++Fate of Konor - Week 6: Death of a World++

[OPTIMVSCHRISTVS]

Looks like it'll be quite easy to get your whole army into combat on turn 1...assuming you aren't shot off the board immediately.

[MoGuy]

Previous missions were in favor of the Imps so this is justice. Let them have a taste of how difficult it is to fight an uphill battle!

 

Also, the attacker has turn 1. We can't seize the initiative.

[Mekhitar]

I'm glad they made imperium the attacker rather than chaos the defender. Can you imagine facing an attacking army of eldar? Ouch! Edited August 24, 2017 by Mekhitar

[Panzer]

Well we had a similar mission with Imperium as attacker already. Just vehicle based and without the collapsing ground mechanic.

[Lagrath]

I really wanted to do the North America week 4 (so fluffy for Nurgle!), but couldn't find an opponent.

 

Tomorrow night I am doing the week 5 mission, with a twist:  I am defending with 3,000 points of Nurgle Daemons to trap two Imperial friends with 1,500 each on the planet.

 

3,000 points of Epidemius army-wide buffs sounds great!  I am very torn between including Scabby from Forgeworld (might need a harder hitter in the back deployment zone, plus he'll buff my 60 plague bearers and 18 nurglings in range during the fight phase) versus 6 nurgle obliterators + 3 giant nurgle spawn...

[Iron-Daemon Forge]

++Week five: Drenthal++

 

https://warhammer40000.com/blog/chaos-victory-vanitor/

 

 

 

Vanitor writhes with corruption, and the roiling warp storms that ravage its surface bring vast hosts of Daemons into reality. The Imperium’s vital astropathic relay now acts as a beacon to the creatures of the warp.

 

Chaos forces had taken Vanitor early in the war for the Konor System, slaughtering its unprepared Imperial defenders with ease. By maintaining the furious momentum of their planetary assaults, the followers of the Dark Gods had managed to keep their foe staggered and confused, and unaware of the potential cataclysm that was brewing upon the isolated wilderness world. Yet the growing psychic disruption caused by its tormented choir of astropaths could not be masked for long. Finally freed from the apocalyptic wasteland of fire-ravaged Nethamus, Imperial fleets made for Vanitor at top speed.

 

Having been unsuccessful in their attempts to starve the Konor System into submission by destroying Nethamus’ food production capability, it was vital for the Chaos forces to maintain control of Vanitor and its twisted psychic beacon. Vast armies of Heretic Astartes, mortal cultists and corrupted war machines flocked to the planet, establishing a fearsome network of fortifications and killing zones. Led by the Daemon hunters of the Grey Knights, the Imperial armies crashed into these defences, blasting them apart with ceaseless barrages of bunker-breaking artillery, and relentless assaults by infantry and towering war machines. The loyalists were buoyed by their victory upon Nethamus, and were reinforced and well supplied. The sheer sledgehammer might of the Astra Militarum’s tank regiments ground millions of cultist defenders to bloody paste beneath their relentless advance, and even the elite Heretic Astartes were sorely pressed by the sheer ferocity of the attack. It was only the endless seeping of daemonic entities into reality, drawn like sharks to blood by the power of Vanitor’s psychic emanations, that sealed the doom of the Imperial forces.

Slowly, inevitably, the momentum of the Imperial assault was reversed, until its armies were in full retreat. Trapped between the murderous mountain forts and tides of Daemons sweeping in from warp breaches across the plains of Vanitor, the Imperials were soon surrounded. The subsequent carnage was appalling, as the hungry denizens of the warp glutted their eternal hunger upon mortal flesh. Less than half of the invasion force escaped alive. As the tortured screams of the astropathic choir reached a piercing crescendo, the skies above Vanitor split apart like an open wound.

 

Drenthal

 

https://warhammer40000.com/blog/week-five-drenthal/

 

 

 

A seemingly endless ocean covers Drenthal, dotted by island archipelagos and vast floating habitations. It is home to a number of large Aeronautica Imperialis training academies.

