Moonface breaks Bastien blockade

With Admiral Thok failing to reach Bastien with his fleet, the ever opportunistic Moonface considered that now would be a good time to test out his new fleet. Imperial intelligence had utterly failed to find out that the Catechism now had capital ships and so it came as an unpleasant shock when five enemy cruiser, broadcasting the litanies of Moonface across all channels, appeared in the Bastien system.

Admiral Dreyer knew he could not afford to leave station with Iron Duke as his fleet was engaged in supporting the ground offensive. Instead he dispatched the cruisers Glorious, Cressy, Indomitable and Audacious to hold off the new arrivals. He hoped that his experienced crews would be able to gain the upper hand against the numerically superior Chaos fleet.

The Catechism vessels were engaged at the outer edge of the Bastien system some days later on 1505.010M42. Belying their inexperience the Chaos ships approached in tight formation abeam to the Imperial cruisers, and were quickly able to cripple the gothic class Indomitable. Even so the largest Chaos vessel, a grand cruiser of unknown designation, was singled out by Captain D'Oyly-Hughes aboard Glorious. She took multiple lance and gun battery hits before torpedoes and bombers finally overwhelmed her.

Unfortunately any hope of a decisive victory for the Imperial fleet died with the Chaos vessel, as the ensuing explosion wrought havoc amongst the Imperial vessels closest to the detonation. Several bomber wings, en route to other targets were destroyed along with several firestorm escorts.

The Catechism fleet, despite losing their grand cruiser, now hammered the imperial battle line. Glorious and Audacious were both put out of action and had to disengage, and soon Cressy was left on her own, without escort, facing four of the best Chaos cruisers, two carnage class, a devastation and an Acheron heavy cruiser.

Captain Johnson aboard the Cressy decided against a suicidal charge and disengaged, leaving the remaining four cruisers of the Catechism fleet free to approach Bastien. Now only Iron Duke and the two dominator class vessels Repulse and Black Prince stood between the Catechism and the Imperial landings. Jellicoe ordered Cressy to join them, while recalling the three damaged cruisers to Corticant for urgent battlefield repairs. At Bastien Dreyer wondered if Moonface would risk his vessels against his Emperor class battleship and two nova cannons.

Chaos smashed on Bastien

Rather than pull back and defend the capital, Bastien Primus, the Claws of Lorek and their allies had chosen to make their stand at Vaden, concentrating their forces in and around the city, and it soon became evident why. Massive power signatures from the centre of the city indicated the forces of Chaos had something special in mind for their guests.

The Imperial formations, led by the Lamenters chapter of space marines, approached the city over the rough scrubland around Vaden. The Chaos forces were sheltering in the ruins of Vaden, which had been mercilessly pummelled for hours by Imperial artillery. The super heavy detachments of the Librian and Corellian forces had an almost unrestricted view of the city which nestled in a broad valley, and they spearheaded an armoured column the like of which had not been seen together in many years.

As the Imperial guard of Corellia, Cerberex and Libria neared the city the expected counter attack from Chaos came. Obliterators and the daemons of Shaidar Haran appeared suddenly behind the main Imperial line, briefly causing anxiety and confusion amongst Imperial ranks. Special weapons squads and units of Grey Night terminators were on hand however as General Veers was quite aware of the pact between Lorek and the daemons of Shaidar Haran.

Exposed and appearing too far from their allies in Vaden, the daemonic hordes which appeared were quickly banished by overwhelming Imperial gunfire, and the forces of Lorek and the Anticross failed to take advantage of the brief halt in the Imperial advance. Lacking any long ranged firepower the traitor astartes were forced to watch helpless as Valkyries and Vendettas of the Imperial navy roared about the countryside around Vaden, annihilating the daemonic beings.

Lorek’s forces now prepared for a street fight. Here the Imperial tanks and guardsmen would surely be ill-equipped to deal with the legions of traitor marines defending the city. However Veers and Patraeus had expected this, and the roar of drop pods split the sky as the Lamenters descended upon Vaden itself. Engaging the marines in violent close quarter fighting the marines, though taking heavy casualties, allowed the Imperial guard units to make good ground, and in under a day the Imperium had surrounded Vaden.

Brutal fighting continued for days and the Cerberex regiments and Lamenters chapter took the heaviest casualties, but the massacre in Vaden was total. Thousands of traitor marines, some millennia old, were cut down, with the Claws of Lorek suffering particularly badly. On 1905.010M42, hopelessly surrounded by superior forces, the last remnants of the defenders, mostly from the Anticross faction, fled the ruins of Vaden.

After tha battle the Adeptus Mechanicus found the source of the energy signature. A mighty weapon which could have levelled the city, friend and foe alike, had been primed to go off the minute the Imperial forces had stepped foot in the city. However something had gone wrong and battle damage from shelling had meant the “doomsday device”, which would have wiped out almost a quarter of Veers’ men, had failed to detonate. Its charred pieces were taken away for study by the crusade’s tech priests.

