Battle for Tarlius 1

On 2303_018M42 the full force of the Iron Warriors fleet appeared in orbit around Tarlius I. The Imperial Navy considered intervening, but with its fleet scattered on blockade duty, Jellicoe reasoned that any intervention would be too little, too late, and lead to a potentially catastrophic defeat. Once again the forces of chaos had used the Cicatrix Maledictum to escape detection, and deliver a massive force into the heart of the system. The Imperium meanwhile were restricted to travelling the narrow lanes of the Foramen.

The Imperial force had been bolstered by the arrival of the reaver titan, but as the massive chaos force made landfall in front of the Grey Knights base, the mighty titan was still unloading from its drop ship, and would not be available for the start of the battle. Defending the base at the outset was Cybixx and his mechanics along with the Vostroyan Guard. The Grey Knights waited in reserve for an opportune moment to counter strike.

The forces of chaos, led by a mass of cultists, consisted of daemons and marines of the Emperor's Children, a host of daemons from the Emerald Serpent, and might vehicles and war engines led by Stahl himself. Despite fielding significant firepower, the crusade forces were penned back by the chaos horde, and though they cut them down in short order, there were always more to replace them. Very soon the Grey Knights realised they had to intervene, Reaver Titan or not.

The Ordo Malleus Astartes arrived with their customary ferocity, and on the chaos left flank they held, then turned the chaos advance, cutting down swathes of Thousand Sons and tzeentch daemons. However, toward the centre, Cybixx's electro priests were unable to get close enough to engage their enemy in close combat, and were swiftly dispatched by a chaos knight. The Imperial Baneblade of the Vostroyans kept the chaos assault at bay, despite coming under the sights of an Iron Warriors Shadowsword. The traitor super-heavy missed its shot, allowing the Baneblade to reply in kind. The Imperial war engine did not miss, wrecking the Shadowsword and securing the right flank.

On the left, the situation was well under control, until the arrival of a chaos Warhound titan. Now the forces of chaos had a towering war engine, and the Warhound soon made its presence felt, causing significant damage to the Adeptus Mechanicus forces. With the Imperial left flank in danger of total collapse, the timely intervention of the Reaver Titan was welcomed by the Imperial force. The giant war engine unleashed a devastating volley of fire just as the Vostroyans landed their Scions in the midst of the chaos lines. The Warhound however was not bowed, and the huge energies of the Reaver Titan's weapons were deflected by its void shields. In response, the Warhound levelled its turbo-lasers at the Reaver, but again titanic void shield held in the face of this violent onslaught. The titans had cancelled each other out.

While the Titans duelled, the Grey Knights realised that if the centre of the battlefield remained in chaos control, the battle would be lost. All available firepower was levelled at the cultists swarming over the front gates to the compound, but despite the carnage wrought, the traitor forces did not waver. In desperation the Grey Knights launched their assault, but despite heroic bravery their charge proved in vain. By late 2403.018M42 after a day of non stop bloodshed, it was clear the chaos invasion could not be stopped.

The Reaver and the Adeptus Mechanicus made an ordered retreat back to the space port, holding one area of the base long enough for Cybixx's forces to retrieve an item of significance; his experiments and research on a suspected STC. The Vostroyans too fought bravely, coming dangerously close to the Warhound titan and distracting it long enough for the Reaver to land some telling shots. However, neither Titan was put out of action.

On 2803.018M42 the Imperial rear guard action reached the spaceport, allowing the Crusade's important assets - the Mechanicum and Grey Knights, to escape into orbit, where a Mechanicum cruiser and the Grey Knights fleet were anxious to leave orbit before the invasion fleet detected them. Tarlius I had been lost, and Stahl with his allies had achieved an important victory. The Iron Warriors began fortifying their new base, while the daemons of Slaanesh enjoyed some "sport" with the remaining Vostroyans.

Battle of Tarlius: Prelude

At the end of 03.018M42 the war on Tarlius intensified with massive battles occuring across the system. By now, Warsmith Stahl had completed his fortifications on the outer two worlds and was watching with some dismay at the failure of his Chaos "brethren" to inflict a decisive blow on the Imperium. He identified the Grey Knights' base on Tarlius 1 a key target for assault, but even with his fleet and manpower the other forces of chaos were unwilling to aid him, given they were still bogged down in wars of attrition on Tarlius II and III. Stahl needed more men.

Stahl however had contacts. Ever since his humiliating defeat at Calliden the Warsmith had known of the necrons and their plans for the sector. Following the coming of the Cicatrix the Harakhty Dynasty had been shattered, and now Stahl decided to send an olive branch to his enemies. Contacting the emissaries of the Harakhty and Charnovokh dynasties, one of his messengers finally met a receptive ear in the necron court. The necrons were aware of the wars in the Foramen, but lacked the manpower to intervene. Here however there was an opportunity. In exchange for their aid to Warsmith Stahl's campaign, the Necrons merely requested that they be allowed to retrieve something from Tarlius II. His extra forces secured, Stahl began planning the major assault on the heavily defended Imperial base on Tarlius I.

