Eldar close off their Shadow Worlds

As 03.011M42 began the Eldar finally achieved their long aim of hiding their three exodite planets in the Mabb Nebula. These planets had been hidden from the other races of the galaxy for millenia, but the outbreak of violence in the Shadow Worlds in 008M42 when Waagh! Nazghat erupted from Kallack and the key players in the Aleph Sector flocked to the region. Although the war had since moved on from the Shadow Worlds, the planets of Saim Lann, Mael Kithlan and Shelwe Agir remained dangerously exposed, open to invasion by any passing alien trespasser.

The Eldar, led by the harlequins themselves, had been working tirelessly to hide their planets from prying eyes once more, appearing from nowhere on scattered worlds using their knowledge of the webway, sealing old entrances and enacting the rites which would ensure the three Eldar worlds would not be accessible again to non Eldar.

Two worlds, Shelwe Agir and Mael Kithlan, had already been made safe, but Saim Lann required two more missions. Closing off webway certain webway portals on Tyndareous and Typhon would ensure the last of the trinity would be hidden, and once again the Eldar set out, finding their old portals now infested with the lesser race of man. On Tyndareous the Eldar encountered the Blood Angels, searching for some meaningless mon-Keigh trinket, but they brushed them aside and completed the necessary ritual. On Typhon the followers of the abomination dwealt, building their blasphemous citadel on the site of an ancient Eldar ruin.

Once again the Eldar armies struck hard and fast, defeating the Claws of Lorek and their gibbering daemonic host. Finally, after two years of despair, the final ritual took place and the Eldar withdrew. Mael Kithlan, Shelwe Agir and Saim Lann dissappeared from the scanners and sensor screens of the lesser races and the Eldar could live in their quiet seclusion once more. The harlequin forces, forever at the centre of the campaign to save the exodite worlds, left them with the gratitude of their people, to pursue other pressing matters...

Raiders in the Deeps

With the Catechism making a re-appearance and his own forces tasting nothing but bitter defeat, Lorek's position as Master was becoming more vulnerable. Fortunately for the chosen of Chaos however, no other Chaos faction was strong enough, numerous enough or had the will to take over. Lorek had seen to that, using his allies as cannon fodder in the Bastien campaign. The Anticross were a spent force, the Night Lords had left the region, Lord Tragean and Shaidar Haran showed no sign of leaving their own heavily defended systems and Admiral Thok's grand plan of a Chaos summit had so far come to nothing. And since the fiasco of the Farport invasion Moonface and his Catechism had retreated back to their holdings in the Rim Worlds, for the most part.

Even so Lorek still felt uneasy in his mastery of Chaos. The orks were untrustworthy allies at best, and had been eradicated from the Deeps by the Imperium and Tau. Lorek needed better allies, and he thought he had found them in the Dark Eldar.

The Master of Chaos could not have been more wrong. The invitation for an alliance had not even been officially made when a fast moving raiding force arrived without warning at the lightly defended system of Sulidaan, renamed Blight by the forces of Chaos. The twisted, cold hearted aliens showed no mercy, killing hundreds and enslaving thousands before Lorek's followers summoned daemons from the warp to defend their world. Blight had been dedicated to the Chaos gods and belonged to them, but the Dark Eldar were almost scournful in their contempt for the force summoned to meet them. Lorek's daemons were banished and the Dark Eldar returned to their lair with their holds full of fresh sacrifices and play things.

Slow gains on Ares

As 02.011M42 came to an end the Claws of Lorek were struggling to halt the inexorable advance of the Imperial crusade in the Perseus Deeps. Lorek's adventure into the Vastrid sector had so far achieved nothing, and the Master of Chaos was once again forced to concentrate on the war on Ares.

General Veers was still hoping for a quick conclusion to the campaign given the smaller number of troops involved in the fighting, but he was unable to release the thousands of Guardsmen required to snuff out the Chaos defence, as they were still required to hold down rebellions on Bastien following Inquisition purges of the populace, deemed "necessary" by Inquisitor Lords Huron and Hathek. This meant the Space Wolves remained the vanguard force on Ares, with very little guard support.

On 2402.011M42 Lorek's daemonic hordes were soundly defeated at Hephath Station, despite losses of armoured equipment to the sharp claws of daemonettes, and the great company's runepriest personally slew a bloodthirster of Khorne in single combat. This could have led to a general collapse of the chaos defence of the world, but an unexpected return by Catechism forces - significantly traitor Cerberex Guard units - brought the Space Wolf advance to a grinding halt.

The sudden reappearance of the Catechism caused alarm on the Imperial Crusade Council, but it was soon seen that their leader, the strange and capricious creature known as Moonface, was not among the chaos forces. Neither were his legions. Instead traitor guard units, the remnants of the Catechism's campaign on Cerberex, had appeared to aid the Master of Chaos.

Even so the counter attack was unwelcome news to General Veers, as was a surprise raid on the Space Wolf base on Aethor by the Eldar. This time the Eldar forces were prevented from reaching the main Imperial base and the surprise raid soon turned into a costly stalemate for both sides before the Eldar disappeared as quickly as they had arrived. By the beginning of 03.011M42 the Ares campaign was still ongoing, but slow progress to an Imperial victory was finally being made.

Aleph Sector - Current Map

The Vastrid Subsector

Eldar reclaim Saim Lann

The Eldar still had unfinished business in the Shadow Worlds in 02.011M42. The colony of Saim Lann was still infested by the tyranid menace of hive fleet Nemesis, though the hive fleet itself had seemingly long since moved on. Even their attacks on Betor had become more sporadic and the war there had entered a dormant phase.
Even so the Eldar lacked the resources to defeat even the small infestation of their exodite colony, and with the Tyranids still there they couldn't complete their ultimate goal, re-hiding their Shadow Worlds colonies, cloaking them once again from the threat of outsiders.

One farseer however knew how this could be achieved. The world of Saim Lann harboured an ancient eldar defence mechanism, though the workings of it were incomplete and the Tyranids swarmed around the sacred ground where the warlocks of the eldar would be able to reactivate it. For weeks the eldar had been raiding their old territories searching for clues as to where the ancient artefacts necessary to fix the defence mechanism were situated. Now they knew.

The Eldar fell upon the Imperial colony of Aganthus, one of their ancestral homes, and attacked the Space Wolf force there taking them completely by surprise. The Imperial superhuman warriors put up strong resistence after their initial shock, but the raid bought the eldar enough time to retrieve an ancient artefact from a series of ruins close to the main Imperial base.

Now the eldar had the means to defeat the Tyranids and moved against them in as much force as they could muster. The battle around the ancient defence control station raged for several hours as the hive mind of Nemesis realised the intent of the eldar and the significance of the three control stations for which they were fighting to control.

Nemesis mustered as much force as they could against the eldar, but the swiftness of the children of Asuryan was too much for the tyranids to counter. At the climax of the battle a mighty Tervigon clashed with the incarnation of the bloody handed god himself, but the divinity of avatar of Khaine would not be stopped. Nemesis threw more creatures at the living god but it destroyed them all.

With the tyranid horde occupied with the titanic struggle against the avatar the rest of the eldar army captured one of the main control sites governing the eldar defence mechanism and with a horrific scream which echoed around the planet every alien beast dropped dead instantly, leaving Saim Lann in the caring hands of the eldar once more.

Chaos on the backfoot

As 02.011M42 wore on the battle for Ares raged on without showing signs of the swift conclusion the crusade council, particularly General Veers, were hoping for. Veers' prosecution of the campaign had now come under the close scrutiny of a new shadowy inquisitor lord who refused to divulge his identity, who began to suggest that another leader may have taken the minor planet by now.

Irritated, Veers requested aid from the Astartes, and the Dark Angels agreed to help, sending in a company of marines and quickly taking the capital, Ares City. The Dark Angels fleet around the planet soon found themselves under attack however, as Admiral Thokk's forces suddenly appeared without warning on 1902.011M42. Fortunately the commander of the Dark Angels' fleet, consisting of five strike cruisers and a multitude of escort craft, was well experienced with the renegade admiral's tactics. The brief fleet battle which followed saw the chaos fleet come of much worse, losing a cruiser and having several other capital ships crippled before it fled back to Mordecai.

