenishing their umbers back to company size, by stealing gene seed from captured red corsairs and pacts with Bile, the 5th has been making it’s way slowly towards the Eastern fringe and reputably the largest contingent of Night Lords outside of the Eye. Currently the 5th has been involved in massacres in and around the Corinthe system, capturing a sizable force of imperial star ships by boarding action and long range lance exchanges, most notably the battleship Magistrate which has been sighted refitted for chaos use and now serves as the mobile base from which the company operates.

After the capture of the Magistrate Caedo was forced to initiate a larger number of non-marine adepts to crew the captured ships. These support sections usually form from the remnants of corrupted guard regiments or cruisers. Undoubtedly loyalist prisoners are also conscripted into service for much of the manual labour onboard these ships.

The 5th company was never stained by the murderers recruited from Nostramo Quintus to a significant extent and have kept to the original Night Lords tenants of Atheism and disdain from religion in general. Pravis Caedo also conforms to this standard and ruthlessly enforces this on his company and their attendants.

Stalemate on two fronts

The Catechism had left some of their elite forces in the south to help out their Night Lord “allies”, but also in order to ensure their continued“alliance”, as much as meaningfully helping out their military campaigns. However when the Orks of Waagh! Nazghat attacked they were in the forefront of the fighting, taking heavy casualties in Nazghat’s second concerted effort to rid the continent of Sartano of the Chaos presence. Once again Nazghat proved himself to be a competent Ork general, inflicting harsh casualties on the Chaos forces of Moonface and forcing the Catechism to withdraw. Unfortunately for the Ork warboss, other Ork forces on the same front found themselves in difficulty against the Marines of the Plaguelord and between 2011.008M42 and 2811.008M42 the net gains to the Orks were minimal and the stalemate continued on Sartano.

Snazteef continues south

In the north the Orks under Snazteef ground inexorably and seemingly unstoppably southward. Fierce and bloody battles continued to rage between 20-29.11.008M42, and the Imperial Guard forces, made up mostly of Librians, Zadocians and Tarsisians were unable to halt the Ork advance. General Du Pres wondered to himself just how the Orks were able to keep up the pace as no new reinforcements had been landed since the initial invasion. Even the steady retreat of his forces were surely inflicting enough casualties on the Orks to ensure the attack would inevitable flounder.

Chaos relieve Maybourne

Since the battles which pushed back the Night Lords away from the city of Maybourne General Cunningham had been shoring up defences in the south. Those defences were tested suddenly and without warning when the Night Lords went on the attack once more. In a combined anc co-ordinated frontal assault the Nurgle Marines attacked first towards the north of the sector, in the mountains of the Border Heights. This acheived its primary objective, pinning in place several Imperial Guard regiments and forcing the hand of the locally based Marine and Daemonhunter forces.

With Cunningham's elite forces now fully engaged in a bitter struggle, the Night Lords assaulted the southern defences, mostly Librian Guard regiments who were more concerned with the remaining Night lord garrison in Maybourne. Here the Librians were caught off guard, and at night the Traitor Marines were able to close to within a very short range of their enemy before attacking. The result was carnage. Between 2311.008M42 and 27.008M42 the Librian forces around the southern city were reduced by half, with two regiments losing their entire force of armoured vehicles. It was clear the Night Lords were attacking Imperial assets rather than attempting to hold ground, and this policy proved effective. By the 28th General Cunningham had ordered a withdrawal to the safety of the mountain defences and the forces of Chaos had successfully relieved their city of Maybourne.

Catechism encircles Montgate

On 2411.008M42 General Corchoran's intelligence identified that the "Catechism proper", a mix of ancient and threatening Traitor Legions, had arrived on Merrin and were moving against his forces defending the beleagured city of Montgate. This was a new twist. Up till now the elite cadre of marines making up the core of the Catechism had been absent, but evidently Moonface wanted to move the war on and was not happy simply using indentured troops and summoned daemons to do his dirty work.

Corchoran new he would be hard pressed to hold the Traitor Marines but was lucky enough to have the Captain of the Ultramarines 1st company on hand. The Ultramarines had arrived at the beginning of the crisis and had lent nearly half the chapter to the defence of Tarsis, since the planet lay on a direct route to Ultramar itself. With Corchoran's consent the Ultramarine captain agreed a moderately ambitious plan to use the Marine Strike cruiser to drop troops to the rear of the Catechism, catching them between the Adeptus Astartes and Corchoran's troops.