While the Inquisition descended on Vaden, once again sorting the loyal from the heretical, ultimately leading to the deaths of over one million of Vaden’s citizens, the invasion of Bastien continued. While the hug set piece battle around the city had rages, separate forces were landed neer Gehenna and Bastien Primus. Had the battle of Vaden been lost these forces would have been annihilated, but with their lines of supply cleared across the vast wastelands of the planet, the Imperial assaults on both cities were over within just a week. Some mopping up was required but Lorek’s gamble at Vaden had seriously denuded his defence lines around the capital.

The Imperial success had come at a price, nearly 200,000 men had died and thousands of tanks destroyed. Losses on the Chaos side probably numbered in the millions amongst the poorly equipped traitor PDF units, and some of Lorek’s finest warriors had also fallen. Worse still the capital of Bastien had fallen, and the Chaos lord had himself lost face in front of his fellow Chaos commanders. Hastily a new front line was drawn up around the massive Hades hive city, as Veers’ crusade forces prepared for their next offensive.

“The skies are scorched and the air tastes of ash, but soon the darkness shrouding this planet will be lifted, the dawn will cleanse the land and the people will praise the Emperor with choruses of worship” - Unknown Corellian officer

Shadowstrike retakes initiative on Tarsis

With the Imperium concentrating all its efforts on Bastien and the Perseus Deeps campaign, commander Shadowstrike decided to retake the initiative in the Tarsis campaign. In Tau circles there were mumblings about the failure to successfully complete the campaign, and some influential Tau commanders were beginning to question the continued war on the planet, as it had become clear that the Tau supply lines were largely inadequate to exercise overwhelming force in the campaign.

Shadowstrike organised an elite strike force to attack and take the mining colony on the outer rim of the Tarsis system, knowing that the facility was only defended by largely ill equipped Porphyrian troops, sent as far away as possible from the front lines following their comrades’ defection in 009M42. The Tau commander took a chance that the Imperial fleet would not be present in the system and brought his fleet from its base on Cernunnos. His gamble paid off as only two transports were present, loading more cargo to aid Cunningham’s war effort on Tarsis Major. After dispatching these when they foolishly opened fire rather than surrendering, Shadowstrike landed his Cadres on the mining colony.

In the low gravity and inhospitable atmosphere around the main facility the Porphyrians found themselves outgunned and outmanoeuvred in a savage but brief battle. Even so the Imperial regiment put up enough of a fight to warn their comrades in the facility itself, and by 1805.010M42 the last defenders of the outpost were holed up in the facility itself, waiting for rescue. That rescue would hopefully take the form of Commodore Cardale’s battlefleet which embarked for Tarsis as soon as reports came in that the Tau fleet had arrived in Tarsis space. A showdown was inevitable.

Bastien: Latest

Battle of Vaden

After facing minimal and weak resistance as Major General Petraeus' armoured columns advanced across the wastelands of northern Bastien, Petraeus soon encounted more determined and aggressive resistance as he approached the outskirts of the hive city of Vaden. The armoured units became locked in war of attrition in the dense urban terrain as remnant PDF units threw themselves into battle with increasing desperation and disregard to life. Fearing the loss of speed of his lightning war would enable the enemy to regroup and encircle them, Petraeus quickly set about organising a desisive offensive to take Vaden. Super-heavy tanks from the 4th Armoured company were brought forward to the front of the advance and reserves pouring in from the inital landing areas were to secure the perimeter

The two large concrete towers in the centre of the city housing arrays of flak guns and surface-to-air missile defenses prevented any major aerial operations, so Force Recon units started to test the defenses of the city, trying to find a weak point. After days of mapping the districts and fortifcations surrounding the city, an area to the north with minimal defense batteries was chosen as the assault point. Reinforced by units of Librians and the 1st Ultramarine Company, the Task Force was hastily organised and prepared to launch their offensive.

Thok sends aid

With chaos losing on all fronts in the Perseus Deeps, especially in the systems closest to the Vastrid subsector, Admiral Thok decided to send a task force to aid his beleagured sometime ally on Bastien. A large force of cruisers along with the recently refitted battleship Mjolnir was sent to Bastien, via the Perseus run. Between Ares and Aethor however a force of Imperial warships commanded by Commodore Rawlings aboard the armageddon class Valiant was detected shadowing Thok's force. Thok immediately detatched the cruisers Rheintochter and Hyrrokin, along with two other cruisers, and these engaged the Imperial task force in deep space.

Rawlings, commanding Valiant, along with the jovian class Bulwark, tyrant class Centurion and dauntless class Firedrake, headed for the chaos force, keeping the under-armed carrier to the rear while attempting to bring the chaos fleet into battle on favourable terms. The commander of the chaos fleet however was very canny, keeping his fleet together in tight formation after realising the Imperial force had no nova cannons, and fighting abeam, firing lances from long distance and launching fighters to protect his fleet from torpedo attacks.