Although a failure, Thokk's attack bought the chaos forces much needed time on the surface, as the Dark Angels pulled back to protect their fleet. A company of Blood Angels was quickly rushed in to take up the vacated defences but before the handover was fully complete Lorek's daemonic forces launched a powerful counter attack ejecting the Imperial Astartes warriors from the settlement of Hephath station. It seemed that the capture of Ares would drag on for some time yet.

Meanwhile Lorek was planning a new campaign. Growing increasingly frustrated at losses to both Imperial and Necron armies, the Master of Chaos turned his attention to the disorganised and disunited ork worlds of the Cerrack nebula in the nearby Vastrid sector. If these could be taken or the orks convinced to follow him, the strategically vital hive world of Vastrid would be at his mercy. Where Moonface had failed at Farport, Lorek could succeed at Vastrid.

The initial invasion was however a fiasco. Lorek's troops landed in force on the sparcely inhabited human world of Glossop V. Here he intended to set up a base and launch further attacks on the ork minor world of Aspaster, then if successful use this performance as a bargaining tool with the main ork forces on Magark. Glossop V was nominally Imperial, but the few hundred thousand backward inhabitants and the planet's proximity to ork space meant the Imperial forces hadn't been here in centuries. The landing proceeded well, but just days after the initial invasion, Da Verminator arrived.

Although the Ork warlord was by no means in charge of the Orks of the Cerrack Nebula, he knew Lorek, or at least had encountered the chaos forces before while losing all his holdings in the Perseus Deeps. Now Lorek's armies had arrived in the Vastrid subsector, and presented Da Verminator with an opportunity for revenge, to prove himself and above all for a good fight.

The greenskins landed in a haphazard manner but were able to form up into a cohesive army before launching themselves on Lorek's forces. In two days of battle no quarter was given, but the short supply lines of the Orks compared to the overstretched ones of the chaos forces was telling. After just two days the Claws of Lorek and their daemonic allies were wiped out, and Lorek's grand strategy had fallen apart before it had even begun.

Necron War starts in earnest

Fastblade's plea for help on Skera was heeded and thanks to extensive investment in waystations and the base at Cernunnos, help came relatively quickly. Tau Covert Orbital Observation Teams and allied agents of Federacy Military Intelligence had been monitoring the emerging Necron threat in the Perseus Deeps with growing alarm. The discovery of major tomb worlds close to Tau and Federacy controlled space was of great concern to the two allies. When stealth drones began transmitting data showing significant activity and energy emissions from the surface of Malius, Scallius and Cathasaea it could only mean that an attack was imminent.

The Federacy had enjoyed a considerable period of peace and its military forces were not ready to come to the aid of the Tau on such short notice. The nearest available re-enforcements were stationed on Tarsis. Fortunately the war there remained quiet and the Imperials even showed signs of preparing a withdrawal.

Shadowstrike immediately mobilised some of his elite Emergent Threat Cadres under Shas'el Starfire to re-enforce the Tau colonies nearest the tomb worlds. More cadres would be forthcoming but they would require time to mobilise. By 1802.011M42 hunter cadres of commander Moonshine and commander Starfire had arrived at the Tau nase. The assistance came none too soon aswell, as no sooner had the reinforcements landed the Necron assault came in full force.

The Necrons attacked on a narrow front, refusing one flank in an attempt to use a massed force of destroyers to break the tau centre. Moonshine's forces soon found themselves facing little resistance on their flank and moved quickly to regain contact with the enemy. Meanwhile in the centre and particularly on the Tau left flank where Shadowstrike's forces were concentrated, the Necrons quickly threatened to break through. Half flesh half machine monsters tore through the tau ranks and only Shadowstrike's armoured forces managed to escape the onslaught. Fastblades force just barely managed to hold the centre and as the first day of the Necron assault ended the tide had turned, Moonshine's crisis suits and kroot warriors turning up on the right flank just in time, turning the Necron line and forcing them into retreat, the Tau hammerheads and Devilfish making the difference against the implaccable metallic aliens.

The Necrons now appeared to realise that the Tau had become too strong for their initial landing force and abandonned the planet. Shadowstrike however feared their return, as did his colleagues Moonshine and Fastblade, so the Tau commanders began to draw up plans for the fortification of Skera and Paratea.

The Necron threat had been repulsed for the time being, but the Tau urgently needed to fortify their outposts on the edge of the Perseus Deeps. Some re-enforcements had been transferred from Tarsis but many more were needed, along with munitions and equipment. The supply bases lying between the Tau Empire and the Deeps were of critical importance, so when sensor towers detected crude ships landing (although crashing would seem a more apt term) on Hylas the Tau garrison forces were quick to react.

Infiltrators quickly located a small Ork force heading towards the main supply dump and a task force headed to intercept them. The clumsy greenskins didn't realise their presence was known until energy pulses, guided missiles and plasma rounds began bursting amidst them. With a terrific sonic boom a railgun round split the air and the heavily camouflaged form of a Hammerhead gunship slipped into view. Although a backworld the forces on Calabris had been using their quiet posting to drill remorselessly and included many veterans rotated out for recovery. Their fire was unfailingly precise yet few orks fell to the ambush. Much of the incoming fire simply bounced off the dome of a massive force field in the middle of the Ork horde amidst a shower of light and explosions.

The Orks let out a loud cry of “Waaaaagh!” and charged forward. The Tau kept up their assault but the force dome seemed impenetrable. Fearlessly the Kroot auxiliary concealed ahead of the Ork attack sprang from their positions and leapt within the force dome, slaughtering the greenskins heading the charge only to be overwhelmed by a second wave. Still the Orks came on and the Shas'el commanding the garrison saw that his fire warriors would be overwhelmed if he did not act. He sacrificed himself for the greater good, cleansing dozens of the orks with fire and airbursts.

Still the Orks advanced but their luck had run out. The force field finally overloaded and a missile found its way through to the dreadnought leading the attack. The Bigmech's personal bodyguard dropped one by one around him as he sought something to vent his rage on. He finally fell to a pulse rifle round to the face only a yard in front of a relieved fire warrior. With the supply base unharmed the Tau began shoring up their outposts in the Deeps.

Meanwhile the Necrons again attempted to probe the Imperial defences on Aganthus, knowing that their main strength was still focussed on General Veers' crusade. The Necrons found however that the Space Wolves of Erik Morcai's great company had arrived in force. They at least had recognised the Necron threat as real and had anticipated the return of the aliens. The Necrons soon found that the Space Wolves were ready and waiting for them, and barely two hours after they had made contact with the xenos they had once again mysteriously disappeared..

The Suppression of Zog

With the increasing Necron activity in the Perseus Deeps and the offensive on Ares stalled, General Veers turned his attention to the final Ork held system in the region, known as Zog (no doubt from the gutteral ork language). Gamordal had already been surpressed but increasing raids by Ork pirates on the crusade's supply routes led the crusade council to decide that Zog needed surpressing as well.

Zog was known to have a large concentration of Ork roks, but the ground forces on the main habitable planet were not considered to be large. With this in mind Jellicoe appointed Rear Admiral Craddock aboard the Retribution class battleship Resolution to command a fleet to root out the Roks, while Wolflord Bran Redmaw's great company of Space Wolves would decapitate the ork forces on the ground. Craddock was given the Jovian class Bulwark as carrier support, as well as Repulse, Agincourt, Conquerer and Phoenix to clear the system, while the Space Wolves would make their own way there.

On 1002.011M42 the Space Wolves landed on Zog itself and quickly annihilated the ork leaders. Some of the greenskins put up a hard fight but within two days the ground war was over and Redmaw signalled that Imperial Guard troops could now land to mop up the remaining Orks who had fled into the vast wilderness zones of the planet.