From the start things started to go wrong. The Ultramarine Strike cruiser which had been evading detection from the Tau fleet was spotted in the inner asteroids and was forced to put the plan into action immediately. Upon approaching the planet the crusier came under attack from Manta bombers, launched from a Tau Carrier, and was forced to release her drop pods early. This haste meant that instead of landing some fifty miles behind the Traitor Marine forces, they practically landed on top of them.

A violent firefight immediately erupted before devolving into a swirling close quarters melee. Loyal and traitor superhumans were loked in vicious hand to hand fighting so confused, that Corchoran's Guard units realised they could do nothing to help for fear of shelling their own side. Late on 2411.008M42 it became apparent that the Ultramarines had lost the brutal fight, and the Catechism were underway again. Seeing that the plan had come to nothing Corchoran began to retreat some 150 miles to the outskirts of Montgate, and prepared for a siege.

Worse was to follow. Overnight on the 27th Catechism troops were observed performing a strange and disturbing ritual to the south and west of the city. the next day more daemons than had previously been encountered assaulted and massacred the Imperial defenders. Space Marine forces were called in and held the creatures of the warp off for several hours but mounting casualties forced even the superhumans to retreat.

The resulting carnage only grew in intensity as the day wore on. This time, the Catechsim forces, due to take up positions in recently assaulted sectors, were unable to take their stations as marauding daemons rampaged entirely out of control. Suburban areas to the south-east of Montgate suffered appallingly and were set ablaze by uncontrolled energies. Walls melted and boiled and other aberrant obsceneties were observed taking place.

The Inquisition even considered ordering an exterminatus on the entire world, such was the depravity and unnatural wanton desctruction in the area.Fortunately the carnage only continued for one day and the daemons vanished. What they left behind this time however was no territory to be taken. The entire region of South East Montgate was gone, razed to the ground and rendered to a cloying stinking ash blowing in the wind. For the first time the full horror of a daemonic incursion had been witnessed and a new word passed into the lexicon of the people of Merrin. "Burnanated".

Elan Ro unable to hold Catechism’s Daemonic allies

While Star Fire was making progress against Ork and Imperial forces, the unenviable task of defending the Tau from the Catechism fell to Elan Ro, who had landed significant forces on Tarsis Major and left the running of Tarsis Minor in the hands of a trusted ubordinate. It was a quiet admission that the Tau position on the main planet had become grim.

The Catechism arrived a few days after Elan Ro had got his troops into position. As ever the cultist troops arrived first, with light armoured and a few heavy armoured vehicles. Bearing the icon of Moonface, and broadcasting an incessant and insidious chant, the Chaos army advanced towards the Tau positions with a complete disregard for their safety.

When in range the Tau opened fire, causing massive casualties, but retreated before the forces of the Catechism could get fully engaged. Elan Ro was hoping this would prevent them from being trapped, like so many others, with a daemon horde materialising amongst them. However they could only retreat so far and after a few days of sporadic engagements the Tau were forced to give battle with the same predictable, awful conclusion. The sky was rent with the sound of tearing as the daemonic horde leapt fro the warp, massacring the Tau and allowing Catechism armoured units to exploit the breakthrough. Another section of Tau held Tarsis had fallen to Chaos.

Current Tarsis Positions

Operation Deliverance

Although the Tau still had significant holdings on Tarsis they had not made the gains predicted during the planning stages of the campaign. After the prolonged attritional campaign of Melberg there was little will amongst the ruling caste for another protracted blood bath. With other commanders overseeing the Tarsis theatre beginning to voice doubts Shadowstrike formulated a plan to regain the initiative, Operation Deliverance.

The first step would be to significantly expand the Tau’s beachhead on Tarsis. Rather than drive the Tau’s limited forces against the elite Traitor Marines and their daemon allies the Tau would instead target the much softer Guard and Ork forces to the east. In this way the Tau could make significant gains in land without sustaining serious casualties, giving the Tau room to employ their traditional mobile approach to warfare, rather than be forced to stand and fight against the inexorable advance of chaos. The second step was already being prepared. A Tau fleet was assembling at Rhesius ready to strike at the Nightlords sector base at Typhon. Such a strike, if successful, would cut off the Night Lord’s supply route to Tarsis and give the Tau dominance in the Rim Worlds, allowing them to ship re-enforcements by a more direct route. The orbital docks at Tarsis were also earmarked as a priority target for a rapid strike. With these missions completed the Tau would find themselves in a much stronger strategic position to launch their own counter attack against the forces of Chaos.