By keeping the Imperial fleet at arms length the chaos commander turned the battle into one of broadsides, something that at long ranges the Imperium could not win. The combined firepower of two devastations, a carnage and an Acheron battlecruiser was too much for the Imperial cruisers, as the Firedrake, unable to get into range before coming under concerted attack from the chaos escorts, was hulked early on. The chaos commander then concentrated his firepower against the Valiant, and when she was crippled Rawlings was forced to disengage his force or risk annihilation. Three chaos escorts were destroyed but the chaos cruisers suffered only minor damage. Worse still, the bulk of Thok’s force was now on course to intercept Admiral Dreyer’s battlegroup around Bastien.

It now seemed that deliverance was about to come for the defenders of Bastien, and Admiral Thok must have gloried in the idea of his position as the saviour of the Claws of Lorek. Even though Dreyers force outnumbered his own, they would have to protect the invasion force and would not be able to manoeuvre effectively. Just as he prepared to exit the warp near Bastien, he was alarmed to receive reports of a large Tau fleet in the vicinity.

The Tau had somehow managed to slip a battlefleet of three explorer class and two hero class capital ships past both the Imperium and the chaos augurs, no doubt due either to Tau stealth technology or their lack of psykers. Suddenly Thok was forced to break warp (not even the Grand Admiral was mad enough to accept battle in the immaterium) and face a fleet of equivalent size.

Battle was joined with the Tau battlefleet maintaining close cohesion. Even so the Grand Admiral was able to get his fleet into a good position, but crucially, fatally, the order to fire was delayed as uncertainty about the exact range to the enemy caused Thok to hesitate. He was swiftly punished. Finding their range with precision using their messenger class escorts, a massive barrage of railgun and ion cannon fire ripped into Thok’s vessels. Minutes later the mantas arrived and after scant minutes the chaos fleet was badly mauled. Although Thok did manage to destroy one of the Tau capital ships, the chaos fleet suffered worse. Two cruisers exploded and the veteran Queen Hel was crippled. Angry and frustrated Thok fled, leading his vessels back into the warp and back to Mordecai, the Tau having ruined any chance in his becoming the saviour of chaos.

Perseus Deeps - Current Status

Imperial operation to secure minors continues

While Battlegroup Apocalypse began the invasion of Bastien the forces of the Imperium were in action across the Perseus Deeps to protect the flanks of this latest thrust. Three separate operations were undertaken to bolster the Bastien invasion, against three different foes, the intention being to prevent any of these enemies of the Imperium putting the invasion of Bastien in jepoardy.

The Blood Drinkers chapter were in action once again, this time conducting a lightning raid on Aornis, the closest planet of the chaos empire controlled by Moonface. Forces were dropped following a bombardment of the planet's major settlement although at first it seemed the raid - intended to inflict maximum damage on the Catechism - would be a failure, as the Blood Drinkers landed some distance from the rebel guard units defending the settlement. However the astartes forces quickly made up the ground, braving heavy gunfire, before falling upon the Catechism forces and inflicting a large amount of damage to the installations on Aornis which would prove critical if Moonface decidded to come to Bastien's aid.

Meanwhile on Gamordal, the most heavily fortified Ork planet in the Deeps, Cereberex guard units were deployed to expand the bridgehead secured by the Blood Drinkers in the previous week. Once again the Cereberex loyalistsproved their worth, delivering a crushing blow to the Ork forces of Da Verminator and taking three key Ork settlements, breaking the Orks' main defensive line. By 1005.010M42 the Imperium had managed to secure more than half the inhabited settlements of the minor planet, putting several hundred thousand greenskins to death and routing the remaining enemy forces.

The Blood Angels arrived at Minos, a Tau minor colony beseiged by the Imperium a day later, but found the Tau prepared and ready for their landing. With only 500,000 Tau on the planet conquered by commander Fastblade in 008M42, it seemed as if the Blood Angels, though small in number, would defeat the alien defenders with their superior fighting prowess. However a new commander had recently arrived, undetected by Imperial intelligence, which significantly bolstered the Tau defences. In a savage battle outside the single Tau settlement the Blood Angels were comprehensively defeated and forced to abandon their mission without inflicting significant damage, and only narrowly avoided the returning Tau fleet - also unknown to the Imperium until this moment.

In general, despite the reverse suffered on Minos, the Imperial operation against the Imperium's most dangerous foes had been a success, while the forces of Chaos faced a much tougher challenge in their attempts to secure dominance in the region. An ill fated mission by the Anticross to raid or set up a base on Gamador only brought more gloom to Lorek on Bastien. With further troops preparing to disembark to consolidate the bridghead on Bastien, now everything rested on the claws of Lorek and their allies being able to halt, and reverse the imperial crusade.

Tarsis Major Latest

Tarsis Major: Hopes of early Tau victory fade

On 0805.010M42, following a series of strike missions by the Tau Air Caste, remote sensors and orbital imagery pinpointed a powerful energy source at one of the target sites within the barrier mountains. Tau planners immediately dispatch a mobile task force under Shas'el R'mirr to investigate the source, situated close to the Imperial held Grenton mines.