Meanwhile in space Craddock's vessels soon found themselves with a difficult task on their hands. Instead of a handful of Roks the orks had managed to construct eighteen of the asteroid gun platforms and had immediately reacted to the arrival of the Imperial fleet by launching an all out massed attack on Cardale's forces. The rear admiral had no option but to fight and in the ensuing battle nine of the ork bastions were destroyed, but not without loss. In attempting to clear a path through the massed ork formation Craddock managed to split the ork forces, avoiding the worst of their firepower. However the Repulse was reduced to a hulk by massed ork gunfire, while Conquerer and Phoenix were crippled. The loss of Repulse was a bitter blow to Craddock, who had to abandon the attempt to destroy the remaining ork vessels and return to Corticant for repairs. The Resolution's poor shooting was notable and may have been a contributing factor to the loss of the Repulse, though the hulk was towed back to Corticant for salvage.

Overall the supression of Zog was a success, and the remaining Roks disappeared, though that in itself became a cause for concern to Jellicoe, and the fear of nine or more ork gun platforms appearing in nearby systems without warning became a nagging doubt in the Crusade council's collective mind.

Repulse hulked
Conquerer crippled
Firedrake crippled

9 (of 18) Roks destroyed
2 others crippled

Necron gains and losses

Following their invasion of Blight the Necrons continued their aggressive expansionist actions as 02.011M42 progressed. News of their foothold on Aganthus reached the Imperial Crusade HQ on Corticant and the Dark Angels took it upon themselves to rid the Imperial world of their taint, and by 1302.011M42 they had succeeded, the Necrons phasing out and disappearing rather than face annihilation.

Meanwhile on Blight the war had become one of attrition. The Covenant of Damnation, depleted in forces since the Bastien war resorted once again to raising a host of daemons to counter their enemy, but they only barely managed to conatin the Necron advance from their beachhead. The war on Blight would continue for some time yet.

The Necron menace came to the Tau a few days after they had moved against the forces of chaos. It was obvious to all that Skera and Parius were perilously close to the main Necron worlds but the Tau failed to prepare, hoping, rather than expecting that the Necrons would confine their attacks to Imperial and chaos targets. In all honesty the Tau knew they were likely to face the Necrons, but had little in the way of spare resources to protect their new colonies in the Deeps.

On the very edge of the Aleph expansion sphere the thinly spread Tau fleet were unable to defend the smaller colonies, but Skera boasted two full hunter cadres. However the Tau expected, naively, some kind of warning from their sensor drones at the edge of the system, failing to understand the sophistication of Necron technology. On 1002.011M42 the Tau found to their horror that the Necrons had already landed on Skera and advancing on the main settlement.

Commander Fastblade, in command of all forces on the minor colonies of the Deeps, prepared the Skera defence forces to meet the Necrons well away from the main Tau colony, but the battle went badly for the inexperienced Tau. The forces of Fastblade were totally outclassed by the alien invaders and soon the badly battered Tau were in full retreat back to the main compound where preparations were hastily made for a last defence. Meanwhile Fastblade sent out an urgent request for reinforcements.

Eldar aid Veer's crusade

Lorek's failing fortunes in the Perseus Deeps received another blow in mid 02.011M42 when the eldar unexpectedly raided Carnage. Unknown to the forces of chaos, the eldar had their reasons, and their successful raid enabled them to hide their exodite world of Shelwe Agir in the Shadow Worlds. How they did this is unknown, but the Claws of Lorek are known to have lost an important artefact from one of their shrines on the daemonworld.

Lorek's forces faired extremely badly when they attempted to counter attack on Carnage, and yet another daemonhost was defeated by an enemy. This time the eldar forces ripped apart the daemons who arrived in an uncoordinated fashion and failed utterly to stop the eldar from accomplishing their mission.

The failure of Lorek's forces led to rebellion amongst the pantheon of chaos forces loyal to the "master of chaos" and very soon he was forced to reassert his position. Fortunately the Covenant forces in the vanguard of the rebellion failed to unseat Lorek's position, being crushed in turn by Lorek's daemons. Later in the month guerilla tactics on Ares managed to retake Ares city from the Imperium, but the Claws' position as the pre-eminent leader of all chaos in the Deeps still hung by a thread.

Stalemate at Gamordal

on 0902.011M42 Admiral Thokk, renegade psychotic admiral of Mordecai, tried again to break in to the inner defences of the Perseus crusade. Admiral Jellicoe had carefully arranged his fleet so that Corticant and Bastien were protected, as well as the all important Farport warp lane which served as the main supply line for the crusade since the capture of Bastien.

Thokk decided against a direct attack and by early 02.011M42 the Imperial admiral received intelligence that the chaos admiral was up to mischief in the Gamordal system, an ork controlled region which if captured would secure the Upper Perseus Reach warp lane for the powers of chaos.

Admiral Jellicoe sent Admiral Cardale to investigate and if possible bring the chaos fleet to heel. Cardale's forces included the Apocalypse class battleship Agamemnon, the tyrants Audacious and Centurion, the lunars Agincourt and Conquerer and the battlecruiser Valiant. Despite lacking any attack craft ordnance, Cardale's fleet packed a significant punch.

Cardale arrived on 0802.011M42 but deployed in a cautious manner, aware that the orks had constructed a number of Roks in the system. After a day of scouting with his firestorm escorts it became apparent that Thokk was already well in system and had set about destroying the ork defences. By the time Cardale accelerated his battlefleet to full speed and made contact with the enemy fleet, Thokk's forces had already destroyed three Rok's, ensuring that the renown of the forces of chaos remained impressive in the eyes of the orks. Imperial high command and admiral Jellicoe himself would be critical of Cardale's caution despite the events which followed, as the strategic initiative would have been better served if Thokk's fleet had been driven off before their propaganda coup in front of the greenskins.

Battle was joined between the two fleets at 20:12 local time, and the nova cannon of Agamemnon soon proved its worth, crippling the slaughter class Skoll in just a few salvoes. The two fleets were on opposite parallel courses, and both admirals began turning their ships into the other's amid the mass of asteroids which typified the outer reaches of the Gamordal system.

Thokk handled his fleet well, and Jormungandr and her consorts successfully crossed admiral Cardale's "T" by navigating without too much incident through two large asteroid fields. This was unexpected by the Imperial commander, who had managed to form up his fleet, although Valiant, the armageddon class battlecruiser, had managed to drift waywardly out of formation.

Despite the tactical advantage Thokk had managed to secure, luck was not on his side. The Chaos forces fired full broadsides at the Imperial prows, but Cardale's forces, protected by thick frontal armour and launching torpedo waves, were up to the challenge. The crossing of the "T" was an impressive move, but had little real effect. Even so Audacious was crippled and forced to disengage. Agamemnon too took heavy damage, but turning to port and locking on to the chaos fleet her lance batteries raked the chaos ships. The two lunars then joined in and before long Rheintochter and Midgard were crippled.

Worse was to follow for Thokk however as Hyrrokin found herself exposed on the right flank of the chaos formation as Cardale's forces passed in formation behind his enemy. Unable to disengage, Hyrrokin felt the full fury of the Imperial guns and before long exploded in a flash of plasma.

As the fleets separated they lost contact. Admiral Cardale. his flagship damaged and several of his cruisers running low on ammunition, returned to Corticant for repairs. Thokk is believed to have returned to Mordecai. On paper the battle of Gamordal was an Imperial victory, but the strategic position remained unchanged, and the orks were allowed to refortify their system.

Imperial Losses:
Audacious crippled
3 firestorms destroyed

Chaos Losses:
Rheintochter crippled
Skoll crippled
Midgard crippled
Hyrrokin destroyed
3 escort vessels destroyed

Thokk destroys 3 ork Roks.

Necrons invade Blight

While the forces of Chaos main forces were still facing off against the Imperial threat, they were unaware of a new force moving against them. The Necrons had already landed on Aganthus in 01.011M42, but their landing on the Chaos world of Blight was the strongest invasion force yet seen.

Accompanied by Necron fleet vessels for the first time the ancient menace quickly gained a foothold on the planet, but before long the armies of Lorek and the covenant of Damnation had responded. Once again the depleted Chaos forces were forced to raise daemon hordes to make up the numbers, and the rather ad hoc formation which met the Necrons on Blight fared rather badly in the initial battles.