The eldar of the Kel Sandros interpreted the skeins of fate with dismay. Stahl would probably achieve his goal and the Tarlius system would be added to the chaos empire, cutting off the Imperium from their bases in the Perseus Deeps, and almost certainly setting in motion a wave of chaos assaults on all the worlds in the Imperium Nihilis. Worse, the Necrons were interfering, which could only mean they had something to gain. Farseer Tarquil once again readied his warhost. They would go to battle, this time alongside the Mon'Keigh.

The Crusade had expected such an assault on the base at Tarlius I, and Cybixx and Vorushko had reinforced the base itself with Vostroyan Guard and Cybixx's Adeptus Mechanicus forces. More however would be needed, so the Grey Knights sent a distress call as far as they could. With barely hours to spare before imminent invasion, the Legio Ultima agreed to lend one Reaver titan. Only one, but its power was immense. All sides prepared for war.

Tarlius Strategic

Mabb Nebula & Tyndareous

Tyndareous Invasion: Lycaon Guard make landing but Sky Lords suffer embarrassing defeat

In the Zadoc subsector General Van Dorn was keen to build on the success of Hylas and start taking the war to the Imperium's enemies. With a fresh fleet, reinforcements from the Lycaon Guard and Sky Lords chapter of space marines, Van Dorn proposed a plan to attack the Tau, who effectively surrounded the Imperium's two worlds in the Mabb Nebula, blockading them from easy contact with Caitlen station and the Imperial bases in the Perseus Deeps.

The Sky Lords agreed, as Vorushko was keen to prevent the Aleph Expansion Sphere Tau enclave from overwhelming the Imperial bases and establishing contact with the Federacy and the rest of the Tau empire. In the Imperium Nihilus, there was no "crusade" and "loyalist" argument, as both forces were acting together as the Imperium of Mankind. Vorushko was keen however to prevent the situation arising where she had to expend forces defending her right flank from Xenos threats while prosecuting her more important goals against Hathek in the Foramen. Taking the fight to the enemy served this purpose well.

The plan was drawn up by mid 03.018M42, and a battlegroup supported by Admiral Dreyer's fleet left for the Tau holdings in the Mabb Nebula. The Tau world of Tyndareous would be invaded, while the Sky Lords conducted raids against tau infrastructure across the region of space.

The invasion of Tyndareous by the Lycaon went well. The tau were taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of an Imperial battlegroup and despite offering significant resistance, the Lycaon Guard were able to land and establish a perimeter in the mountainous terrain to the west of the inhabited zone. From there they pushed the front line forward, taking Ranier pass and the settlement of Burbeck bay, reaching the sea and cutting the Tau defences in two.

The Sky Lords however had more significant problems as they attempted to put a nearby Waystation out of action. The station, designated 233 by the Imperium, was protected by significant ground defences installed on the planet around which it orbitted. To strike the Waystation, these protective defences, including high powered railguns and a defence shield, would need to be put out of action.

The Sky Lords landed without incident, but the Tau had detected their landing and immediately took up defensive positions around their key installations. The Sky Lords advanced, causing significant damage and losses against their enemies, as the Tau found the heavily armoured land raider force difficult to deal with.

However, just as the fighting was reaching a climax and the result hung in the balance, an unfortunate event occurred. With a blinding flash the lead Sky Lords land raider detonated in an enormous fireball, throwing superheated metal and volatile chemicals over a wide area. The initial explosion crushed the Sky Lords' commander and lieutenant before the blast wave crashed into the ruins of a Tau installation. This proceeded to collapse, wiping out the Sky Lords' elite force of Stern Guard.

Amazingly the occupants of the Land Raider managed to crawl from the wreckage, but the dramatic spectacle had severely neutered the elite force, and the Tau counter attacked in force. Although the Sky Lords hung on for some time, the raid was a failure and the remaining astartes were forced to abandon the bodies of their fallen and evacuate the planet.

It is unclear how an astartes Land Raider could have exploded so spectacularly, and the Sky Lords are unlikely to ever comment on the matter. However the Tau noted that minutes before the detonation, a tech priest within the Sky Lords retinue was seen "fixing something" on the vehicle. The fact that this priest was not a true techmarine may have some link with the devastating mishap that cost the Sky Lords several of their finest warriors and doomed the raid on Waystation 233.

Tarlius II: Three way war

The war on Tarlius continued with unparalleled fury as the end of 03.018M42 approached. In the southern hemisphere a landing by the Dark Angels quickly dealt with a significant force of Thousand Sons, establishing a beach head, but it was clear that there would be no thawing of relations between the loyalists and the Dark Angels. General Patreus was called on to surrender to the Astartes, to answer for the Novgorod Guard's previous engagement which saw several Dark Angels killed. Instead, Patreus dispatched a force of Novgorod to remove the Space Marine force, having been explicitly told by Hathek that they were now in league with the heretical Inquisitor Vorushko.