 

Situated near to the forge world of Konor, Drenthal is a vast blue orb ringed by burning orbital stations and warring battleships. The remnants of the Konor Defence Fleet are trapped in orbit around the planet, encircled by a Chaos armada that vomits more landing ships into the Drenthal’s upper atmosphere with every passing minute. The ocean world’s close proximity to Konor has made it an invaluable target for both Chaos and Imperial forces, as it is perfectly placed to stage counter-attacks and naval bombardments of that vital war zone. The planet’s orbital shipyards and gun platforms have already been atomized by macro-cannon fire and hull breaching missiles, but Drenthal’s planetside defences have not yet been overrun.

Due to its stable atmospherics, Drenthal has long been used as a training center by the Aeronautica Imperialis. Oceans cover almost ninety-five per cent of the planet’s surface, so the flight academies of the Imperial navy are contained upon colossal carriers, each as large as a small city and covered with landing strips, hangars and barracks. The rest of the world’s population exists upon floating metropolises known as seasteads, or else make their home upon scattered archipelagos of bleached shard-coral. Most of these seaborne habitations are now aflame, set alight by incendiary rockets and bombs unleashed by Chaos flyers.

 

In those seasteads that still stand, and across the island archipelagos, Imperial defenders fight savagely for every scrap of land, fending off massed aerial assaults and naval invasions. Imperial drop troops and Space Marine Inceptor Squads fearlessly hurl themselves into the fray, hurtling down from low orbit to smash into the enemy ranks. Bikes and speeders roar across banks of treacherous shard-coral, knifing into the flanks of advancing columns with bolters blazing. The ground battle is ferocious, but Drenthal’s terrain is ill-suited to massed formations of armour and infantry, and so the fiercest battles rage in the skies above. Hell-forged drakes screech and whirl above the devastation, snatching Imperial transports out of the sky, or swooping low to incinerate terrified soldiers and civilians. Every Aeronautica Imperialis aircraft available is in the air, launching endless sorties against these Daemon-forged monsters, supported by the Stormraven Gunships of the Adeptus Astartes.

 

Burning wreckage falls like rain across Drenthal. The Imperium, dreading the prospect of a Chaos victory, begins to prepare a doomsday strategy to deny the heretics their prize. Should all appear lost, Drenthal’s fusion-powered drill platforms, which mine vital fuel-crystals from beneath the planet’s crust, will be set to overcharge. The resultant geothermal trauma will tear Drenthal apart in a last act of spiteful defiance.

 

Mission: Countdown to Destruction

 

https://warhammer40000.com/mission-5-countdown-destruction/

 

 

Despite a valiant attempt to contain the invading forces, and with the Walking Pox running amok amongst the rapidly dwindling population of Drenthal, Imperial High Command has taken the desperate decision to overcharge the fusion core of Terebral Station Sigma. All loyalist forces must fight their way to freedom or perish amid the planet’s destruction.

 

THE ARMIES

Each player must first muster an army from the miniatures in their collection. A player can include any models in their army, but if their army is Battle-forged, they will be able to use the unique Fate of Konor Stratagems and the appropriate Stratagems included within this mission.

In this mission, if one player’s Warlord has the IMPERIUM keyword, they are automatically the Attacker, and their opponent is the Defender. If both player’s Warlords have the IMPERIUM keyword, or neither player’s Warlord has the IMPERIUM keyword, the players must roll off to decide who will be the Attacker and who will be the Defender.

 

THE BATTLEFIELD

Create a battlefield using the deployment map included with this mission and then set up terrain. The Defender’s deployment zone should contain plenty of scattered ruins and obstacles that depict the fierce fighting that has taken place on Drenthal.
 

DEPLOYMENT

After terrain has been set up, the players then alternate deploying their units, one at a time, starting with the Defender. A player’s models must be set up wholly within their own deployment zone.

 

FIRST TURN

The Attacker has the first turn.