The Necrons found that to stand off and shoot the monstrous hordes was an effective tactic, and the loss of two Soulgrinders and a daemon prince at the very start of the engagement didn't help the defenders. The battle, fought over the ruins of a once Imperial settlement saw the chaos hold off the Necrons on their left flank, largely thanks to the high concentration of dedicated followers of Khorne. On their right however, Necron Monoliths and destroyers proved too strong. The battle eventually climaxed when a mighty bloodthirster of Khorne was slain in single combat by a seldom seen C'tan.

By 0902.011M42 the Necrons had nearly a third of the planet under their control, and the inhabitants of the Necron zone soon found themselves herded like cattle onto waiting Necron ships. The rest of the Chaos world prepared for more battles, while Imperial and Tau agents shuddered at the news that a C'tan was abroad in the perseus Deeps.

Space Wolves secure Hellebron

Two days after the attack on Ares the Space Wolves attacked with unparallelled ferocity on Ares, obviously attempting to demonstrate that such raids would bring their enemy nought but destruction. The Wolves attacked the remaining quarter of Hellebron still occupied by Chaos forces, and the Covenant of Damnation troops were quickly overwhelmed. In response the Chaos master of Ares summoned a host of daemons but even the denizens of the warp couldn't halt the Astartes' lightning advance. By 0802.011M42 Hellebron had fallen and the Imperium were marching on the capital.

Lorek raids the Deeps

With the Imperial advance in the Deeps temporarily stalled the Master of Chaos took the opportunity to further retard progress by increasingly turning to hit and run tactics across the region. Lorek's forces and allies had dwindled significantly, and now some chaos outposts in the Deeps had no defenders at all, save for a handful of cultists who could on occasion summon some daemonic help. Help which would often lead to their own demise as well as their enemy's...

on 0302.011M42 the Claws of Lorek sent a small raiding party to Ares on a vessel disguised as a privateer merchentman. The vessel succeeded in circumventing the Imperial fleet stationed there and landed its small specialist force onto the planet. In an orgy of sabotage the Claws small band managed to wreak havoc in the Space Wolf base before escaping unseen back to their transport. The Space Wolf base was heavily damaged and would take two weeks to repair, tying up valuable resources which Veers could have used elsewhere.

The Claws' second raid was less successful however as the Necrons on Cathasaea proved more of a challenge. Difficult to take by surprise the Necrons responded swiftly to the arrival of the small Chaos band and whatever the purpose of the raid, it was not successfully accomplished. So far Lorek's change in strategy had produced mixed results.

Perseus Deeps Campaign suffers setback

As 01.011M42 drew to a close the Imperial crusade in the Perseus Deeps was in a good position. Bastien had been liberated and the new offensive on Ares had got off to a good start, but the council leading the crusade, made up of generals, admirals, space marine company captains, Inquisitors and other senior ranks within the power structures of the Imperium, was about to suffer a setback.

First the offensive on Ares which had been proceeding so well suddenly ground to a halt when the Claws of Lorek raised a host of daemons as the Space Wolves attempted to take the final sections of the city of Hellebron. The daemons inflicted severe casualties and by the end of a two day rampage much of settlement which had previously been in Imperial hands had been reconquered in the name of Chaos.

At the same time news from Alphe, while on the face of it an Imperial success, reached General Veers on Corticant. General Percival reported that the remaining Chaos forces there which had been in stalemate with his armies for over a year had suddenly vanished. Overnight the Alphe campaign had been won and now Percival’s armies were retaking the chaos held sectors, rooting out blasphemy and cleansing the planet of the taint of the chaos gods. This would likely take months.

The withdrawal, presumably via the use of the mysterious chaos “device”, could only mean one thing. The Master of Chaos had decided to reinforce his retreating armies in the Perseus Deeps, happy that the savage destruction wrought on Alphe would keep a significant Imperial force tied up for several months while his forces would feel the full benefit of the redeployment.

With the Ares offensive stalled and intelligence suggesting new forces at Lorek’s disposal, the news of another Dark Eldar raid on Aethor could not have been less welcome. Worse still the Space Wolves took it upon themselves to attack the Lamenters when they arrived on Aethor, an act which infuriated the non space marine members of the crusade council. The Dark Angels and other space marine chapters however refused to criticise the act, and the Space Wolves actions drove a wedge between the Imperial Guard and the Adeptus Astartes which the Inqusition now had to try hard to close.

The unnecessary Space Wolf attack may have led to the Dark Eldar raid, the aliens taking advantage of the confusion on the planet, although once the attack had started the Space Wolves eventually managed to intervene before the xenos raiders did too much damage. The events on Ares however began to overshadow Veers’ crusade and the good work which he had accomplished threatened to come to nothing.

The Claws of Lorek tried to add to Veers’ woes, sending in a small force to raid or sabotage the Imperial base on Aethor, but were detected in good time by the Groznian guard stationed there. More good news was to follow on 2801.011M42, when an attempt to break the Imperial blockade of the Deeps by Admiral Thok’s fleet was foiled by Admiral Cardale on the battleship Vanguard.

Despite struggling initially against a more manouverable enemy, the cruisers of Thok’s fleet were unable to damage the massive battleship, and despite causing damage to the cruisers under Cardale’s command, the chaos fleet were forced to return to Mordecai without forcing a passage to Parthenope, their suspected intention.

Although the Imperial fleet delivered a much needed victory for the crusade, by the beginning of 02.011M42 the continuing advance of the Imperium in the Deeps had come to grinding halt, at least for the moment.

Perseus Deeps Strategic

Ares Latest

Imperial Advance against Chaos

While the newly arrived Space Wolves caused havoc with the planning section of the Imperial High Command, General Veers continues with the next phase of operations in his great crusade against chaos. Having conquered Bastien a large force of his Imperial Guard forces were now mopping up on the planet, aided by Inquisitors Hathek and Huron who were leading purges against citizens who had for too long been exposed to the corrupting influence of the dark powers. Over a third of the population would be "cleansed" in the operation to bring Bastien back into the light of the emperor.

With his forces stretched Veers knew he would be unable to launch a major invasion of any of the major worlds under chaos control. Mordecai was known to be protected by the massive fleet of Admiral Thok, while Calliden harboured the forces of the now dormant Shaidar Haran. Kendrenec, long the foe of the Aleph Sector boasted formidable defences and was still ruled by the cruel overlord Tragean. Taking this into account given the state of his supply lines, General Veers decided that the minor world of Ares would be the next target.

As Admiral Jellicoe readied the fleet for the invasion General Veers was visited by a strange and mysterious individual. Identifying himself only by his inquisitorial seal the hooded figure never revealed his identity nor showed his face, but made it clear to Veers that his campaign would be receiving the aid of forces under his control. It appeared the shadowy Inquisitor had plans of his own to defeat the forces of chaos and Veers crusade would profit from his arrival.

General Veers learned that the Inquisitor would be attacking vital installations on Blight on 2201.011M42 and with this information, planned his invasion accordingly.

The Groznian attack on Blight was an unqualified success, with the daemonic forces of the Anticross vanquished in the field. What the Inquisitor learned about the Anticross and its daemonic allies remained undisclosed to Veers, but the commander of the Perseus Deeps crusade hoped the eyes of Chaos would be elsewhere when his invasion force arrived at Ares. He was to be disappointed.

Jellicoe commanded the battlefleet which arrived at Ares on 2201.011M42 from his flagship Iron Duke. This massive carrier was backed up by the mars class Glorious, dominators Repulse and Black Prince, and the gothic class cruisers Aboukir and Cressy. Each vessel carried and entire regiment of Imperial Guard in its cavernous hold, Jellicoe being unwilling to risk troop transports on what was after all a short warp jump from Corticant.

The Imperial fleet arrived without incident, but as the fleet approached the inner biosphere and the planet itself a large warfleet loyal to the Claws of Lorek appeared from the opposite side of the planet. The fleet, which had remained undetected by using the mass of Ares itself as a sensor shield immediately attacked.