On reaching the ruined settlement the task force advanced with caution, having identified the energy source as a damaged plasma reactor, an ancient artefact dating back to the dark age of technology. Sensors and advanced reconnaissance teams showed the site to be undefended but the Tau's caution proved well founded. As they drew close to the reactor the air shimmered as the bulky forms of the Imperium's feared Space Marines materialised around the reactor site.

Operating from a strike cruiser orbiting Tarsis Major, Marines of the Blood Angels chapter were able to beam directly into the combat zone with pinpoint accuracy thanks to a lock on the reactor's energy signature. Even so, their boldness cost them as one squad was lost in a teleporter mishap. Soon vicious close quarter fire fights erupted throughout the settlement with the Blood Angel's sustaining heavy casualties before closing with the Tau to engage them in hand to hand combat. They might have won the day against less experienced opponents, but this cadre were hardened veterans of the long running Tarsis campaign and they maintained strong fire discipline even as their comrades were butchered. Their numbers diminished, the Blood Angels had no choice but to fall back and try to slow the Tau from reaching the reactor with hit and run attacks. Shas'el R'mirr gave the order to scour the ruined settlement and the Tau under his command methodically cleared each cluster of buildings, flushing out their prey with barrages of smart missiles and gunning down the survivors as they were forced into the open.

As dusk turned into night the Tau finally secured the reactor, which was supplying power to the nearby mining operations at Grenton. When orbital surveillance identified a column of armoured vehicles exiting Grenton the Tau destroyed the reactor rather than risk it falling back into Imperial hands.

Even as Shadowstrike prepared for a new Tarsis offensive he realised that the Imperium's overwhelming dominance of space would have to be challenged. Fortunately, even as the fighting intensified on Tarsis new cadres and ships had arrived in the region to aid his efforts.

Shadowstrike’s plans for a new offensives were abruptly cut short on 0905.010M42 when the storm broke on the northern sector of the Tuva front. Three regiments, including the Librian 101^st and 57^th attacked in fast moving narrow thrusts, forcing the Tau to withdraw or be encircled and pushing the aliens away from the strategically vital Grenton mines. The advance was greatest in the north where Colonel Jeffries’ 101^st advanced over 150 miles into Tau territory – land lost in the previous few months after the collapse of the Groznian defences.

Now came the test. Many times before the Imperium had captured territory using armoured columns, but had then surrendered that territory to perfectly timed counter attacks launched by Shadowstrike’s forces. This time it would be different.

As in previous offensives the Imperial assault ran out of steam and Shadowstrike launched his highly mobile counter offensive, attacking the Imperial forces from three directions with carefully timed manoeuvres. The fighting was intense, but Jeffries’ had planned for the assault, being a veteran of the Tau wars and Shadowstrike in particular. This time his troops were arranged in mutually supporting dispositions, preventing the Tau from picking off his units when they were overextended. In stead of holding onto as much ground as possible, Jeffries retreated a little to strongpoints and then allowed the Tau to attack.

The fighting came to a head on the flanks of Jeffries’ salient, where strong Tau armoured formations, led by Hammerhead tanks, were prevented from breaking through by brave assaults from veteran units. With this armoured assault blunted and Tau crisis suits bottled up in a stalemate in front of the Librian main positions, the right flank became crucial. Kroot mercenaries and fire-warriors formed the main assault here, but Hellhound flame tanks decimated the kroot lines, blunting that attack as well.

By the second day the Librians were beginning to become desperate. The battle seemed to rage with ever greater intensity and neither side seemed willing to give up. The Librians were losing men at a horrific rate and it seemed as if the Tau would once again force an Imperial retreat, but just as the Librians were down to their last rounds the morale of the Tau cracked and the commander on the ground ordered a retreat from the Imperial positions.

The fighting subsided and with a great cheer the PDF reinforcements arrived to consolidate the Imperial victory. Casualties were heavy on both sides but this time the Librians had recorded a substantial, if not overwhelming victory over commander Shadowstrike. With the Imperial dominance in space and the chances of a swift victory on the ground dashed, Shadowstrike now knew that he would need reinforcements to finish off the Imperium on Tarsis.

Tarsis Major: Praetorians push south

With the Imperium asserting their dominance in space, General Cunningham authorised a new offensive on Tarsis, a “bite and hold” mission of attrition in the northern sector on Merrin, where the Praetorians were a lot more optimistic about a final Imperial victory than many in Cunningham’s camp.

This refusal to give up was evident in their attack as wave after wave of highly disciplined infantry marched into battle against Strongspear’s Tau on the north Mertock plain. Aided by artillery from the Mertock Mountains initially, the Imperial advance went well and on 2004.010M42 they had marched over 50 miles from their starting lines as the Tau withdrew rather than face taking horrendous casualties. This of course was the Imperial casualties, to trade lives for territory, something which proved successful. A month after it had started the Imperium had advanced nearly 100 miles, gained nothing of strategic significance and lost over 30,000 men. However they had achieved a victory and losses on the Tau side were not insignificant, as Strongspear had been forced to put up a fight to prevent the ex-Iron Warrior fort, a key strategic point on the front, from falling to the Imperium. Only an unexpected crack in Praetorian discipline, most notably in the ogryn units, had prevented the fortress from falling and the Imperium gaining a key strategic victory.