 

BREAKTHROUGH

The Attacker’s units can move off the battlefield edge labelled ‘Exit Route’ so long as all of the models in a unit are able to make it off the board in the same phase. Any units that do so have reached a space port behind the Defender’s line – they are removed from the battlefield and take no further part in the battle.

 

COLLAPSING GROUND

At the end of the first battle round, all models within 6″ of the Attacker’s battlefield edge are immediately slain as the ground collapses beneath them. At the end of each subsequent battle round, the range of this effect increases by 6″, so at the end of the second battle round all models within 12″ of the Attacker’s battlefield edge are immediately slain, or 18″ in after the third battle round, and so on. However, units that can FLY are unaffected.

 

BATTLE LENGTH

The players should use the Random Battle Length rules (see the Narrative Play Mission Rules in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook) to determine how long the battle lasts.

 

VICTORY CONDITIONS

At the end of the battle, add up the Power Ratings of all the Attacker’s units that moved off the battlefield via the Exit Route (see Breakthrough, above) and compare this to the Power Level of their army (count the entire unit’s Power Rating, even if only a single model escaped). If the combined Power Rating of the units that escaped is one third or more of the army’s Power Level, the Attacker wins a major victory. Any other result is a major victory for the Defender.

Note that as they can escape to safety at a moment’s notice, do not add the Power Ratings of the Attacker’s Flyers to the Power Level of their army or the combined Power Rating of the units that escaped – they are completely ignored for the purposes of this mission’s victory conditions. Furthermore, the Power Rating of any units that a Flyer transports off the battlefield do not count towards the combined Power Rating of the units that escaped; these units must first disembark before escaping if you wish them to count towards this mission’s victory conditions.

 

STRATAGEMS

In this mission, players can spend Command Points (CPs) to use the weekly Fate of Konor Stratagems, which are available in all participating stores or with any purchase of special weekly units at games-workshop.com. Players also have access to the following bonus Stratagems:

2CP

FORCED MARCH

Attacker Stratagem

Use this Stratagem at the start of your Movement phase so long as your Warlord is on the battlefield. If you do so, then when making Advance rolls for friendly units within 6″ of your Warlord you can roll three dice and pick the result.

3CP

AERIAL DOMINANCE

Defender Stratagem

Use this Stratagem at the end of the Movement phase to return a Flyer that was destroyed earlier in the battle to play. To do so, set up this model anywhere wholly within 20″ of the Defender’s battlefield edge that is not within 9″ of any enemy models.

1CP

DELAYING TACTICS

Defender Stratagem

Use this Stratagem in your opponent’s Movement phase if your opponent attempts to Fall Back with one of their units. Roll 2D6: if the roll is less than the unit’s Leadership, they can Fall Back as normal; if the roll is equal to or higher than their Leadership, the unit cannot Fall Back this turn.

 

 

[Goreshed]

So....week three again, except that they fixed the foolishness that could happen. Flyers don't count for vp, nor the units transported in them? Ok I'm sold. Glory to Chaos brothers!

[Chainsword Cookie]

Tomorrow I face a Khorne list with several FW daemon engines. It is going to be tough, but either way a point goes to Chaos. 

[Goreshed]

I think I'm going to try something along the lines of cultists spread out in the back field to prevent the deep strikers and off the board situation but I think I'll try out some raptors, maybe 3 squads of 5 just to try and tie up people in combat and get some board death that way.

 

Either way as an Iron Warrior this brings my heart immense joy to know an enemy has no choice but to advance into my guns.

[Goreshed]

Played the mission today, 50 power points a side vs Crimson Fists.

 

He had...Pedro, 2 Vanguard (storm sheild/thunder hammer), 2 Sternguard (combi/plas), 2 razorbacks with assault cannons.

 

I had a Lord (pretty bland, power axe and all), Sorcerer (bland,Death Hex and Infernal Gaze), 3 cultist squads with flamers (bland), a forgefiend with 2 ectoplasm, 2 helbrutes with multi metlas and scourges and a havok squad with lascannons.