The chaos fleet consisted of a battleship and five cruisers and ought to have been a serious threat to the Imperial fleet, especially when the initial volleys of Nova Cannon fire proved little more than an annoyance to the chaos capital vessels. THe chaos ships were however apparently crewed by inexperienced men, or beasts, and were no match for the well drilled imperial crews or their commander. Very quickly a devastation class cruiser, isolated from her consorts, fell victim to the Imperial guns.

Having lost one of thier capital ships the chaos fleet split, the battleship and one escort heading into low orbit around Ares itself while the remaining cruiser rounded the planet threatening Jellicoe's left flank. Jellicoe realised this meant the chaos fleet would be landing troops on the planet and immediately ordered Aboukir and Cressy to proceed with all haste to low orbit in order to disembark their troops. The rest would follow once the Imperium had dealt with the remaining cruisers.

This the Iron duke and her consorts did with extreme efficiency, blowing apart two more cruisers and crippling the others with massed fire and waves of bombers from Glorious and the flagship herself. Again the chaos ships' fire was inaccurate and poorly grouped, and without the support of their battleship the cruisers were badly outmatched.

Jellicoe then ordered the rest of the cruisers to disembark troops while the Iron Duke stood watch over the planet. This almost caused a disaster as the chaos battleship and her escort suddenly appeared from the upper atmosphere directly aft of the Imperial flagship. Unbelievably the damage from the initial chaos volley was minimal as her shooting went wide. Using the gravity well of the planet to full effect the Iron Duke then swung round and dealt a fatal blow to the deveastation class vessel escorting the chaos behemoth.

Realising all was lost the remaining chaos vessels fled, leaving the Imperial warships free to disgorge their remaining cargo. The Imperial forces made swift gains on the surface, taking the settlements of Forbestown, Pallian and almost all of Hellebron. The invasion of Ares had got off to an excellent start.

Damage to the Imperial fleet had been minimal, while three chaos cruisers had been destroyed and another crippled. With the chaos Desolator class battleship also heavily damaged the fleet battle of Ares had been an overwhelming success for the Imperium and another great naval victory for Admiral Jellicoe.

Space Wolves pursue own agenda

01.011M42 saw the arrival of two great companies of the Space Wolves chapter to the Aleph Sector. One had already been operating on and off in the area for several months, but the arrival of the second, unannounced and outside the control of Lord General Roover caused more than a little consternation amongst the higher echelons of Imperial high command.

Nobody seemed to know what they were doing in the region and the Space Wolves weren't volunteering the information. By now the Imperium had organised itself into a more centralised structure thanks to the successful crusade against chaos led by General Veers, Roover's most important general in the Aleph sector. Veers had set up a council for the crusade, consisting of the most significant generals, admiral Jellicoe, members of the various departmentum of the vast Administratum and several captains and chapter masters of the Adeptus Astartes. Even the Lamenters sent a representative, though this caused a great deal of upset amongst the other chapters and soon ended.

The Space Wolves declined the invitation, given on their arrival to the sector, and immediately began pursuing their own agenda. They began in the worst possible way, attacking the small force indentured to a mysterious inquisitor also acting outside of the control of the council. The attack was successful, though the Space Wolves admitted afterwards that the attack was a mistake, and that they had only been defending themselves, aggressively, after the Inquisitor had mistaken the force for part of the pantheon of chaos.

Following this bad start the Space Wolves went on to land forces on Gamordal, defeating the remaining Orks loyal to Da Verminator and then raiding one of the Necron tomb worlds before returning to Aethor and significantly fortifying the base. Following these successful attacks however the Space Wolves departed, leaving the base in the hands of the Inquisitor and his indentured Groznian Guard forces.

By 2701.011M42 the whereabouts of the Space Wolves were once again unknown and the Imperial generals none the wiser as to their agenda.

Imperium takes Bastien

Lord General Veers planned to end the campaign on Bastien by the end of 010M42. He knew that failure to do this would mean at best replacement and considerable loss of face, or at worst, either suicide or a dishonourable court martial. Such was the lot of high ranking Imperial generals. Success meant glory beyond measure. Failure meant death.

Veers planned to end the campaign by smashing the chaos forces once and for all in the plains of mid-Bastien. To ensure the Claws of Lorek and their followers would dance to his tune, Veers assembled the largest force he had yet deployed on Bastien and drew up his battle plan. Veers planned to advance on a wide flank on the road to Damnation, the most vital remaining chaos stronghold. To lose it would mean certain defeat for the forces of chaos so Veers was sure he would be met by everything the traitors had.

The land between Meshuggah and Damnation was general open and rocky, with scattered settlements and scrubby woods. From 0812.010M42 to 0912.010M42 the Imperial Guard marched forward without meeting much in the way of resistance, and Veers began to worry that the Claws of Lorek were going to resort to guerilla warfare and a slow lingering defeat, rather than the decisive victory he needed. This all changed on the 11th, when the forces of chaos made their final stand half way to the city of Damnation.

The Claws of Lorek had decided to make their stand in a specific location, knowing without any doubt that Veers had been planning an all out attack. Lorek could not have missed the arrival of the Lamenters and Red Angels, nor could he have failed to notice the deployment of so many guardsmen and warhound titans. Sure of Veers tactics, Lorek had set up his own armies barring the road to Damnation. In addition he had arranged for his very own "doomsday device" to be brought into the fray.

The device was similar to the one used in the early phase of the campaign which had proved to be a complete failure, however the design had been improved, and now Lorek had a powerful new weapon with which to meet his enemy. Backed by over a million guardsmen including the Covenant of Damnation, Lorek managed to assemble his own marines as well as those of two lesser legions, plus the help of the daemonic allies of the Anticross. Lorek deployed the Covenant on his right flank, opposite a region of scrubby woodlands, while his own forces protected the centre. On the left flank his elite marines prepared to smash the Imperial forces who had retreated into a defensive compound, while the killing fields of the central plains would be crossed by the brave, and expendable forces of his lesser rivals.

Lord General Veers had a simple battleplan once contact had been made with the enemy. He immediately withdrew his right flank where there were defensible positions available, aiming to hold the flank with Red Angel and Lamenter forces. A violent and bloody contest would erupt here, but the marines had but one job, hold the line and prevent Veers' army from being outflanked.

In the centre Veers deployed his Imperial Guard infantry, the Librians and Praetorians, backed up by Leman Russ battle tanks, basilisks and the might of the Legio titanicus. Here he would push forward slowly, bombarding the chaos centre and taking ground in a "bite and hold" operation. The main thrust however would come from the west. Whole regiments of mechanised Cerberex Guard as well as the mechanised elements from Libria and Praetoria, were being assembled behind the lines for a massive mobile flanking manouvre through the scrubby forests and the now ruined settlement of Skaep. Supported by two super heavy baneblade tanks, Veers hoped that this thrust would smash the forces of Chaos and turn the rest of the campaign into a mopping up operation.

The battle raged for a week over the mid Plains of Bastien. After initial success destroying Lorek's lesser marine rivals, Veers' forces suffered a setback as the first armoured thrust in the west was anihilated by the shock appearance of the Anticross, their soulgrinders wreaking havoc in the Imperial lines and smashing the first attempt to turn the chaos flank. In the east the Red Angels were suffering and the Lamenters captain died ignnominiously fighting an Obliterator. For hours Veers became depressed and morose, convinced the battle was lost, but his generals urged him to remain determined. The second wave would break the Covenant of Damnation in Skaep and the Adeptus Astartes would not let him down.

His generals were right. By 1312.010M42 the chaos assault on the defences in the east was faltering. Despite the appearance of greater daemons the marines had held the line bravely, with the most battle honours going to the captain of the Red Angels who personally slew a Bloodthirster in hand to hand combat. Meanwhile accurate fire from the Imperial battle tanks and baneblades had destroyed many of the soulgrinders and chaos armour, and the second wave of tanks and troop carriers, supported by a praetorian baneblade were making inroads into Covenant forces in Skaep, picking through the ruins of their own failed first attack.