Commander Star Fire was given the task of completing step one of the plan. Attacking at dawn two spearheads struck out to the east, one driving into the meandering and disorganised Ork hordes and the other into the lines of the Trebbian 9th, where intelligence indicated their were poorly supported with tanks and heavy equipment. In both areas the elite, mobile and well equipped Tau Cadres found opposition week. Employing the aggressive and stealthy tactics renowned of the Ksi‘m‘yen Sept the Tau struck from hiding, mowing down the enemy infantry with opportunist strikes by their Stealth Suites and Hammerhead formations and giving the enemy no chance to reply. The Tau quickly met all their pre-determined objectives and within the space of a single day the Tau all but annihilated the Ork presence on Merrin and claimed huge swathes of land from the Imperium. The Tau now had the breathing space they needed. Meanwhile the Tau invasion fleet had reached the edge of the Rhesius system and was preparing for its first warp jump…

Tau Uncertainty

While the Orks made steady gains and the forces of the Catechism swept all before them in 11.008M42, the Tau found themselves boxed in, and making little if any progress. Despite initial victories against the Imperial Guard, their new found stubborn resistance meant the Tau were having to pay for every inch of gound in blood. Meanwhile to their west the forces of the Catechism were advancing on average 30 miles a day, and the Orks had landed in the east.

Many in the Tau high command now felt the invasion of Tarsis a folly. Too many lives lost, or wasted, for too little gain. Sunstrike, from his base in Cernunnos grew ever more concerned and reported his findings to the Ethereals. However the concensus agreement was to pursue the invasion, at least for the time being, no doubt a decision influenced by Shadowstrike.

The logistical problems were also causing the Tau high command serious headaches, with the drain on the merchant fleet particularly strained. Sunstrike, supported by his old friend Longstride, now commanding Melberg, argued that another full on invasion of a major world was foolish and that the tau would be better served by consolidating their recent gains and improvements to their infrastructure, while limited offensives against smaller, less well defended targets, made more sense. By 2011.008M42, with the invasion stalled and the intervention of Chaos and Ork forces on the same continent, this view was gaining ground.

Wider Sector Events

While the four major powers fought over Tarsis, each had their own logistical problems to overcome. In the Rim worlds and Shadow worlds the ever present threat of Necron and Tyranid had not disappeared and infact increased in 11.008M42. The Ork and Chaos bases, many newly acquired, found themselves under repeated attack from Necrons and Tyranids, and both launched operations to clear the threat from outlying worlds. After several bloody battles both were very successful, and maintained their lines of supply to their home planets.

Despite the lack of an Imperial presence in the Rim and Shadow worlds, the Space marines, led by the Ultramarines were also needed to clear a Necron threat from an uninhabited system near the main Terra spacelane. In this they were also successful, which meant raw materials sent to the Librian Forges kept up with the demand for new tanks to fight on Tarsis Major.

Librian Guard push back Tau

General Corchoran, sitting in his command post in Montgate now new the Tau were less than thirty miles from the city. General Du Prez contacted him on the 17th, telling him to relieve the situation or relieve himself of command. If the Imperium could prevent the Tau from taking the city, Imperial intelligence felt that the strength of the Catechism's army would wipe the Tau out, removing one of the three enemies from the planet.

Hardly an inspiring thought, but it was part of the Imperial high command's overall plan on Tarsis. For now however Corchoran had to push back the Tau from Montgate, inflicting as many casualties as he could. Reviewing his forces he chose to counter attack using the veteran Librian 11th regiment, stationed in Montgate. The operation was as simple as the Imperial Guard itself, and the white clad soldiers of Libria advanced on foot, supported by Leman Russ battle tanks and Basilisks, while sentinels scouted ahead, along with elite stormtrooper regiments.

The offensive was a cagey affair as Corchoran's army advanced through the tangled ruins of the outskirts of Montgate. Every house and building was cleared by infantry or by artillery. Unused to fighting in this manner the Tau, led by Commander White Fire, found it difficult to put up a meaningful resistance. The aliens took more casualties than the Imperium and were finding holding ground an unpleasant task. By the end of 2011.008M42 Corchoran's advance had removed the Tau from most of the suburbs and regained the Eastern coastal strip. Even so, some last ditch determined rushes (some suicidal) by Tau mobile units prevented the Imperial Guard from advancing further.