Fortunately Strongspear just did enough to prevent a meaningful Imperial success, while in the continent of Tuva Shadowstrike had bigger problems. Resupplied from space Cunningham’s Librian forces were preparing a new offensive, and another space marine strike cruiser had been detected in the Tarsis system.

Bastien: Latest

Bastien landing successful

Finally, on 0605.010M42 the much anticipated invasion of Bastien got underway. Supported by Dreyer's battlegroup Apocalypse as well as the cruisers Relentless and Imperious, the mighty Imperial force jumped into the Bastien system to find no Chaos fleet awaiting them. Admiral Thok had clearly been delayed and fears of a space battle in the chaos system came to nothing. With the path ahead of them clear the first strike units of the invasion reached the planet just two days later.

On Bastien the Claws of Lorek, with their Anticross allies who had just managed to arrive before the Imperial fleet prepared to meet the 18th Army Group as it deployed some 500,000 troops in the initial assault. The could not know where the hammer would fall but confidence in their ability to thwart an Imperial invasion, which as yet had no support from Astartes forces, was high.

Veers had put Major General James Petraeus in overall command of the first strike and the choice of landing zone was made to favour his heavy armoured units. The first troop landers made planetfall without contest in the far north of Bastien's habitable zone, away from the frigid deserts of the planet's polar regions. Under the weak heat of the system's red dwarf star which coloured the sky a baleful red, Petraeus' armoured units moved south to the heavily fortified settlement known to the traitors as Heretic. Here the Claws of Lorek had spent some time building a set of fortresses facing the shores of the acidic ocean which dominates the planet's equatorial region. To their rear a set of "impenetrable" craggy hills would, so the forces of chaos thought, prevent Heretic ever being taken from the north. They were wrong.

Thanks to Imperial spies and months of careful groundwork, the Imperial commanders had found a way through the barren hills to the north of the chaos city, and combining air assault and armoured power, the city fell alarmingly quickly after a violent fight. With Heretic secure Petraeus immediately swung his armoured thrust west towards Vaden across the rolling savannah and deserts of northern Bastien. Taken almost completely by surprise at the shambolic fall of Heretic the newly arrived Anticross forces who were only now deploying along the Vaden-Heretic highway were utterly routed, leading to a total collapse of all other chaos forces in the northern plains. Much of the population loyal to the chaos forces now began a headlong retreat to the next large fortified city, while those who remained in towns and smaller cities along the Vaden highway now had to face the Inquisition, who had accompanied the invasion in force. By 1205.010M42 the Imperial battlegroup had landed a million men and were just fifty miles from their second objective.

While the second invasion wave prepared for planetfall scheduled for 1505.010M42, Lorek himself began organising his defences. The initial phase of the campaign had gone badly, but the forces of Chaos had yet to employ the greater part of their forces who were mostly concentrated around the capital, Bastien Primus, a city of one billion souls. For the population in the north, their new masters were no more forgiving than their old ones. In fact, in just one week, fully one third of the population in Heretic and in settlements on the northern plain were put to death for crimes of heresy, witchraft or mutancy, either by Inquisition death squads or by newly created and fanatical Imperial cults. In places anarchy reigned, with the Imperial agents merely arming the new "loyalist" forces in what was becoming a bitter civil war.

Chess game around Bastien

As 05.010M42 began, Battlegroup Apocalypse was joined by a number of Space Marine detachments, including companies from the Ultramarines, Lamenters, Blood Drinkers and Blood Martyrs chapters. While General Veers continued his invasion buildup, a number of smaller forces, mostly led by space marine companies, were dispatched to the smaller worlds around the Bastien system, with the intention of securing the invasion path when it came.

The critical systems around Bastien were the chaos held Ares and Eris, but also Enaloth, Gamordal and Gamador. The last three had no chaos presence at all, but raiding orks, necrons and tyranid vanguard forces would pose a serious threat to the secutity of the Perseus Deeps crusade.

Knowing this, the Ultramarines were the first to go into action, arriving at Gamador on 0205.010M42. With typical efficiency the astartes forces took their objectives, winning any skirmishes with defending necron forces. In just two days the necron ability to seriously threaten Corticant and the invasion of Bastien had been seriously damaged, and the ultramarines, job done, returned to Corticant.

At the same time the Blood Drinkers, backed up by units of Imperial guard, landed on both Eris and Gamordal. On Eris they faced a small detachment of traitor marines loyal to the Claws of Lorek. In a bloody and bitter encounter the traitor forces were decisively beaten and by 0905.010M42 the minor world had been secured by Imperial forces after a lightning campaign.