The Novgorod force sent out patrols into the southern wastelands, but found it hard to pin down the Dark Angels force. Eventually contact was made, but the Novgorod force was significantly split, and the more flexible astartes doctrines played a heavy hand in the following engagement, with the Novgorod sending in their forces peace meal. Facing heavy casualties and unable to combine their superior numbers against the Space Marine force, the Novgorod were forced to retreat, and the entire southern polar region was abandoned by Patreus, allowing the Dark Angels to secure a foothold once again on Tarlius II for the Crusade.

Further north, the loyalists under General Patreus had more success. A new offensive with fresh Lycaon forces initially got into difficulties against the Emerald Serpent and a shard of the daemon prince of Magnus himself. However, stubborn resistance and overwhelming firepower eventually told against the forces of chaos, and by 2303.018M42 the forces of chaos had been confined to a single region of the eastern hemisphere of the barren and now shattered world.

Zadoc Subsector current

Chaos make gains on Tarlius

With the war on Tarlius II bogged down in a stalemate between the forces of chaos and General Patreus' well organised loyalists, the Death Guard and Emerald serpent turned their eyes to the third world of the system, named "Greggland II" by the loyalist commander who had started the creation of a base there.

However, the Crusade also had their eyes on the third planet, following their disastrous encounter with chaos on the more habitable world of Tarlius II. In the end, both chaos forces and those of the crusade arrived at Greggland at roughly the same time, much to the surprise and annoyance of both sides.

Rather than engage the small loyalist outpost, the two invading armies soon became involved in a life or death struggle against each other. The Volscian Guard were set upon by the Emerald Serpent who summoned a host of daemons along with their regular forces. The fighting was hard and bloody, but in the end despite the Crusade force being able to inflict horrendous casualties, the Emerald Serpent stalled the Volscian advance, allowing the Death Guard an effective free hand against the Crusade elite forces on their left flank.

The Death Guard 1st Company assaulted the Crusade Ad Mech and Astartes forces just days after the Volscians had been locked in combat by the Emerald Serpent. For now Magnus was content to allow his brother the glory, if it served both their purposes, and the chosen of Nurgle's forces ripped into the Adeptus Mechanicus forces, destroying the crusade landing force and condemning the remaining Volscians to certain death at the hands of their enemies. There would be no rescue for the Crusade at Greggland, and now the loyalists found themselves facing off against chaos on two worlds in the system of Tarlius, with almost no logistical support...

War on Hylas ends with Imperial Victory

The long war on Hylas finally came to an end in 03.018M42, after continuing on and off since the ork invasion of 012M42. The war had been long and hard for both sides, and the orks had come close to total victory, prior to the coming of the Cicatrix Maledictum. With the catastrophe of the warp bringing unending war to the Vork Ork Expanse, much of the greenskin interest in Hylas waned, allowing General Van Dorn to dig in and begin to retake much of the lost territory.

However, Van Dorn was similarly cut off from the Imperium, but the arrival of Crusade forces from and re-establishment of contact with the Imperial base at Bastien allowed the Imperium to shuttle fresh reinforcements to the Hylas battlezone.

The Sky Lords arrived in early 03.018M42, and with Van Dorn planned the final stages of the total annihilation of the Orks on Hylas. Assaulting Tennyson, the Sky Lords managed to ambush the Orks as they came out to fight, and despite aggressive assaults by the greenskins, the Sky Lords' heavy armour and air superiority ensured that there was no real hope of an Ork victory.

Tennyson fell on 1003.018M42, with the Imperial Guard mopping up the rest of the greenskins in the subsequent months. Hylas would take years to recover from the long war, perhaps decades, but the Imperium had managed to hold on to their last few possessions in the Zadoc subsector, a tenuous Imperial possession surrounded on all sides by hostile forces.

Strategic Modifiers

Overall Strategic Modifiers

Imperium Nihilis Modifiers

Destino: Death Guard surprised by Orks

While the hellish war on Tarlius continued, the forces of chaos, most notably Mortarion of the Death Guard, were considering their wider strategy. Control of Tarlius was needed, but so would the systems of at least Destino and Paradorn to further their aims. Paradorn would follow after Tarlius, but Chaos desperately needed a foothold in the Foramen Minoris in order to link up with larger chaos forces moving up from the galactic south via the Enceladus Subsector.

Mortarion selected the outermost world of Destino, which was apparently uninhabited, sending a significant force to the world via the Cicatrix, his plagueships arriving all but unseen around the distant world on 0103.018M42. His force landed on the barren and freezing world, but the Death Guard were soon in for an unwelcome shock. The orks of Von Bismork had apparently arrived at Destino - somehow - before anyone else.

