Apocalypse on Ordel V. - The Final Assault - Part 1

++++Incoming Transmission++++

+from Segmentum Obscurus Command, Cypra Mundi+

+to Departmento Munitorum, Terra+

+security Ultima+

+date 0319014.M03+

The imperial forces engaged to secure the agri-world Ordel V have failed in their attempt to reclaim the planet from invading xenos forces. Elements of the Iron Hands, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Grey Knights, and Lords of Vengeance have participated in a year long campaign for control of the world, but after the loss of the capital city, Populi Ordel, Segmentum Command has determined that the planet is now of limited tactical significance compared to other objectives within the Segmentum.

Reports from the Inquisition that an artifact of unknown provenance still exists on the planet have yet to be substantiated.

The Astartes forces were able to fight a delaying action that allowed a portion of the population, and much of the world’s industrial and materiel infrastructure, to be evacuated.

The Astartes will form the core of a new crusade fleet that will prosecute all out war against the denizen’s of the worlds of the Lazarus Reach, a frontier realm that fell from the light of the God-Emperor over 5,000 years ago. The survivors of Ordel V will be the first settlers on the worlds reclaimed during this glorious crusade.

The Astartes and Ordel survivors will rendezvous with Imperial Navy and Astra Militarum elements under the command of Warmaster Baldus, at the mining world Krakan.

The Emperor Protects.

Lord Commander Militant Drang,

Segmentum Obscurus

Narrative by Dr. Ew from the http://thelazaruseffect.blogspot.com/.

This is an Apocalypse Battle Report, in 3 parts, provided from the perspective of the Blood Angels player (me). The battle took place between an Imperial defense force (consisting of Blood Angels, Iron Hands, and the Lords of Vengeance); and an Eldar with Dark Eldar attack fleet. We used 6 standard objectives and the center-piece bastion was an additional objective. The table was 12 feet by 6 feet with the Xenos coming in from the forest fringe.

It was a 24,000 point game.

Deployment:

Both sides kept quite a lot in reserves; in Apocalypse "Strategic Reserves" allow you to bring in most of your force on turn 1 and 2.

For Super-Heavies, we (the Imperial defense forces) had 2 Knight Titans and a BaneBlade.

After deployment we grabbed a quick breakfast; with a coffee in one hand and a beer in the other we started turn 1...

Eldar / Dark Eldar Turn 1:

Things got ugly real quick as an entire Dark Eldar force slipped into our deployment zone while a formation of Wraithknights deep-struck in for support.

The Vindicare Assassin was taking heavy fire immediately.

Dark Eldar firepower began taking out critical units right out of the gate.

Imperial Turn 1:

Yes, unfortunately one of the Imperial Knight Titans was killed on turn 1! The Imperial forces did get some minor degree of revenge; The Iron Hand's Forge-Father astutely recognized the (haywire) threat of the Scourges and Vypers, thus every bolter was trained on those units, and they were mostly eliminated during this turn.

The Xenos deployed a Shield Generator (Strategic Asset) in our turn so that we could not draw line of sight to several of their units, including all of the bloody Wraithknights!

Commander Dante sent this assault squad on a one-way mission to eliminate Prince Yriel (and thus prevent his Orbital Strikes). They succeeded with heavy losses and then stayed locked in combat with a Farseer.

Despite a 2+ Cover Save the Vindicare Assassin, and the Thunderfire Cannon, died before either could fire a shot.

End of Game Turn 2:

This unit of Striking Scorpions were chased and shot at for several turns and never seemed to take many losses.

The StormRavens zoom across the table and some Lords of Vengeance Terminators deep-strike onto the Bastion of Medusa to face the Xenos infestation.

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They are known as the Lords of Vengeance.  For millennia these Astartes have been known for their strict devotion and adherence to the imperial Saint Solkan “The Avenger” and his doctrine of total war and vengeance for all that opposed the Emperor of mankind.

Their home world of Sugarak is the imperial shrine world dedicated to Solkan and said to be the site of his greatest victory over the heathen masses.  Stories tell of Solkan putting to fire over half of the population before the rest saw the true light of the Emperors kindness and bent the knee to the imperial creed.  It is lost to history if Solkan was a great Lord commander Militant of the Astra Militarum, a Fleet admiral or just an extremely charismatic figure who got many to follow.  What is known is that he was relentless in his pursuit of the enemies of mankind and chaos in all its form.

Apart from Sugarak, the Lords of Vengeance also have a small presence on the shrine world of Saint Arianka, the great martyr to Chaos and said to be the sister of Solkan (but many think just one of his disciples). 

The Lords of vengeance wear smoke-grey armor with red outlines.  This symbolizes the smoke and flames of the pyres Solkan would erect for the burning bodies of his enemies.  Their most elite troops are allowed to wear black on their armor, the color preferred by Solkan himself.

Although catching the eyes of the inquisition from time to time as they investigated some of the Lords of Vengence’s more thorough cleansings of populations and worlds, the Ecclesiarchy has always backed the chapter and used their influence to calm any issues that had arose regarding the space marines past discretions, as they see them as a great tool to spread the Imperial Creed or, more likely, stop the spread of any heretical beliefs that may be spreading on a world or system.

Even with the Ecclesiarchy’s approval, the Inquisition has kept tabs on the rumors that the gene seed of the Lords of vengeance may not be as pure as its parent chapter.  Back before the Heresy itself, legionaries gossiped that the Ultra Marines ranks swelled around the same time the 2nd and 11th legions were expunged.  It is believed by some that the Lords of Vengeance gene seed was taken, not from a descendent of Guilliman, but rather one of his lost brothers.