On Gamordal the marines were also successful, but the orks were more numerous and better prepared to meet the Imperial invasion. In a series of battles which saw their captain captured by the greenskins the Blood Drinkers secured a bridgehead on the planet. At the same time, hoping to deal with the Imperium anywhere but Bastien a traitor legion allied to the Claws of Lorek had launched a raid on the Ork world but had found the greenskin defences too strong to break through and were forced to abandon their attempted landing.

The Claws of Lorek were however successful in dealing with vanguard forces of Nemesis which had somehow made their way to Ares. The alien threat was dealt with as soon as it was discovered, and it seemed that Nemesis would continue to be a constant irritant, rather than threat in the Perseus Deeps.

The Porphyrians meanwhile, sent to Cathasaea to establish a listening post designed to give early warning to any chaos, Tau or UFP military buildup, suffered badly when they were set upon by eldar, without warning as they landed. After a one sided fight the Porphyrians were forced to re-embark. Clearly the eldar were not keen on an Imperial presence on Cathasaea and General Veers would not have his early warning system in place by the time his Bastien invasion was ready.

Perseus Deeps - Current Status

Campaign begins: Landings on Sentinell

Warp storms and problems in organising assault equipment scuppered General Veers' planned invasion of Bastien in 04.010M42. However, rather than simply wait until all the required units were available, Veers decided to keep the chaos forces guessing and on the defensive. to do this a force of some 200,000 men, less than 5% of Veers total battleforce, was sent to Sentinell following alarming news of rituals and strange goings on on the surface of the planet. With just two Imperial cruisers in support the battlegroup was vulnerable, but no enemy fleet was present upon their arrival. A bridgehead was established and regiments of Porphyrian and Cerberex Guard disembarked from their transports.

Initially the landings went well. Caught by surprise the forces of the Claws of Lorek faired badly against the Cerberex regiments who were in the vanguard of the initial assaults. The fortified settlement of Al'Shahek fell swiftly but Imperial leaders realised after two days of impressive gains that the Claws were not about to abandon their hold on Sentinell.

The Cerberex regiments were withdrawn from Al'Shahek following its capture for rest and refit. Casualties had been comparatively light but the commander on the ground deemed it better to install fresh units of the Porphyrian Guard to the hard won settlement. Whether or not this was the right decision will be debated, as the Porphyrians were far less well equipped than the regiments of Cerberex, and four days later on 2204.010M42 the Claws of Lorek counter-attacked. A savage battle for the settlement erupted but the Porphyrians were outlclassed. As quickly as it had been won by the Imperium Al'Shahek fell, retaken once more by the forces of chaos and forcing the Imperial army on Sentinell back to their landing zone. With enemies on all sides the excursion to Sentinell now looked rather ill-concieved, and only time would tell whether or not they would have to re-embark.

Bastien: Tactical

Shaidar Haran defeat the Tau

The Imperium were not alone in their troubles with Shaidar Haran in 010M42. In early 04.010M42 a significant portion of the chaos fleet clashed with the Tau on the warp lane between Cernunnos and Skera. In late 02.010M42, alarmed by the increase in forces by both the chaos and Imperial battlefleets, the Tau in the Aleph expansion sphere pleaded for reinforcements. Just over a month later a new force of some five capital ships arrived at Cernunnos.

They immediately began survey sweeps of the vital warp lanes between Skera, Parius,Lucardium and Cernunnos, the hub of the Tau Empire in the Aleph sector. It was on one such sweep that the Tau encountered the chaos warfleet and in a confused and frantic engagement the Tau faired the worse. It is known (though they try to disguise it) that the Tau lost at least three ships, though the losses of Shaidar Haran were also not insignificant. Even so, the Tau did not need a naval defeat at such a critical time.

Battle of the Perseus Run

With Admiral Cornellius and his large warfleet mustering at Farport, and Admiral Dreyer's fleet protecting Corticant, Jellicoe was sorely pressed when Grand Admiral Bova Magnus requested that an even larger force be assembled at the new Imperial base to aid with General Veers' crusade. After much deliberation Jellicoe agreed to move Admiral Beatty's battlegroup to Corticant via the upper perseus reach, now that Admiral Thok seemed to have learnt his lesson. This left the Farport Passage dangerously unguarded and with Thok still at large, not to mention the fleet of Shaidar Haran, which had not been located at Calliden, for weeks, Jellicoe was forced to move more ships from Caitlen Station to protect Imperial convoys.

Jellicoe ordered Rear Admiral Carsdale aboard the refitted Victory class battleship Agamemnon, along with the battlecruiser Dreadnought, the cruisers Redoubtable, Centurion and Agincourt and the light cruiser Achilles, as well as a host of escorts, to make sure the Imperial warp lane remained safe. Carsdale expected weeks of uneventful and fruitless searches for commerce raiders and Thok's faster vessels, such as the Ragnarok, the fast battleship now believed to have undergone a miraculous refit after her near destruction in 09M42. However the rear admiral was mistaken and on 1004.010M42 his astropaths sensed a disturbance in the warp. Carsdale moved his fleet to the uninhabited Pacifus system near the Farport lane but upon exiting the warp there was no sign of the enemy. Realising that Thok may be wary of attacking his fleet Carsdale split his force into five contingents and began a sweep of the outer reaches of the system. With the Imperial fleet now split up, the chaos admiral attacked.