The Chaos Doomsday Device was more effective than in previous engagements, and took its fair share of casualties. However it was unable to stop the Legio Titanicus and the Warhound titan in the centre of the Imperial line marched forward, Librian and Praetorian infantry in tow. Having dealt with a feeble chaos counter attack the Librians and Praetorians in the centre now rushed to the aid of the embattled Space Marines in the east, and by 1512.010M42 the chaos forces had been broken on both flanks.

Lorek, bitterly disappointed, realised the game was up. The rest of 12.010M42 became a scramble to evacuate as many forces as possible from the planet. The elite chaos marines were generally rescued, while the chaos traitor guard units were left to their fate. Entire regiments fled to the mountains of Bastien, where they were obliterated by concentrated lance fire from orbitting Imperial warships. Bastien had been taken back from the enemy and now the work of the Ecclisiarchy began to turn the inhabitants of the planet back to the Emperor's light.

Necrons defeated by Orks

While the Imperial and Chaos forces fought their final battle of annihilation on Bastien, the Necrons were sending out more raiding forces. One reached the Ork settlement of Zog on 1412.010M42, but was quite unprepared for the ferocity of the Ork defence. The Necrons landed, but soon found themselves under attack from large Ork warbands, and after just two days were forced to abandon their landing. The Necrons phased out and returned to their tomb worlds, perhaps to rethink their strategy for domination of the Perseus Deeps.

Bastien Latest

Shadow Worlds Influence

Bastien campaign - southern front

While the front line ebbed and flowed in the north, the southern front saw much more mobility in early 12.010M42. The Praetorian advance had seen Imperial control reach the outskirts of Meshuggah and Reaverton, and General Veers made plans for the taking of both cities. A major assault, backed by artillery and air power, would see the Caldon Guard move on Reaverton, while the Cerberex Guard would surround Meshuggah, take it, and advance north to eventually meet up with the Librians in the north. This was the beginning of Veers "final phase". Following the successful capture of these settlements Veers planned an enormous set piece battle on the barren plains of mid Bastien, employing his whole force and even Titans.

The offensive began well, and the Khornate units defending Reaverton soon crumbled before the Caldon guns. Meanwhile Claws of Lorek forces defending Meshuggah soonfound themselves overwhelmed by the highly mechanised guard units from Cerberex, and on 0312.010M42 Veers received news that both cities had fallen to the Imperium. The Cerberex guard had even pushed north as required into the mid plains. Then came the inevitable counter attack.

The Khorne marines proved to be more ferocious and had more forces than anticipated, and soon the Cerberex Guard on the mid plains found themselves defending themselves against a furious counter attack. Unable to set up defensive positions in the harsh desert conditions they were forced to retreat, surrendering much of the territory they had gained. However as the Khornate forces approached Meshuggah Imperial resistance grew more determined, and by 0712.010M42 their counter offensive had stalled. Veers continued preparations for his main assault, scheduled for the following week. The Claws of Lorek however had also been husbanding resources and preparing a surprise for Veers' "final phase".

Bastien campaign - northern front

As 12.010M42 began the campaign on Bastien increased in intensity as both sides sought to achieve final victory. Both the forces of chaos and the Imperium wanted to finish off Bastien and turn their attention, at least temporarily, to the emergent Necron threat. Both sides launched major offensives in early 12.010M42, with the Imperium concentrating their forces in the south, while the Covenant of Damnation focussed all their attention on taking back Imperious, or Heretic, in the north.

The initial Chaos assault took the Imperium by surprise. The main forces of Veers' crusade, including the Librian regiments, were stationed outside the city, and only a company of Space Marines known as "the Watch", and some reserve forces now guarded the psychologically significant, though strategically now worthless ruins of the city.

The traitor guard attack was so ferocious that within a day the Covenant had surrounded the marines sheltering in the ruins, and quickly oevrwhelmed them. Veers, embarrassed once again by the loss of the city, immediately responded, sending the Librian Guard into the ruined streets. When the loyalist troops met the traitors, the battle was savage, but the largely infantry based Covenant forces suffered badly in the now mostly flattened settlement. Leman Russ tanks and veteran guardsman mounted in chimeras, supported by disciplined ranks of infantry, mowed down the traitor infantry in droves as they pressed home futile counter attacks. By 0412.010M42 the Imperium had retaken the city once more.

The Imperial hold on Nova Imperious remained precarious however, as late on 0612.010M42 Imperial forces including the Red Angels chapter of space marines were outflanked, and seriously beaten just to the north of the city. The Librians and other guard regiments now holding the city remained in a dangerously surrounded salient of Imperial control.

Necrons gain momentum

In 12.010M42 the Necrons continued their offensive against chaos in the Perseus Deeps. Another massive raid on Ares caused a great deal of damage and worrying reports reached Inquisitor Huron of the mass taking of slaves by the alien attackers. Then, on 04.010M42 another energy surge in the Deeps signalled the awakening of yet another tomb world - Scallius, and Huron began to worry about just how many Tomb Worlds there were in the region, and how many were now Imperial worlds.

The Necrons didn't have it all their own way however, as a lightning raid by the Rillietan eldar damaged their installations on Cathasaea and possibly delayed the full employment of the Necron fleet. Why the eldar chose to attack the Necrons remained a mystery, although the Inquisition knew enough of the history of both species to understand the deep hatred which existed between them. The Eldar raid had bought all the other races some time, but nothing more. The Necron offensive was still gaining momentum. Huron advised Veers on 0712.010M42 that if the crusade on Bastien wasn't brought to a successful conclusion before the year ended, they may face a war on two fronts which they had little hope of winning. Veers disagreed, pointing out the Necrons had so far kept their attacks to Chaos worlds, but Huron warned that this would not continue indefinitely. In the meantime Huron began searching the Deeps for signs. Which worlds would the Necrons claim as their own?

Perseus Deeps Strategic

Bastien Latest

Scallius falls to Necrons

The Necrons, now fully "awake" in the Perseus Deeps chose to attack chaos first. Imperial analyticae have pit this down to the heavy Imperial fleet presence, but many secretly believe they are flattering themselves. In any case the Necrons arrived suddenly and without warning on Scallius on 2611.010M42.

Brutal fighting ensued as the Necrons closed in on the major installations of the chaos base. Near the main landing strip the Claws of Lorek put up the strongest fight, but were slowly pushed back into a smaller and smaller perimeter around the base. By 2911.010M42 the Necrons had all but taken the strip.

Further battles on Scallius raged for a week, but by early 12.010M42 it had become a mopping up operation. With a large necron fleet in orbit around the world the forces of chaos didn't attempt to contest the system any longer. In just ten days the Necrons had conquered their first world.

Dark Eldar raid Aethor & Ares

A new threat to the Perseus Deeps emerged in late 11.010M42 with the sudden appearance of Dark Eldar raiders. During 11.010M42 two major raids were reported, with the Dark Elves taking significant loot and slaves from both actions. The first came on 2611.010M42 on Aethor, and the Caldon Guard stationed their took heavy casualties and lost over a thousand men taken prisoner. Worse still the Dark Eldar took control of Aethor's main base for several hours, and caused a huge amount of damage before making off with most of the staff.

The second raid caused similar damage and netted the Dark Eldar a similar number of slaevs. This time the targer was Ares, and once again the surprise of the raid meant an effective defence never materialised. Both the Imperium and Chaos now had two major threats interfering with their war, the Necrons and Dark Eldar.

Covenant of Damnation lose ground

Fighting broke out again between the factions of Chaos in 11.010M42. Worried about the increasing influence of the Covenant of Damnation, and more importantly their hold on supply shipments from Blight, the Claws of Lorek attacked the Covenant at the chaos base in the dead of night. The action was confused and disordered, with both sides doing little real damage to each other in the darkness. However Lorek's forces were able to wrestle control of the provision base on Blight from the grip of the covenant and ensure their own dominance over the chaos forces, at least for the time being.

The distraction on Blight may have contributed to the Covenant's subsequent defeat on Bastien, when the Imperium, lead by the Praetorian Guard, launched a major offensive in the south. Likely worrying about events on Blight, the leaders of Covenant forces reacted slowly, and by 0212.010M42 the Praetorians had taken significant ground off their enemy and had two of the remaining chaos settlements in easy striking distance.