How the Ork warboss had managed to end up at Destino, having travelled half the sector from Hylas then the war against chaos, remained a mystery, but Von Bismork's Waagh! although now diminished, always seemd to have a habbit of turning up where fighting was heaviest. Perhaps Tzeentch himself had decided to set this train of events in motion, knowing that the Emerald Serpent would need help to avoid being dominated by Mortarion's plague god followers. Whatever the reason, the Death Guard were ill prepared for the sudden and violent assault by ove excited ork boyz spoiling for a fight. After only a few hours the greenskins had caused such carnage that the invasion of the world was called off, with the outermost world of Destino officially designated "ork infested".

Tarlius II: Chaos smash Crusade

Having opened up a front against chaos and the loyalists on Tarlius III, the Grey Knights were far too small and valuable a force to be spent on garrison duty. In order to maintain the Crusade presence on the world the Sky Lords also sent a company, to act as a rapid reaction force, while Cybixx sent a small but effective force of Mechanicum and Skitarri. Crucially however the Crusade were unable to call on their Guardsmen regiments to hold a wide front, as the Volscians were still en route from Vandrax.

Having only elite forces defending their bridgehead on Tarlius II, the Crusade were vulnerable, and the forces of Chaos took advantage of this weakness with devastating results in late 02.018M42 into early 03.018M42. Using weight of numbers, the forces of chaos attacked on two fronts, with the forces of the Death Guard and those of Magnus joining forces in a concerted effort against the dangerous crusade.

Mortarion himself architected the assault by the 1st Plague Company, targetting the strong Adeptus Mechanicus forces near the landing area controlled by the crusade. Meanwhile the Emerald Serpent, led by a shard of the daemonic entity known as "Magnus the Red" fell upon the Sky Lords.

The Death Guard found the going tough against the Mechanicum, but heavy fighting led to the plague God's victory, as the traitor marines and pox walkers wore down even the toughest machines as well as the flesh. Meanwhile against the Sky Lords, although Magnus was all but executed early on by massed lascannon fire, confused communications between Cybixx, the Sky Lords and other Crusade factions led to a fiasco of orders for the astartes on the ground. First the Sky Lords were ordered to simultaneously hold the line and advance on the enemy, and later, while the thousand sons were hunkered down in the ruins of an Imperial base, the Crusade force was ordered to pointlessly launch wave after wave of their own men against the fortification, whereas simply cutting the chaos force off would have won the battle.

The result of the poor comms and negative outcomes of both engagements led to the crusade finding themselves in an untenable position. The crusade base on Tarlius II was evacuated on 0703.018M42, leaving the loyalists and chaos forces to fight it out.

To prevent any union of Imperial force on Tarlius II, the Emerald serpent also launched an assault lasting many days against Patreus' Novgorod army in the southern wastes. However the results of the engagement were inconclusive, as winter storms in the southern hemisphere called a premature end to the fighting. By mid 03.018M42 however, control of the vast plains of Tarlius II was roughly evenly split between loyalist and chaos forces.

Eldar continue search

Deep within the hellish interior of the Cicatrix Maledictum the Aeldari continued their relentless search of Einmyrria's frozen wastes. Whilst every valley and crevice was systematically explored sure eyed rangers watched from the mountain peaks for any sign of movement.

Once more the host of Kel Sandros was interrupted in its task, challenged this time by the mutated and corpulent servants of the god of decay. At first the cunning Aeldari simply allowed the diseased warband to approach, feigning ignorance of their presence to draw them in. Then, when the moment was right they sprang their ambush with customary speed and ferocity.

With surprise achieved Autarch Alarielle was supremely confident that the warhost's overwhelming firepower would cut down the slowly shambling horde of corrupted humanity before it could reach the Aeldari's positions. This overconfidence was almost the Aeldari's undoing. Shrugging off the dazzling storm of energy weaponry and shuriken discs with disgusting resilience fuelled by the closeness of the warp the servants of decay strode forward.

As the warrior aspects that formed the spearhead of the warhost were consumed by billowing clouds of pestilence Alarielle realised they had severely underestimated their foe. Eventually the servants of decay began to drop one by one as the Aeldari focused their fire and successively fell back to fresh positions. Each time the Aeldari fell back they left behind them the bodies of their dead but slowly the strength of the chaos warband was sapped. When there was no more ground left to give Alarielle lead the hoste's warlocks in a final counter attack that cut through the shambling hordes of plague zombies and finally broke the warband's strength.

Victory had been won, but the price had been high and Alarielle wept to see so many Aeldari lying broken on the frozen land of this forsaken world. They would honour their sacrifice by achieving their mission. The search would continue.

Image: https://r7ll.deviantart.com/art/Eldar-Autarch-47997392

Global Modifiers

Current Modifiers

Modifiers affect the number of points you get from games. A standard win at 2000 points gives you 4 points, then you apply the difference between your and your opponent's modifiers. You always get your base points, but if you have a positive modifier score, you add that to your win points.

Modifiers to games in the Foramen Campaign are based on how many space stations you have in that system:

https://alephsectorfiction.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/the-foramen-campaign-how-it-works.html

Global Modifiers affect the campaign elsewhere (Hylas, Eris, anywhere not in the Foramen). You inflict a -1 modifier to your opponent's faction when you beat them IF you are not using a Lord of War/Primarch etc. 