The Orks Advance

In the north between 1011.008M42 and 2111.008M42, despite the presence of several Imperial Guard regiments, at least three Space Marine companies from three chapters, the army of Waagh! Snazteef, with endless enthusiasm and apparent total disregard of casualties, continued to advance southward out of the beachead.

Meanwhile, Nazgaht has personally intervened in the war in the south, joining his armies on Sartano. His appearance immediately led to the Orks' forst victory against Chaos, defeating a daemon host summoned by the hapless Catechism defenders, and allowed the Orks on the Island in the south to gain on the Night Lord stronghold of Sapphire harbour.

His generalship was also utilised in the west, where he destroyed two Imperial Gaurd regiments and forced a passage over the Satro mountains. Once across thousands of Imperial troops and countless more civilians were massacred with their backs to the sea as the green tide poured out of the passes.

Only the Dark Angels 6th company, stationed in the city of Southbourne, put a stop to the rot on Sartano, destroying several Ork camps on the Sarton plains and forcing the Orks back a hundred miles. It was a small reverse in what had otherwise been a very useful week for the Orks.

Tau close in on Montgate

While the Tau were desperately trying to halt the apparently unstoppable tide of Chaos, Commander Star Fire, one of Shadowstrike's subordinates, was planning to build on Elan Ro's creation of a salient towards Montgate. If the humans could be forced to capitulate in the north then a much larger army could be used to face the Chaos in the west.Star Fire's assault began on 1211.008M42 and ended after just five days.

A true pupil of Shadowstrike the Tau commander's attack focussed on mobility, speed, surprise and envelopment, and the operation went almost perfectly. General Du Prez was woken on the 13th to learn that his commander in the north, Corchoran, was falling back to the city's defensive, to avoid having his army surrounded. Star Fire's planned flanking attacks went off like clockwork, and despite the loss of men and materiel, the operation was a complete success. The Tau even managed to partially surround the city on the eastern coastal side before a counter attack threatened.

Catechism Makes Gains on Merrin

Following their breakout in early 11.008M42, the Catechism consolidated their hold on the northern continent of Merrin by moving north into the passes of the Mertock Mountains, threatening to cut off several Imperial divisions defending the Horn Island peninsular.

Seeing the threat the Dark Angels moved in to cut off the narrow columns of advancing Catechism troops. Despite being heavily outnumbered the Space Marines were confident they could halt the advance and stabilise the front while more troops were moved from the front line against the Tau further east.

The Catechism were expecting the assault however and once again they unleashed a horde of daemons on the Dark Angels as they attacked their mortal forces. The daemons attacked in a frenzy and seemed strangely immune to the Dark Angel firepower. The Adeptus troops had no option but to withdraw, suffering horrendous casualties. Worse however was to face the inhabitants of the Horn Island peninsular, as the remaining loyalist forces crumbled as their supply lines were cut. On 1211.008M42 Horn Island itself fell, almost doubling the size of the Catechism's Empire on Merrin. And as before, the daemons disappeared having had their fill of mortal souls.

Meanwhile the front line against the Tau was not quiet. While the Dark Angels were massacred in the north and the west of the Island continent, crushed under the advancing Chaos forces, the Tau faced similar problems, forced back on a broad front as Chaos and Daemon forces assaulted the Tau defensive lines. By 1711.008M42 the Chaos army had driven a one hundred mile wedge into the Tau held territory.

Current Map

Warboss Dakkasun Snazzteef

He was spored on the moon of Keprok where he quickly discovered that the only thing he liked better than kickin' in 'eadz was getting a bunch of Sunz together and going and kickin' a whole lot more 'eadz in. With his natural flair for mustering forces ("Iz you gonna come wiv me and go kick Grimgutz boyz in or duz Snazzteef gotta kick you in as well?") and cool, collected talent for strategy ("If 'e's smalla than yez kick 'iz 'ead off and if 'e's bigga than yez shoot 'im inna foot, then kick 'iz 'ead off. Got it? Good. WAAAGH!") Snazzteef soon found himself Warboss of a large WAAAGH flying under the banner of the Evil Sunz. Growing weary of fighting only with the other Orks on (planet's moon) Snazzteef had his Big Mek Killit Wotzit get cracking on building an "Invayshun Armarder" to get them to the big fight on Tarsis that Snazzteef could feel in his bones.