 

The Game:

 

First turn he completely wiped out my havoks who I really wanted to try the porn gods strat on but they sadly never got the chance.

 

I had laid out my cultists so that he effectively couldn't deep strike anywhere into my deployment zone at all. Most of the heavy hitters were balanced in the center to prevent anything from hitting one side or the other too hard. He ended up going hard for one flank which I just enveloped him in. Used the cultists stratagem twice to get them back onto the field to tie up his units.

 

But at the end of turn 3 the only thing of his that remained was the three sternguard that managed to get off the table. Everything else was dead. Pedro was killed by a smite to the face and the game was over with.

 

I will say this, never underestimate the power of the dice. One of the cultist units (before it was murder/splatted) managed to kill two Vanguard marines while they were within rapid fire range. He had a lot of great rolls all game and some terrible ones.

 

So end of the night a victory to chaos. I'll take it.

[Lagrath]

I really wanted to do the North America week 4 (so fluffy for Nurgle!), but couldn't find an opponent.

 

Tomorrow night I am doing the week 5 mission, with a twist: I am defending with 3,000 points of Nurgle Daemons to trap two Imperial friends with 1,500 each on the planet.

 

3,000 points of Epidemius army-wide buffs sounds great! I am very torn between including Scabby from Forgeworld (might need a harder hitter in the back deployment zone, plus he'll buff my 60 plague bearers and 18 nurglings in range during the fight phase) versus 6 nurgle obliterators + 3 giant nurgle spawn...

I played the Scabby list and we called it after two game turns because I had destroyed 2/3rds of the Imperial army and tarpitted the survivors, and only lost some plague bearers, a heldrake, and a nurgling squad. Both of my opponents were shellshocked. One guy had 1500 points of Primaris Marines including a dreadnought, the other had 1500 points of Guads including a Knight Atrapeos. I have more details on my Facebook blog at the link.

[Panzer]

Well it's a narrative mission in a campaign and those are prone for not being balanced. At least two more victories for chaos! \o/

I really want to see Chaos win this last mission. I want to know whether GW goes with the majority wins or with the Konor win or with the last win to decide which side overall won this thing....tho they probably write something up that basically means nobod had lost like always lol

[Darnok]

You can bet good money on the outcome being "the Chaos forces brought ruin and death to the Konor system, but despite heavy losses in the end the Imperium still stood their ground". The status quo will remain more or less the same.

 

I just wonder how many details from the campaign results will actually be mentioned. There are three battle zones on each planet, and while some where almost 50/50 in the end, some where leaning to one side pretty strongly. I believe that should ne worked into whatever background they make of this. With a bit of luck they even include resuts from some store events or "big games" on some events.

[OPTIMVSCHRISTVS]

My warband will be attempting to cut off the retreat of a combined Deathwatch/Red Scorpions task force in an hour or so...will let you all know how that goes.

[Chainsword Cookie]

I have faced 1000 points of Black Legion with the Daemon Engines from FW. I did manage to kill his Chaos Space Marines and wound his Chaos Lord, and my Daemon Prince did exit the board, but I have lost when his three daemon engines entered in close combat with my units. 

 

http://shrani.si/f/3P/8I/19LYJBpK/chainsword-cookie-chaos-.jpg

 

Khorne cares not which blood is spilled. It is still a victory for Chaos in my gaming store. 

[Vorenus]

I know I'm late in posting this, but last Saturday I played in a massive game (15,000 points per side).  My World Eaters (with a Brigade of Khorne Daemons led by a Bloodthirster)  killed and maimed and burned an equally massive army of Imperial Guard (er, Astra Militarum) and Grey Knights.  It was an epic battle.  I was very happy that I got to field my Chaos Warhound Titan, Greater Brass Scorpion of Khorne, and Hellforged Legion Fellblade Super-heavy Tank, in addition to all the other hordes of screaming madmen and bloodthirsty Berzerkers.  It was an epic day.  Many skulls were taken for the Skull Throne, and the Imperial dogs were slain in droves and the field of battle was piled high with their festering corpses.