These modifiers plus local modifiers end up telling you how many points you will gain if you win - or how many points your opponent will get with their win.

Your faction's success or failure in the Foramen campaign also directly affects modifiers in the "Imperial Nihilis"

Global Modifiers

Currently these are +/-0 for everyone. Notice that winning a gothic game also helps.

Imperial Nihilis Modifiers

Orks: +0
Tau: +2
Chaos +6
Loyalist Imperium: +11
Tyranids: +0
Federacy: +0
Necrons: +6
Dark Eldar: +0
Crusade: +7
"Alliance": +4

Foramen Modifiers

Destino: Novgorod expedition to retake "New Swindon" fails

On Destino, the Imperial forces or "loyalists" had successfully driven off several Crusade assaults, and now largely controlled the system. However the intervention of the eldar blocked their overall control of the system, and on 1802.018M42 the Imperial fleet, now freed from monitoring and shadowing the Crusade, whose fleet had been withdrawn, was able to launch a full scale invasion of "Allarielle's Triumph".

The Novogorod Guard were once again in the forefront of a loyalist advance and landed without incident. However they were soon assaulted by the fast moving forces of the Kel Sandros Eldar. Unable to establish a perimeter against the eldar, who continually launched close and personal strikes into the Guard lines

Tarlius II: Grey Knights invasion. Novgorod win in the south

War on Tarlius continued unabated as 02/018M42 progressed. The Grey Knights sallied forth from their base on Tarlius 1 to land a devastating strike against the Death Guard, dropping from the heavens from their strike cruisers, now in permanent station at their base and just a few hours from Tarlius II, where the war between the Imperium and chaos raged on. The Death Guard were smashed by the surprise assault, and the manifestation of Mortarion himself was banished to the warp. This time however the Death Guard did not withdraw. They saw their holy duty to expunge all daemon and human presence on the world, so began setting up another base on Tarlius 2 itself. Now any force on the world was only an hour from finding itself under attack from the Ordo Malleus strike force.

In the south of Tarlius, General Patreus continued to prosecute the war against chaos. The Novgorod had managed to hold the advance against the more conventional forces of chaos, and now they pressed their advantage. A continuous rolling barrage preceded the Guard advance, and the Thousand sons were unable to stop the momentum of the imperial advance. By 2002.018M42 the Imperium under Patreus had established a new front line against chaos and controlled much of the western hemisphere. However now the Imperial General had just as much to fear from the Grey Knights as the forces of chaos.

Aleph Sector: Current warzones

Kel Sandros land on Einmyrria

Even as the powers of the Aleph sector fought and bled for control of the Foramen Minoris ancient webway portals opened on the forgotten world of Einmyrria and a mighty Aeldari warhost poured forth. Spreading out across the barren, icy wasteland they began the search the planet's surface, combing the mountainous regions with jetbikes, grav tanks and Swooping Hawks in a rapidly executed search pattern.

Where once the world had only been host to roving bands of Tyrannoform creatures now, bathed in the roiling energies of the warp, far darker forces now called Einmyrria home. It wasn't long before one search party encountered the planet's new masters.

In the ruins of an abandoned Imperial base the Aeldari came face to face with their own worst nightmare, the dread servants of She Who Thirsts. Fuelled by a passionate hatred beyond human comprehension the Aeldari launched an immediate attack even as nearby forces abandoned their search and rushed to the area. Such was their fury that the Aeldari were headless of their own lives and rushed forwards with reckless abandon. Despite the cost they ruthlessly crushed the human pawns along with the daemonic forces that arrived across the howling wastes to their aid and not one servant of She Who Thirsts escaped that bloody battlefield.

Counting the bitter price in their own dead the Aeldari went back to their search, seemingly determined to find that which they sought in the hellish landscape.

Image: https://www.deviantart.com/art/Eldar-Faction-Splash-589819245

The Aeldari of Kel Sandros

Farseer Tarquil allowed his mind to wander the paths of fate, gazing upon the myriad of possible futures the runes showed to him and felt despair. So few strands of fate ended in anything but disaster and damnation, not just for the Aeldari race but for the very galaxy itself. The path that Kel Sandros had so long striven to avoid now seemed inevitable. The opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum was but the first physical manifestation of the human race's inevitable self inflicted destruction. Like the Aeldari before them mankind's collective consciousness was fuelling the turmoil of the warp, birthing a foulness in their own image that, upon its manifestation, would not only destroy their own race but bring about the Rhana Dandra and the final ascendancy and triumph of the Chaos gods over the material plane.

The only way to escape such an ending was the rapid culling of humanity, a genocide on a scale unlike any the universe had ever seen. With the powers of Chaos waxed strong and the end times close at hand only a quick and rapid annihilation would succeed for in its slow decline from grace the Imperium fed the power of the warp with the suffering, violence and bigoted superstition of its trillions of soles. 