Bastien Latest

Necrons awaken on Cathasaea

The end of 11.010M42 saw events in the Perseus Deeps take a dramatic turn. Until then the Necrons had been an annoyance, a thorn in the side of Veers' crusade or an unwelcome distractio to Lorek and his allies. In late 11.010M42 however the mysterious signals eminating from Cathasaea were finally deciphered by Inquisitor Huron and his entourage, but by then it was too late. With a squeal of digital static which knocked out logis engines as far away as Caitlen Station, the tomb world awakened.

Veers called an immediate conference of his generals upon hearing the news. Already Necron ships had been detected int he Cathasaea system and huge energy signatures had been intercepted. Worse, the other two necron tomb worlds were also showing heightened activity and for several days the Imperial fleet was put on high alert, fearing an invasion.

It did not come. Instead the Covenant of Damnation at their supply point on Scallius were the first to feel the might of the newly invigorated Necrons, their armies smashed asunder by a sudden and vigorous raid. The Necrons didn't stay however, phasing out after just two days on the surface of Scallius. Just as suddenly the energy signals vanished, but Inquisitor Huron knew this to be a bad sign. the Necron forces, travelling in their faster than light spacecraft were now abroad in the Perseus Deeps. An invasion would soon follow.

War on Bastien continues

As 11.010M42 wore on there seemed to be no end to the fighting on Bastien. The deadlock remained and the two sides poured vast armies against each other without great success. On 1811.010M42 the Covenant of Damnation, who made up the lions share of troops on Bastien, began a well planned and brutally simple advance on the Imperial lines. Despite taking heavy casualties the Covenant forces ploughed forward, grinding down the Imperial Guard facing them in a war of attrition.

Unwilling to continue this death match General Veers accepted the aid of two Astartes chapters, including the Dark Angels. The Dark Angels moved in first, attempting to secure forward positions to allow the recapture of Heretic. The insertion mission was a disaster however, and the front line moved ever further away from the city. Many valuable Dark Angels were lost in the mission, but the other marine chapter was undeterred.

The section insertion mission followed a similar pattern to the first, but the chaos forces were taken utterly by surprise. They did not expect a second attack to be almost identical to the first. Suddenly key installations in Heretic had been siezed and the Covenant's supply lines cut. Now, with increasing pressure from Veers' guard regiments, the chaos army now found itself in full retreat. By 2311.010M42 the front line had returned to its previous position and Heretic was once again in the hands of the Imperium, the shattered smoking ruins being renamed "Nova Imperious".

Despite this return to fortune and overwhelming logistical superiority General Veers was unable to maintain the momentum. Once again the fighting bogged down into a familiar pattern and sweeping advances were replaced with trench warfare. The Astartes were recalled and the stalemate resumed. Veers knew he needed a new tactic and started planning for a "Big Push" to take place within the next couple of months...

Minos fortified against raids

In 11.010M42 Minos, the smallest Tau base in the Perseus Deeps, came under attack again. Previous raids had been carried out by the forces of chaos in an attempt to secure a new supply base for Bastien, but this time the Dark Angels were the aggressor. The purpose was the same. Minos lay in a strategically important position for the Perseus Deeps crusade and the possessor of it would enjoy a distinct advantage in the war on Bastien. The Tau were caught in the middle.

Commander Fastblade was a veteran in defending Minos however and the Dark Angels were easily spotted and taken apart by his highly mobile hunter cadres. Few Dark Angels survived the massed pulse rifle and railgun fire and those who did lost all their heavy equipment. The Imperium quickly abandonned the idea of using Minos as a base for the crusade, but commander Fastblade ordered a strengthening of defences in any case. This time he was successful and in addition to the world's new defences, Admiral Swifstar's fleet was ordered to send a force to Minos to dissuade any further enemy intervantion.

Bastien Latest

Bastien: Covenant of Damnation retake Imperious

Veers' strategy appeared to be going well, but it suffered a setback on 1811.010M42 when the Covenant of Damnation launched an all out attack in the northern sector of Bastien. The attack was so ferocious and unexpected that the Imperial forces, let down by their intelligence, were taken by surprise and soon fell back to defence lines west of Imperious. This left the city isolated but the Red Angels refused to abandon it.

Fighting desparately the Astartes chapter found itself outgunned and outnumbered, lacking sufficient support units and vehicles to fend off the crazed and determined traitor guard forces. By the end of 1911.010M42 the city of Imperious had fallen to chaos once again and the brave Red Angels defenders had been wiped out.

The loss of Imperious was a huge blow to Veers. Once again chaos had wrestled a key city out of his grasp and the Imperium now controlled fewer than half the cities on the planet. Not only was this a setback but Veers knew his career, and perhaps his life, rested on the result of this campaign. Now more than ever he felt bitterness at the loss of the Corellian Storm guard to other campaigns... )

Battle of Parthenope

With the Imperium losing ground on Bastien the news that Chaos vessels had been sighted near Parthenope was most unwelcome. In late 10.010M42 an estimated four or five traitor vessels were detected near Parthenope.

Jellicoe dispatched the newly arrived battlegroup Cardale to investigate the threat, assuming that the force belonged to Tragean, Thok or Shaidar Haran. The three largest chaos fleets known to exist in the sector.

Commodore Cardale led the battleship Agamemnon, the cruisers Glorious, Cressy, Aboukir and Repulse, along with three sword class escorts to the Parthenope system on 1111.010M42. There he was rather surprised, and somewhat alarmed to find the sensor returns of five capital ships, none of which had been encountered before.
After a detailed search of old Imperial naval records the ships were identified as the battleship Savage Messiah, the heavy cruisers Iron Juggernaut and Hand of Tartarus and the cruisers Devastation and Black Wolf. Somehow Lorek, the “Master of Chaos” had got his hands on a fleet.

Cardale immediately gave battle, informing Jellicoe before he drew up his battle line. The two gothic class vessels deployed slightly to starboard of the Agamemnon while the Nova cannon equipped Glorious and Repulse brought up the rear.

The two fleets approached each other with the chaos fleet attempting to close the distance quickly to avoid long range nova cannon fire. Despite taking several hits the chaos fleet made it, though Savage Messiah suffered some damage. Cardale, feeling the time was right began to prepare for his tactical move which he hoped would rake the chaos fleet’s stern and deliver him the battle.

Just as he was deploying his ships for the turn, a strange reading appeared of the fleet’s aft, throwing the Imperial force into confusion and losing valuable minutes. A daemon ship had appeared, and then just as suddenlty vanished.

This confusion allowed the chaos fleet to weather the storm of the Imperial battle line and at close range pummel the closest ship, the Repulse with devastating firepower. She attempted to break off but her fires picked her out against the blackness of space. Within an minutes concentrated chaos firepower had reduced the ship to a smoking hulk.

Having lost one of his capital ships Cardale now successfully crossed the chaos fleet’s “T”, swinging Agamemnon and her two gothic class consorts round the rear of the chaos battleship. Opening up with massed lance fire the Savage Messiah and Black Wolf were soon crippled. Fortress of Hate soon followed, a lucky nova cannon hit from the Imperial battleship causing horrific damage.

Then once again the daemonship appeared, but this time took on corporeal form. Identifying it as the ex-Harbinger of Pain the Imperial fleet opened up as she charged them in a suicidal action. The daemonship met the same fate as the Repulse reduced to a spinning, drifting hulk of metal which disintegrated against a wandering asteroid. Whether or not the ship would be seen again however, was not discussed.

Following the loss of the daemonship the chaos fleet disengaged its crippled cruisers. Soon the traitor forces were reduced to a mere two capital ships, facing a battleship and three cruisers, though Glorious was forced to disengage soon after the destruction of the daemonship as both remaining chaos vessels targeted the Imperial carrier as the closest target.

Taking no chances Commodore Cardale continued to shadow the two chaos vessels for some time, before they decided they had suffered enough losses and disengaged. The Imperium had won the battle, but the loss of Repulse, though her hulk was towed back to Caitlen Station some time later, left a bitter taste in Jellicoe’s mouth.