Current Zadoc Map

Imperial Woe

By 0511.008M42 the Imperium on Tarsis was under attack on multiple fronts all across the planet, on all three continents. While Tuva's position looked strong and defensible, the situation on Merrin was going rapidly downhill following the arrival of the Catechism and its attendant daemons,and on Sartano the imperial forces had retreated to positions south of the Divider mountains and practically on the outskirts of Southbourne. Morale was low.

Overall Command was headed by Lord General Du Pres, while each theatre of war was assigned a full general. Tuva Army Group North (TAGN) faced off against the Orks of Snazteef, while Tuva Army Group South (TAGS) faced the Night Lords near Maybourne. Sartano had one army group, Sartano Army Group(SAG) while Merrin's defence was split into Army Groups North and South(MAGN and MAGS). Additionally the Ultramarines landed two companied inearly 11.008M42 and the Blood Ravens and Blood Martyrs also headed the call for aid.

The Imperial Guard strategy was not an unusual one. Seeing how the Tau had nearly exhausted themselves on Melberg General Du Pres, a realist and a pessimist, decided on a war of attrition against this foe. Limited attack sand tough defensive lines. He would bleed the Tau into retreat.

His strategy was similar against the Orks. With only haphazard supplies and no real reliable space fleet he would make his army a wall against which the Orks would batter themselves, until the Waagh! fell apart and his forces could cut them down at leisure.

Against Chaos General Du Pres employed almost the same tactic initially.How many Night Lords could there be? How many traitors? Surely they too would succumb to the awesome and limitless forces of the Imperial Guard.

There were two initial flaws to the plan. For it to work he needed a line of supply and that meant Space superiority. Unfortunately, despite victory over Chaos again and again the fleet was in no position to remove the Tau from orbit around Tarsis in 11.008M42. The General had to hope that the Tau were not willing to pay a high price for Tarsis. In addition, the strategy did not take into account the arrival of the Catechism and Daemons. Against his the general had little answer and he fell into a deep malaise for aweek after their first appearance. He had to hope the Adeptus Astartes could deal with this new and deadly threat.

The only thing going for the Imperium in 11.008M42 was the fact that despite multiple enemy bridgeheads, they still controlled 80% of the planet,and their enemies' were fighting each other. The Imperium would once again have to prepare for the long haul only this time, unlike Melberg, Aleph 4and hartak before it, General Du Pres was hoping the Imperial forces on Tarsis Major would hold out.

Elan Ro pushes on Montgate

Just before the Daemonic incursion on Merrin the Tau high command, led by Shadowstrike and Elan Ro, launched their first major offensive against the Imperium since the landings. Their plan was to destroy Imperial war assets south of Montgate and to get near the city, before encircling it and taking it for the Tau Empire. The Imperium meanwhile, dug in and awaited the inevitable attack.

Using his usual tactics which had served him so well on Taris Minor, Elan Ro at first advanced at dawn on 0111008M42 with his armoured skimming tanks. The Librian 88th were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of Tau in their lines and were initially ineffective in their return fire.

The battle developed at pace after the initial contact, with Elan Ro reading the situation in real time to throw in his reserves, many deepstriking from low flying Mantas, into the heart of the most critical fire fights.

General Cochrane, in charge in the North of Merrin, was less able to react as he tried to form a credible defence with Librian, Zadocian and Tarsis forces, however the Librians did put up a strong resistance. This resistance however was broken when the Librians began taking heavy casualties from Tau pulse weapon fire, which proved accurate and deadly.

One notable problem for the Librians was the stability of their plasma weaponry. Almost all the plasma guns in use widely by the 88th malfunctioned, incinerating their users and making the remaining special weapon carrying guardsmen less than confident in using them. The lack of plasma weaponry became decisive when Tau Devilfish and crisis suits were used en masse late on the 6th. Following a stand at Millner, a small but vital town on the crossroads to Montgate, the Imperial Guard forces were taking casualties at a rate of 4/1, high enough for Cochrane to order a general retreat to the defences of Montgate itself.

Elan Ro began preparing his attack on the city, while Shadowstrike moved his forces into position to cut of a large proportion of the Tarsis PDF in a pocket, trapping them between the Tau and the recently arrived Ork forces. The Orks were in fact pinning the Tarsis troops in place so they could not manoeuvre out of the trap. All was going to plan - then the daemons arrived.

Snazzteef advances south

While the Ultramarines were fighting hard against Chaos in the south it appears they were taken by surprise themselves in the north as Waagh!Snazteef overran Imperial positions before the Ultramarines could strike.Forced to attempt an ad-hoc defence of the northern front the Marines did their best, but it soon became apparent amid the chaotic retreat of a broken Tuva Army Group North (TAGN) that they could not turn the tide of the advance. They withdrew along with the Imperial Guard legions to the next line of hastily prepared defences.