Tarquil saw one glimmer of hope, one shining strand of fate in a sea of despair. As the powers of Chaos neared their final triumph they were made vulnerable by their own success. With the fall of the Cadian gate and the division of the Imperium mankind now fought a war on all fronts. Once again there was an opportunity for the Aeldari to succeed where they had failed during the heresy, to provoke a total war that would see Chaos consume its own fuel source and be bled dry in the process. Into the vacuum a new power would ascend, one that would have the power to pacify the stars without feeding the hunger of thirsting gods.

Tarquil caste his gaze to a region of space in the far galactic east. On this cluster of stars the fate of the galaxy hung. There the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum had cut the fledgling T'au Empire off from its path of expansion, even as the Imperium controlled a stable passageway through the immense warp rift. If the situation could be reversed the T'au would be free to expand unchecked into worlds totally isolated from centres of Imperial power and the guiding light of the Emperor's beacon. The fog of uncertainty lifted for a brief instant and Tarquil knew what must be done.

Tarlius 2: Hell continues

Despite the appointment of General Patreus to overall command on Tarlius, the situation on the second world took a turn for the worse in mid 02.018M42 as the forces of chaos, thought to be scattered and unsupported, received reinforcement.

The first the Imperium knew of the new power rising on the world was an outbreak of an unknown plague in the Imperial ranks, followed by reports of fighting in an area of the planet not controlled by Patreus or his forces. Scanning the area and sending in the Imperial navy to overfly the scene of battle, it became apparent that the Emerald Serpent was under attack from another chaos force, shrouded in an unholy miasma and accompanied by foul daemonic entities. The forces of Nurgle had arrived.

In truth, the Death Guard and their retinue had arrived on Tarlius with the intention of claiming the world for Nurgle, a situation the Emerald Serpent were none to happy with. Outraged by this interference by his brother Mortarion, Magnus the Red wasted no time and immediately set upon his siblings forces. However in a series of battles Magnus was bested again and again, and eventually had to come to terms with the fact that the Death Guard were now part of the chaos army on Tarlius 2. Should they be successful in removing the Imperium and plunging the system into the Cicatrix Maledictum, the world would now belong to Nurgle.

Meanwhile in the southern sector the Thousand Sons reappeared, assaulting and taking several key installations from Patreus' southern defences. Unable to respond immediately the Imperial General was pleased to see the arrival of a small contingent of Astartes of the Carcharadon chapter. Formerly part of the Crusade and with their loyalties still in doubt, nonetheless the Space Sharks attacked the Thousand Sons. On Tarlius the aims of the Crusade and loyalists were in alignment in any case, and neither Inquisition faction wanted to see the system fall to chaos.

The Carcharadon's were however unable to prevent the Thousand Sons from overrunning Patreus' southern flank, and while the Emerald Serpent and Magnus wasted time and energy fighting the Death Guard, the traitor legion he once led quietly made gains against the Imperium.

Destino: Crusade suffer setbacks

While Inquisitor Vorushko stayed in the Perseus Deeps consolidating her position, Crusade forces under the nominal command of Arch Magos Cybixx continued to try to establish a presence in the Destino system. Apart from a small eldar presence and the outer Imperial Fists fortress of Gregoria, Vandrax had essentially been secured for the Crusade, but Destino and Paradorn would be needed as well for the Crusade - and Vorushko - to complete their final plan to close off the Foramen Minoris. Standing in their way were Inquisitor Lord Hathek's "loyalist" forces, who were under instructions to prevent any other force, including the Crusade, from establishing a presence in the system.

In early 02.018M42 Cybixx learned of a personal threat to his own position, as a minor inquisitor loyal to Hathek had appeared in the Destino system, investigating Cybixx's latest actions and his past. Realising the Inquisitor may find out more than he ought to know, Cybixx sent a significant task force to Destino 3, a Loyalist base, in order to apprehend this dangerous member of the Inquisition.

The Mechanicum forces landed without incident and managed to find the Inquisitor in a relatively exposed position, far from Loyalist support and accompanied by only a small force of Novgorod Guard. The Adeptus Mechanicus forces attacked at once, knowing they would have to complete their capture of the Inquisitor and leave the world before the far larger loyalist forces surged out of their bases and overwhelmed them.

Despite devastating the accompanying Novgorod regiment, the loyalists managed to shield their Inquisitor from Cybixx's fire, and held on long enough to call for aid. Realising that the panicked comms signals indicated the imminent arrival of overwhelming force, the Mechanicum were forced to withdraw without their prize. If the Inquisitor had found out about Cybixx's past, there was now nothing he could do to prevent this information from reaching Lord Hathek.

Later in 02.018M42 the Crusade's main event occurred on Destino 1, as the Crusade force, led once again by the Mechanicum with the support of the Grey Knights, attempted to annihilate the Imperial Guard forces sent by Hathek to secure Destino 1 and create another loyalist base. A large set piece battle developed, which favoured the loyalists far more than the elite forces of the crusade, and the overwhelming firepower of the guard was brought to bear on the plains of the hot innermost world of the Destino system.