Perhaps it’s this degenerative gene seed that has cause the rift in the Lords of Vengeance at this very time.  After suffering numerous defeats at the hand of the Eldar on Ordel V, one of the chapters most potent Epistolaries Psyker, named Janestus, started speaking of being given the tactics and new battle gear needed to defeat the Eldar by “friends”.  Although he refused to say how he came by it or what these new gifts were, many of his brothers followed him into the battlefield as the remaining Lords of Vengeance were fighting around the capital of Ordel V.

After numerous successful raids on the Elder warhost that dotted the Ordel V landscape, Janestus and his warband contacted the main force to tell them of the “awful truth” they had learned.  This “truth”, as Janestus claims, is that the chapter is fighting the wrong enemy.  The real enemy is the Imperium of Man itself!  For why would the Imperium not allow the use of this new technology Janestus had received from his “friends”, why would they be sent to battle on a ruined Agro-planet to sap their strength and moral, why would the Mechanicum not allow the great wargear Janestus has seen wielded by his friends, Why?  Because, as Janestus claims, the Imperium of man is working with Chaos and needs to be destroyed to truly destroy Chaos!

After his rambling vox-cast ended, communication with Janestus has not been regained.  Squads have been sent out to track the warband down as their help will surely be needed in the coming fight, however, nothing has been found of them but the huge piles of smoking bodies left behind; both elder and human, and the sounds of screams and laughter just over the next hill.

While all recon squads have been called back to Orderl V’s capital city to prepare for the coming final battle for the planet, Janestus and his group have been labeled as missing in action, presumed dead.  What has truly befallen them, and what they have truly become is not yet known.

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The Imperial deployment zone was a blood bath with the Wraithknights finally at least taking some wounds. Most of the Scourges and Vypers were purged.  Squads of Veterans had also landed in Drop Pods to direct bolter fire at the Wraithknights.

After this turn (2) we took a break, which meant that this was a scoring turn. In Apocalypse scoring is counted at the scheduled breaks. The idea of 'breaks' might seem strange but in Apocalypse it is an absolutely necessary mechanic. We ate Tacos and GingerCats, had more beer and got ready for turn 3...

Score at the end of turn 2: Xenos 6, Imperial 1

Part 2 of this Bat-Rep will include turns 3 and 4; Part 3 with include turn 5 and the final turn (6). Thanks for viewing!

Giant Trees for 40K Apocalypse!

Our last battle was fought on a 12x6 foot table with 12,000 points per side. To have some large line-of-sight blocking terrain pieces I threw together some giant trees.

I started with some cheap (Home Goods) fake Bonsai Trees like this:

I pulled them out of the planters, then hot glued them to my own MDF and sculpted foamcore base.

Then I used coarse Pumice to cover the lines and add some texure...

And finally I added some paint and green flock/grass to finish them off; though eventually I will go back and repaint the tree bark and even Matte finish the leaves (I was running out of time before the big game!)...

Here are the rules we used for the trees in our Apocalypse game; just for fun I made an Apocalypse data-sheet:

War Continues to Rage on Ordel V...

Millennia ago, Librarians of the Blood Angels Legion found far beneath a then thriving metropolis, an artifact possessing undreamed of power and menace.  The Lords of Terra had advised Commander Dante to see the object destroyed; but he believed then that the Imperium might one day find its use and instead secured its hidden location. There it remained forgotten for many centuries while the cities of Ordel V experienced long periods of peace and prosperity.

Dante's gamble however, eventually brought extinction to the entire civilian population of Ordel V, and prompted a perpetual war between numerous and unexpected forces, all seeking to uncover this hidden objective.  It is believed that the Dark Angels Legion were the first to seek out the artifact, betraying Commander Dante while sowing discord and chaos by luring hostile Xenos into the system.

The Blood Angels stood to defend the cities of Ordel V in the first epic clash on its soil; The Dark Angels were able to sway the Inquisition to join their forces.  The battle is recorded here: http://atticwars40k.blogspot.com/2014/01/escalation-and-stronghold-assault.html

The Inquisition soon came to understand the true nature of this conflict and then joined forces with the Blood Angels in defense of certain strategic assets versus the Dark Angels and their conscripted Imperial Guard allies. The battle is recorded here: http://atticwars40k.blogspot.com/2014/02/mega-battle-escalation-stronghold.html

The now ruined and war torn cities of Ordel V became a desperate stage of continuous war, and the massive conflicts drew the unwanted attention of the Great Devourer. As the Hive Fleet approached reinforcements were called upon from all sides. The battles are recorded here: http://atticwars40k.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-7th-edition-to-great-beginning.html

Throughout the various major and minor cities of the planet smaller engagements continued with bloody result... some battles are recorded here: http://atticwars40k.blogspot.com/2014/09/chaos-versus-eldar.html; and here: http://thelazaruseffect.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-poison-tree.html

Another colossal clash seemed unavoidable as the hidden asset remained yet unclaimed. The Grey Knights yet again fight along side the Dark Angels as they recognize the alternative, Xenos control in the sector, is entirely unacceptable. Battle deployments are recorded here: http://atticwars40k.blogspot.com/2014/07/apocalypse-deployment.html

As the Hive Fleet began its hungry assault, the ever opportunistic Eldar seized the chance to attack. Below are scenes from the battle...

Following a brutal campaign Imperial and Eldar forces achieved equal footing, each controlling the same number of strategic locations, thus the battle finally came down to the loss or gain of a single objective. The stubborn carapace of a Tyrannofex beast held off an immeasurable amount of firepower clinching a temporary victory for the Xenos forces...

The war shall however continue as the Imperium calls upon the Blood Angels to return to Ordel V along with brothers of the Iron Hands Legion and a second founding company of Ultramarines' lineage.