[Brother Aiwass]

How many hours take to play a battle that big, Vorenus?

 

And kudos for your win!

[Vorenus]

It took about 10 hours, but that includes setup and cleanup. I've played a lot of Apocalypse level games, although this was my first Apoc-level game in 8th, andhis one actually went faster than many I've played in 5th, 6th, and 7th. It helped that I didn't have a Psychic phase since I was playing a pure Khorne army. I also didn't Summon my Daemon allies, I started with them on the table.

 

Also worth mentioning just as an aside, my opponent also had Super heavies, and we each had around 25 Command Points. When you take mukitiple Brigades plus other detachments, the CPs add up pretty quick. For my CSMs I had a Brigade, Spearhead, Super heavy, and Vanguard detachments. For my Daemons I just had a Brigade. My opponent had 1 Brigade each for his GK and IG/AM armies, a Super heavy detachment, and a flyer wing detachment. (I killed all 5 of his Flyers, 3 Storm Ravens and 2 Vendetta/Valkyries, by the end of turn 2, leaving my Chaos Fire Raptor and Heldrake with air dominance after that.)

Edited August 28, 2017 by Vorenus

[OPTIMVSCHRISTVS]

Meant to post here earlier, but I can happily report another glorious victory for the Dark Gods. Had a mechanized Berzerker list built around a Spartan with a couple of Contemptors in support versus 5 assault cannon Razorbacks packed with Red Scorpions tactical marines and a bunch of deepstriking Deathwatch vanguard vets. I'd killed well over 2/3rds of the enemy army by the bottom of turn 3 and we called it- not a single Loyalist escaped alive.

 

Personal highlight of the game was a  Rhino blocking the advance of 3 of his Razorbacks and a pair of Berzerker squads completely surrounding them in an ensuing charge/consolidation- 2 of the tactical squads managed to disembark and get cut down without actually killing anything, the 3rd ended up being entombed in their transport. Chaos currently leads the Imperium at my FLGS 11-1.

[Goreshed]

Well with just under 7 hours left of work 5 it is not looking good for chaos. Though NA seems to be doing better than we have before, EU Row is getting thrown back pretty hard in comparison.

[Kythnos]

Well with just under 7 hours left of work 5 it is not looking good for chaos. Though NA seems to be doing better than we have before, EU Row is getting thrown back pretty hard in comparison.

 

EU is currently at 50/50, but the Imperium seems to be doing really well in the UK, tipping the control of the whole planet in their favour. That doesn't bode well... things were looking better yesterday

[Darnok]

So Drenthal is a "Chaos victory" now, despite the numbers saying clearly it was going for the Imperium? Sure GW...

[Panzer]

So Drenthal is a "Chaos victory" now, despite the numbers saying clearly it was going for the Imperium? Sure GW...

I smell Alpha Legion shenanigans. Just as planned. :P

[OnboardG1]

So Drenthal is a "Chaos victory" now, despite the numbers saying clearly it was going for the Imperium? Sure GW...

 

I'm not sure how often the results site gets updated or the granularity of the results tracker. They might do what we do in debating and have a "blind round" at the end of the competition where no one knows the results to prevent biasing the result (i.e, Chaos players don't bother to play the last day because they think they're going to lose). 

[Darnok]

 

So Drenthal is a "Chaos victory" now, despite the numbers saying clearly it was going for the Imperium? Sure GW...

 

I'm not sure how often the results site gets updated or the granularity of the results tracker. They might do what we do in debating and have a "blind round" at the end of the competition where no one knows the results to prevent biasing the result (i.e, Chaos players don't bother to play the last day because they think they're going to lose). 

 

 

The current "campaign tracker" website has the planet as an "Imperial  Victory": https://konor.warhammer40000.com/#