By 1602.018M42 the Crusade assault was called off, and the loyalists allowed them to withdraw, once again the loyalist fleet refusing to engage in a space action with the Crusade. With Destino 1 secured and the construction of a base underway, Hathek's grip on the Destino system tightened.

Hylas: Van Dorn continues offensive

The success of Imperial forces on Hylas continued into mid 02.018M42 as Van Dorn continued his offensive in the southern half of Hylas. Buoyed by recent successes and the arrival of reinforcements, the Novgorod Guard pushed on from their new front line positions to the last settlement to hold out in the southern half of the planet's single continent. Covering hundreds of miles in just a few days, the guard entered Benger on 1202.018M42, and managed to push the orks out of the dilapidated city by 1602.018M42

The Imperium could now see the end of the long war on Hylas in sight, but Van Dorn's supply lines were now stretched, as Administratum logistics struggled to keep up with the pace of the offensive. Now Benger stood at the tip of a long salient, and Van Dorn's men threatened to cut the orks in Berkeley off from supply from the south. Everyone now waited for the ork counter attack, which must surely come.

Tarlius: Gregland founded

While General Patreus was trying to restore order on Tarlius 2 following the arrival of the Grey Knights, complaining bitterly to sector commander Titus Luthor, Arch Magos Vargus decided to send a significant portion of his expedition to the Tarlius system. Arriving in early 02.018M42 Vargus’ force requested permission from Patreus to land a force on the only remaining unexplored planet in the system, Tarlius 3. 

Welcoming their arrival Patreus readily agreed, but the plans of Vargus were not entirely altruistic.   The mechanicum has reason to believe that ancient archeotech lay beneath the surface of the world and Vargus was keen to establish the Adeptus Mechanicus as the custodians of the world. He also needed a base of operations preferably not under the noses of the Imperial Administratum. 

The adeptus mechanicus force landed on the world and established a landing zone, but were immediately assaulted by a host of daemons, in much the same way as on Tarlius 1 and 2. 

Fully expecting such an attack, Vargus had prepared his expedition well, and the daemons also struggled from uncoordinated and piecemeal attacks - as of the assault was a reflexive act rather than a deliberate military operation. After days of fighting the daemonic incursion was neutralised by the Mechanicum forces, at least for now, and the world was designated “Gregland” by the expedition, who claimed it for the Machine God. 

Hylas:Van Dorn launches new offensive

For many months the war on Hylas had entered a silent phase. On the wrong side of the Cicatrix Maledictum general Van Dorn had almost lost hope of reinforcements from the Imperium. Oblivious to the creation of the Foramen and the Inquisition struggle between Vorushko and Harhek, the general had been doggedly digging in, ensuring the orks had no chance to regroup. 

The orks in fact were in just as much difficulty as the imperium. The warp scar had devastated the Vork Ork expanse and the orks on Hylas were leaderless. So when a strike cruiser appeared in orbit and hailed Van Dorn the morale boost to the imperial defenders was huge. 

The Angels Repentant has arrived with just one company, and informed Van Dorn that the imperial HQ on Bastien was quite intact, and that while Libria and other systems had been lost, Hylas would not join them. 

Van Dorn immediately agreed to a new offensive, and threw his regiments of Novgorod guard into the assault. With the new arrivals the imperium managed a broad front attack for the first time in years, with the astartes concentrating on the fortified settlement of Desmond, while the guard moved on Finlay. 

During early 02.018M42 the imperium ground away at the ork defences with renewed enthusiasm. Both settlements fell, and now Van Dorn was looking at a possible end to the war on Hylas - an end which meant imperial victory. 

Grey Knights raid Tarlius, create base

Having raided the loyalist assets on Destino, the Grey Knights moved on to Tarlius, where there were real concerns about the repeated daemonic incursions on multiple worlds. Arriving in system the Astartes were not challenged although they did not explain their mission or in any way attempt to communicate with Imperial forces.

On Tarlius, crusade goals intersected with those of Hathek, but the Grey Knights concluded that every regiment involved in combat with daemonic forces would need to be cleansed for the good of mankind. A view not shared by Hathek and likely be opposed by Imperial forces in any case.

The Astartes began their operations in the Tarlius system by arriving on force on Tarlius I. Here they found Magnus himself, in strength, accompanied by the Emerald Serpent Cabal and a host of traitor guard. In a series of major engagements, the daemons were systematically eliminated from the surface of the world wherever they manifested, while the Grey Knights progressively exterminated th traitorous Darrantine Guard.

Over the course of a Terran month chaos forces were cleaned from Tarlius I, and the hot desert world soon became a permanent base of operations for the Ordo Malleus. However, they now had to deal with the situation on Tarlius II.