Night Lords defeated in south

On 0211.008M42 the Ultramarines, keen to take advantage of the success of General Cunningham and rid the planet of Chaos Marines, landed on Tuva to a rapturous welcome from the populace and the Imperial Guard regiments. They immediately took up positions in the north and south and planned their nextmove.

In the south they attacked the Night Lords directly, dropping a company from orbit using drop pods, catching the Night Lords, commanded by Lord Raziel, rather by surprise. The fighting was bloody and at exceptional close quarters, with neither side willing to give an inch. Gradually however the ancient abilities of the Chaos Marines started to show and the Ultramarines began taking horrendous casualties. They began to withdraw,apparently attempting to disengage from the fight and escape. At that moment Raziel made a mistake.

keen to smite down the Emperor's finest the millenia old lord of the Night Lords let anger and resentment get the better of him, and his troops left their tactically sound positions to assault the apparently fleeing enemy.Shortly after, they were surrounded, as the Ultramarines gladly occupied the positions abandoned by the Night Lords while they were caught up in a hateful melee. Angered, and outplayed, Raziel withdrew, allowing Imperial forces to encircle the last defenders within the city of Maybourne.

Daemonic Outbreak on Merrin

Ever since their landing on the shores of Merrin, the Catechism had been preparing to break out of their small and vulnerable bridgehead. To the east, on the broad plains of the central continent, the Tau had all butvanished, waiting for the Chaos attack before striking back in a lightning counterstroke.

To the west, General Corchoran's combined force, known as Merrin Army Group North (MAGN), comprised of Tarsis PDF, Cadian, Zadocian and Librian regiments. In contrast to the Tau defence the Imperial Guard had dug in strongly, constructing defences in a line just south of the Noroway hills.

The Catechism considered its options and decided on a double strike,attacking Tau and Imperial assets simultaneously. Moonface's generals were gambling, in his absence, that the new "toy" he had given them would prove most decisive. The devices Moonface had gifted his generals were in fact daemonic artefacts, forged in the warp itself and given to Moonface by an unknown greater Deamon of Tzeentch. Moonface had made a pact with the Daemon that if his forces merely agreed to attack and slaughter targets of his and his generals wishes, they would be able to assume a corporeal form for a temporary period. This the devices, acquired by Moonface over many long millenia, would make possible.

The Daemon accepted the offer and agreed that his forces would attack Moonface's enemies. After all while the devices were under the control of Moonface and his generals, the Daemon could not manifest at will. Even so both sides began plotting and counter plotting, the Tzeentch Daemon setting in motion a plan it hoped would damn all of Tarsis to eternal Chaos.

With the pact in place the forces of the Catechism first moved into Tau held territory, just north of New Southwick. The Tau immediately detected this attack and prepared a limited response. Though numerous the Chaos forces were ill equipped and not backed up by Marine Legions. Shadowstrike,unaware of the Daemonic pact, determined the greater threat still lay with the Imperium, and continued with his planned assault on Montgate to the north, providing only a limited number of Hunter Cadres to meet the Chaos threat.

At first this looked like a sensible move as the Tau forces easily ambushed and halted the lead elements of the Catechism. However once Shadowstrikehad engaged the bulk of his Tau units, disaster occurred. Up and down the length of the front Daemons manifested as the ancient device was activated.Daemons of all powers, greater and lesser poured into reality, striking the Tau troops with little warning. Somehow they managed to survive the Tau firepower and ripped into Shadowstrike's lines, wiping out at least three whole Cadres before the Tau commander ordered a general withdrawal. The Tau then fled over a hundred miles as the Daemons disappeared back into the warp, leaving the Catechism foot troops to mop up and occupy the groun dgiven up. It had been a huge breakthrough for the forces of Chaos.

Meanwhile, while reports were coming in of daemonic incursions against the Tau the Catechism moved against the forces of General Corchoran. Here however the Daemons were expected, and when summoned the Imperial Guardwere waiting. The result was a much more tightly contested confrontation,with daemons being banished back into the warp by battle cannon and lasgun fire as often as making it to the Imperial line. However, once there the daemons proved themselves vastly superior to the mortal humans, ripping them and their tanks apart. By the end of 0211.008M42 General Corchoran's troops had been forced to retreat towards the mountains.