Results
Repulse hulked
Glorious crippled

Harbinger of Pain hulked
Savage Messiah crippled
Black Wolf crippled
Fortress of Hate crippled

Marine forces and Eldar raid Scallius

During the first half of 11.010M42 it had become apparent that Lord General Veers' crusade against chaos in the Perseus Deeps had ground to a halt. On Bastien the slaughter of half a million men in a month had gained nothing, and the Imperial base at Corticant was surrounded by ever strengthening alien threats, while more Chaos forces flocked to the banner of Lorek.

Veers asked for reinforcements, but was denied. The Tyranid menace was winning on Betor, the Tau were barely being held on Tarsis and the Inquisition were becoming decidedly edgy about the planets Cathasaea, Gamador and Malius. The Lord General had to make do with the forces at his disposal. Veers met with his tacticae in late 10.010M42 and unexpectedly asked for advice.

There were many voices clamouring to capitalise on this rare opportunity, but Veers favoured one of them, that of master strategist Hyram Alderbrand more than the rest, and he accepted a lot of the old man's suggestions. To defeat Chaos would mean ensuring their supply was cut off. Bastien would be given enough forces to hold the line but the Chaos bases around the Bastien system must be raided, overrun or destroyed. Meanwhile Corticant was becoming a bottleneck for the Imperium. Another base was needed in the Perseus Deeps to become the centre of operations for the peripheral raids.

Veers redeployed his forces. Most of the Space Marine chapters at his disposal joined the Blood Drinkers on the newly established base of Aganthus, which Veers ordered to be enlarged and fortified. Even the Lamenters chapter, shunned by many of their peers, was included in this. The Lamenters however based themselves on the opposite side of the world to the rest of the Imperial base, which by 0511.010M42 was a riot of construction activity and a logistics nightmare.

Jellicoe increased the fleet's presence in the Deeps, the only reinforcements the crusade received, moving the fleet that had been blockading Tarsis, with little or no effect, to Corticant, while Dreyer's battlegroup moved to Aganthus. With his new dispositions Veers now plotted the next course of the Perseus Deeps campaign.

The first part of Veers' new strategy called for the annihilation of their base on Aethor. The Adeptus Astartes agreed to this task, as it would be dangerous and well behind enemy lines. Their task was to render the base at Aethor unuseable and to scout out likely landing sites for an Imperial Guard ground crusade.

The Lamenters and Red Angels carried out their tak with great zeal and courage that is expected of the genetically enhanced superhumans. The Lamenters raided the southern hemisphere, destroying a company of Khorne Bezerkers who were soon to be embarked for the War on Bastien, before blowing up the main facility in the south and returning with most of their comrades to the safety of their orbitting strike cruiser.

Meanwhile in the north a small team of Red Angels successfully scouted a likely landing ground in the northern plains of the savannah which covered much of the planet. They were spotted however by a patrol of Chaos Marines, but held their ground when the traitors attacked long enough to escape with their valuable data. They also killed a score of some of the Imperium's deadliest foes.

Much of Aethor was left untouched, though a great deal of damage had been inflicted by the raids and general Veers now had enough information to plan a landing. Then on 1611.010M42 a shocked Veers learned that the Eldar had repeated their attack of the previous month and raided Aethor themselves once again. The bloody raid, which decimated yet another company of Khorne Marines rendered the base of Aethor useless to the Chaos forces in the Perseus Deeps for several weeks.

Shadow Worlds Influence

Eldar raid on Scallius

With the loss of Aganthus and Cathasaea the Eldar had been forced from their last planetary holdings within the Perseus Deeps in early 010M42, but they were not entirely without presence, and they still had business in the Aleph sector, particularly in hiding their three planets in the Shadow Worlds from the unwelcome view of would be colonisers.

The Shadow Worlds had been relatively peaceful for much of 010M42. The Imperial crusade in the Deeps and the continued campaigns on Tarsis and Betor had meant a distict lack of focus on the Alphe and Shadow Worlds theatres of war. The Orks meanwhile appeared to be spending much of their time fighting among themselves, with both Waagh Snazteef and Waagh Nazghat apparently having both collapsed towards the end of 009M42.

The Eldar remained too weak to restart an all out war in the Shadow Worlds region, so instead used their webway portals to launch a punitive and successful raid against units of the Covenant of Damnation, based on Scallius. The Chaos forces were taken by surprise and the Eldar were able to obtain several important artefacts and deal the traitor units a heavy blow.

Exactly why the Eldar chose 11.010M42 to conduct this raid, and how it would ultimately help their cause remained unknown to outside observers, but the damage to the chaos forces certainly hindered their campaign against the Imperium.

Blood Angels on Mysterious mission

11.010M42 also saw the arrival of a company of Blood Drinkers to the Aleph sector. Without asking permission from the Imperial commander, General Veers, the Blood Drinkers set up a base on Aganthus. This base was set up far from the rest of the Imperial installations and was declared off limits, but the Blood Drinkers did introduce themselves to Veers, explaining that they had a need to conduct operations in the perseus Deeps, but would be available to aid his crusade if the situation warranted it. It was clear the parameters of what would be classified as "warranted", would be decided by the space marines.

Reports of the Blood Drinkers were sparse in early 11.010M42, but it is known that they carried out two raids against chaos forces in the Perseus Deeps. The first raid was costly, and unsuccessful, seeing the Astartes chapter soundly defeated by Catechism forces on Ares, but their second, against the Covenant of Damnation, was more successful.

The Covenant forces were still reeling from the surprise Eldar raid so when the Blood Drinkers appeared on 08011.010M42 the traitor guard units were far from prepared. In an operation conducted with lightning speed the space marines tore the rebel base apart, before withdrawing after just three hours on the planet.

Veers and the rest of the Imperium were unable to say what the Blood Drinkers' mission was, but the space marines were sighted upon their return to Aganthus, carrying with them something concealed in an ornately decorated casket in a procession which included several marines, all of whom had their heads bare and bound. Clearly the artefact concealed within was of great importance to be treated with such reverance by the Gods of humanity,

Necron threat increases

In late 10.010M42, with the situation on Bastien remaining unresolved, both sides of Lord General Veers' crusade suffered raids from alien Necron forces. For months Veers had played down the threat of the Necrons, describing them as "unco-ordinated" and "sporadic", but to senior members of his tacticae it was becoming clear that the Necron raids were centred around Cathasaea, and the activity was increasing.

On 2710.010M42 the garrison on Aganthus was raided by Necrons who appeared from nowehere, destroying a key military base and settlement and defeating the Caldon Guard before disappearing once again. Later in the week Imperial spies heard of a similar raid against Blight, where the Clawes of Lorek took heavy casualties.

Admiral Jellicoe, commander of the Perseus Deeps Crusade fleet, searched in vain for any Necron ships in the vicinity, but General Veers was forced to reinforce his position on Aganthus, robbing the front lines on Bastien. The Necrons had become a serious thorn in the side of both sides contesting the Perseus Deeps. Neither side realised the real threat the Necrons faced however.

Betor: Nemesis held at Munchefeld

In Munchefeld the bloody fighting continued. Warriors of the Caldon Guard sought to hold onto their recent gains by constructing a series of elaborate fortified positions. Although hurried, these positions incorporated multiple defensive lines with overlapping fields of fire, supported by armoured vehicles and artillery.

The Caldon Guardsmen didn't have to wait long for the inevitable assault. Wave after wave of Tyranids boiled through the narrow streets and headed directly for the defences. Flying and tunnelling bio-constructs ranged ahead of the main assault, seeking to bog down the defenders and reduce the fire power directed at the main swarm. The first defensive line quickly fell, buried beneath a writhing mass of alien killers. But there were two more lines and gradually the Caldon's firepower took its toll on the attackers. When the Tyranids reached the final position the depleted swarms lacked the strength to complete the assault and like a retreating tide the Tyranids withdrew, leaving only the uncountable corpses of their dead and those of the Caldon guardsmen killed in the attack. As the death count mounted for both sides the Caldon Guard grimly continued to build up their position, knowing there would be more carnage to come.