On the second world of the Tarlius system the Lycaon Guard were resting after repeated engagements against Magnus and the Emerald serpent. For now the hellish conditions on the planet had subsided, and the remaining chaos forces had gone to ground. However, the Grey Knights had irrefutable proof the loyalist guard regiment had been "tainted' by their exposure to the denizens of the warp, or soon would be. 

On 2201.018M42 a surprise assault by the Grey Knights brought havoc to the confused and unprepared Lycaons. In several hours of slaughter the astartes sought out those units known to have witnessed daemonic incursion and wiped them out, before withdrawing to their now fully operational base on the inner world. Whether the Grey Knights on Tarlius I were a blessing or a curse for Titus Luthor remained to be seen.

Destino: Sky Lords & Kel Sandros enter the fray

The loyalists at Destino had suffered serious setbacks after continuous raids conducted by the Grey Knights. However in early 018M42 the Grey Knights had departed the system, en route for the chaos infestation of Tarlius. The Crusade attempted to follow up the Grey Knights' success, deploying a company of Sky Lords into the system. The crusade astartes immediately landed on Tarlius 5, where they expected to find a weakened loyalist outpost. However, poor communication between crusade forces meant the Sky Lords were totally ignorant of the loyalist positions on the Ice World. In fact, new forces had landed on the world led by Arch Magos Vargus, whose Adeptus Mechanicus forces were in orbit and exploiting the world's resources.

The loyalist mechanicum soon found out that their newly colonised world - named "New Swindon" - had been invaded by the Crusade. Both sides sent out scout forces which eventually blundered into each other on 2001.018M42. The resulting encounters saw the Sky Lords make the initial gains, taking several key installations from the Mechanicum. However, superior firepower soon forced a general retreat by the Crusade force, and yet another failed invasion of Tarlius was added to the Crusade records.

The Key Sandros Eldar however were growing concerned. It appeared that the loyalists, despite the predations of the Grey Knights, were in the main prevailing in the Destino system. This was certainly not what the Xenos wanted, and they decided to establish a presence in the system as they had at Paradorn and Vandrax. Taking advantage of the recent fighting on the ice world of Destino 4, the eldar struck the Adeptus Mechanicus forces amid a swirling snow storm. Using the weather and the tall buildings of the loyalists against them, the xenos were soon amongst the Mechanicum, using their close range firepower and close combat prowess to overwhelm and eventually massacre much of Vargus' forces. The world of New Swindon was swiftly evacuated, as the Kel Sandros openly communicated to their vanquished foes. "Know this world as "Allariele's Triumph, Mon-Keigh!"

Grey Knights raid Destino

Although allied to the Crusade and supportive of Vorushko's aims, the Grey Knights maintained their full independence of action in the Foramen campaign. While Vorushko rallied support on the Imperial worlds of the Perseus Deeps, and Cybixx continued his research on Vandrax, the Grey Knights decided to make sure that Hathek's "loyalists" would be unable to consolidate their positions on Destino.

Lacking enough forces to effect a full invasion, the Grey Knights detached a small force to raid and destroy the defences on Destino 3. With two precision strikes, the Astartes force was able to circumvent the Imperial fleet with ease, and drop forces directly on the defenders of the defence laser positions around the Imperial base. Still under construction, the Adeptus Mechanicus were the unlucky recipients of the "visitation" from the Ordo Malleus, and were given no time or opportunity to make their case to the Grey Knights. They were simply assaulted and systematically destroyed by the elite astartes force. At the beginning of 018M42 Hathek's loyalists found their position on Destino distinctly compromised.

Paradorn: Eldar consolidate presence

Ever since the Foramen passage through the CIcatrix Maledictum had opened, the eldar had been watching. Initially they merely engaged in spoiling attacks as the forces of the Imperium battle those of chaos for control of Paradorn, the anchor of both the Foramen Majoris and Foramen Minoris. Lacking in forces, the Aeldari had come to the conclusion that their best hope lay in the Alliance forcing a passage through from the galactic south.

Following the obvious reluctance of the Tau to even get involved, and General Elliot's woeful display at Destino, the eldar finally decided to intervene in force. The craftworld of Kel Sandros once again disregarded its former policy of manipulation of events, and decided to shape the outcome themselves.

Without warning the Kel Sandros forces appeared from the webway and sent a significant force to the third planet, attacking the mainly Librian garrison forces on the world. However their intent was not to destroy infrastructure or invade the world itself, but to deal a blow to the forces the Imperium would be able to commit to any counterstrike, as on Paradorn 2, Aeldari seers were carefully reopening the ancient and dilapidated webway portal. 

The attack bought the eldar time, and despite finding the Librian defenders a surprisingly tough nut to crack, they were able to force the Imperium into defending their bases, diverting the Imperial fleet from its patrols and allowing the rituals to continue unmolested. By the end of 01.018M42 the eldar had a fully functional webway portal on Paradorn 2, and would be able to deploy significant forces rapidly should the Imperium - or anyone else - try to remove them from the world. The thorn in the side of the Imperial hold on Paradorn had now become that much sharper.