The lunar class Agincourt was the first to detect chaos vessels, three escorts hiding in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant. Rather than attacking she immediately followed Carsdale's plan and fell back towards the flagship. The chaos raiders took the bait and pursued, only to be caught in the violent explosion of Agamemnon's Nova cannon at extreme range. Seeing two of their number vapourised the remaining raider fled. Then appearing from all around the system the Chaos fleet arrived. The battleship Mjolnir and two devastations directly in front of Agamemnon and Dreadnought, now joined by Agincourt, and on the Imperial contingent's starboard the carnage class Queen Hel and Hades class Wyrmfire appeared on a parallel course, trading broadsides with the Imperial vessels.

Initially outnumbered Admiral Carsdale was undisturbed. With the devastations and the chaos battleship still out of range the battleship Agamemnon and the overlord class Dreadnought traded blows with Queen Hel and Wyrmfire. It was an uneven contest and soon the carnage class cruiser was a wreck, her engines barely functioning and her guns out of action. Seeing this and realising the duel could only end with the destruction of both chaos vessels, and with the Redoubtable and Achilles approaching from the other direction, the two chaos vessels disengaged. This left the Imperial fleet free to concentrate on the Mjolnr, Hrrokin and Naglfar. With the Imperial fleet approaching from both sides, and a combined bomber wave from the carriers having little effect, the situation was grave for Thok's fleet. Lucky hits from Agamemnon's nova cannon and long range lance fire had already crippled the chaos battleship, and the Naglfar was taking severe punishment at the head of the chaos line. the Chaos fleet now had only one option. run for it. after one hour of fighting the chaos vessels turned sharply and cut their engines, but Naglfar was too close to the Imperial fleet. She was pummelled mercilessly by Admiral Carsdale before finally exploding as torpedoes detonated in her engines.

The battle of the Perseus Run was a convincing victory for the Imperium who lost just one escort and minor damage to the Agincourt. However, with almost the entire fleet of Rear Admiral Carsdale in action at Pacifus, this left the convoys dangerously exposed. On the very same day two light cruisers, Hildr and Skogul attacked a convoy bound for Corticant. five of the eight transports were lost before the brave actions of the escorting dauntless class cruisers and heroic fighting from one solitary cobra class destroyer caused enough damage to the pair of cruisers to force them to disengage. Many transports had been lost, but the Imperium had more, and Thok had in the course of one day lost one capital ship and seen four crippled, including the battleship Mjolnir. 1004.010M42 was a good day for the Imperium.

Shaidar Haran in the Deeps

Less good news followed. On the same day Admiral Carsdale left Caitlen station, so did the fleet of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Why they would not say, though they did reveal their course was into the Perseus Deeps towards Calliden. Jellicoe could only presume their ongoing personal war with the fleet of Shaidar Haran was to be rekindled. Jellicoe was correct. Several days after Carsdale's victory astropaths at Caitlen and Corticant received a message confirming that a battle had taken place in the Deeps. Once again the chaos fleet got the upper hand, and the Mechanicus fleet reported the loss of three vessels with at least another seriously damaged. Two of the chaos vessels were destroyed, but the loss of three valuable mechanicus ships was a bitter blow for such a minor success.

Corellian Redeployment

Wishing to distance himself from the recent defeats and failings on Tarsis Major, General Veers ordered Battle Group Redemption to disengage from the fighting and move away from the planet. With approval from sector high command, the 32nd Mechanised Regiment were to hold their ground on Tarsis Major, and the remaining units of the 5th Mechanised aboard the battle cruiser Imperious were to be moved closer to Betor. No longer acting as a quick reaction force, Battle Group Redemption were to start reinforcing the planets under Tyranid threat and still maintain a visible presence in the sub-sector to other potential threats to the Imperium.

With the fortifications nearly complete on Corticant, Battle Group Apocalypse under direct command of General Veers began preparations for launching a crusade agains the traitor planets in the Persus Deeps. After much deliberation between Veer's most trusted and loyal commanders, the inital target was set as Bastien. Although smaller more obtainable planets were within his grasp, Veers decided to launch a brutal inital assault upon the largest with smaller surgical strikes on key installations on the surrounding planets.

Without delay Battle Group Apocalypse departed on its crusade aboard the tyrant class cruisor Relentless.

Thok's raid foiled by Beatty

Admiral Beatty was keen to make amends for the escape of the chaos cruisers Rheintochter and Hyrrokin on 2003.010M42 and he got his chance when the irascible admiral decided to ambush the Imperial fleet under Beatty’s command in the Frottrheim system in the Perseus Deeps on 0204.010M42.

Navigating a single ship in the warp is a challenge. Keeping a fleet of vessels together is nigh on impossible. This necessitates a large fleet to periodically drop out of the warp after anything more than small jumps. Beatty’s fleet was no exeption. His battlegroup, centred around the heavy cruiser Canopus and his flagship, the fast battleship Tiger dropped out of warp in the Frottrheim system on 0304.010M42. This is the time of most danger for a fleet as the vessels attempt to form up to provide themselves with mutual protection, but it is difficult for enemy fleets to predict when and where such a rendezvous will occur. Somehow however, admiral Thok’s vessels, including the heavy cruiser Rheintochter, were waiting in ambush.

Fortunately for Beatty his fleet had jumped in fairly good order with no stragglers, and the chaos admiral was unable to pick off a cruiser or escort squadron with impunity. Even so the day after Beatty arrived three of Thok’s cruisers suddenly appeared from a rent in realspace as they tore a hole in reality upon exiting the warp. Audacious was the closest vessel to the chaos fleet and she faired the worst. Appearing behind her, the chaos battlegroup quickly crippled her before the Imperial vessels, forming up near a small planetoid with several asteroid fields in the vicinity, were able to react.

The chaos ships had plotted their course well, appearing off the port quarter of the Imperial line and intending to sweep around the rear of Beatty’s vessels. Beatty however had been prepared for this, as he had had several conversations with Jellicoe about what to do in this very situation. Rather than turn his fleet to port in an attempt to get round the rear of the smaller, but faster, chaos formation, Beatty turned his fleet at once to starboard, swinging his entire battle line around in a course parallel to Thok's ships and accepting a long range duel with the chaos fleets.

Gradually the Imperial battle line took station several thousand kilometres from the chaos vessels, with Beatty’s fastest ships, his firestorms and the dauntless class Ajax to the rear of the line, racing at full speed to join the fight. With these vessels still out of range and the Audacious out of action, it was the Canopus and Tiger who exchanged long range broadsides with the three chaos cruisers.

At these long ranges the Imperial ships had a considerable advantage.Canopus and Tiger both had long range batteries and were the ideal ships to engage in a long range duel. Only the Acheron class Rheintochter was really able to respond, and Beatty focussed his attentions on her. The chaos vessel was forced to twist and turn to put off the Imperial gunnery, in turn all but neutralising her own ability to respond. At the outset of the battle the two Imperial vessels, with the aid of three sword class escorts had stripped the chaos cruisers of their own escort screen, and now the chaos ships were stuck in an uneven duel with the Imperial Navy. Taking hits and with the Ajax and her consorts approaching rapidly to deliver a crushing blow, the chaos commander abruptly turned his ships to starboard, away from the Imperial vessels and disappeared amongst the many asteroid fields.

The battle had seen the Imperial vessel Audacious crippled, but the chaos fleet had been damaged, and had lost three escort craft. The encounter had demonstrated the validity of Jellicoe’s standing orders for ambushes and sent a clear message to admiral Thok that to attempt surprise ambushes on a larger Imperial fleet was to risk disaster.

Betor: Southern Breakout

Having been stable for weeks the front line against the tyranids in southern Betor exploded spectacularly at the end of 03.010M42. The Xenos creatures erupted from seemingly everywhere, overwhelming the limited PDF defence. Dempsey, caught off guard by Nemesis once again, with his main force hard pressed in the north, had virtually no forces he could redirect to the southern front. Inquisitor Hathek’s appeals to the Adeptus Astartes and the newly created ASMOC’s reprioritisation of Nemesis to the top of the agenda had only just come into effect, and the only force available to the Imperial General was the green 3rd Prozan Cavalry.

The Prozan’s were eager, even gung-ho in their enthusiasm to “get at” the alien menace, and went off to battle full of optimism, which more than confused the battered, terrorised remnants of the forces they passed on their way to the front line. Very quickly the Prozan’s learnt how vicious and able their enemy was, as they attempted to counter attack near the western edge of Renestein. At first the battle seemed to be going well, with the highly manoeuvrable airborne cavalry easily outflanking the tyranid forces.

After a day of heavy fighting with high casualty rates on both sides, Nemesis appeared to react to the Prozan Valkyrie and Vulture gunships, and numerous creatures designated zoanthropes appeared. These highly psychic beasts caused terrible devastation amongst the armoured skimmers of the Prozan Guard, and very quickly the Imperial counter attack collapsed. Without their ability to manoeuvre, the Prozans were badly mauled.

With the destruction of a good part of the Prozan 3rd General Dempsey ordered a retreat, and it was all the Imperial commanders could do to stop an all out route. Renestein had been lost irrevocably and by 0704.010M42 the entire western seaboard of the Mittel Plain was surrendered to the aliens. Once again the Imperial commander on Betor appealed for urgent assistance, but messaging between Betor and Imperial HQ on Vastrid had now become almost impossible. It would be weeks before ASMOC realised the depth of peril the Imperium was now in on Betor.

Betor Latest