Minotaurs narrative campaign narrative

[Galron]

Taking part in a narrative escalation campaign and one of the prizes is for the narrative. So I will be writing it anyway. Its a 500 point game with units being able to be re-equipped but not entire unit swaps so I front loaded the initial 500 points with big boy Moloc. Don't feel too bad, I fought Typhus in the second game and they killed each other.

By the way, I don't have the DG book, but are 20 poxwalkers, 7 plague marines with their big gun and plague sword sgt, Typhus, and a biologicalus(sp?) with the armor that causes mortal wounds 500 points? Seems a bit much to me. Anyway here is game one. I am not doing game two since I was wiped off the board so there is no one to tell the tale.

 

PART ONE: Encounter in the Wastes

Dust and sand flew through the air in between pillars of rock in the red stone desert. A ball of light materialized on the ground in the center in a bright flash and disappeared as quickly. A dark bronze armored figure, bright red cloak billowing out behind him sat crouched on one knee, large black spear butt down on the ground, round storm shield flickering with tiny bolts of lightning from the sand in the air.

 

The figure rose to his full height and scanned the horizon trying to gain his bearings and think straight. From what he recalled his chapter had been on a mission to purge a renegade chapter of marines known as the Shadow Sabers from a hive world. They were in the deployment phase of battle and were about to start the attack in the coordinated shock and awe hallmark Minotaur fashion when the ships of the fleet were rocked as he was teleporting onto the field with his guard.

 

He knew something was wrong as the teleportation usually was in a flash and barely noticeable. This one seemed to last for minutes and he was conscious throughout making the vivid and surreal colors that much more disconcerting. Now he stood on a field of red rock. He heard a rumbling from the east and looked to see a Leman Russ tank of unknown origin stopping and bringing its multi-barrel punisher cannon to bear on him. Fight or flight kicked in and he began running towards the lumbering tank noticing infantry in the ruins around it taking up defensive positions.

 

His comm crackled, “Spartan 6, this is Delta 1. We are catching up on your six. Are we engaging the Guard forces?” Delta 1 was one of his new Inceptor squads of those Ultima founding Primaris troops the new lord of the Imperium had reluctantly issued him. Sgt Calix seemed like a solid leader despite having less than fifty years’ experience.

 

He was about to respond when the cannon on the tank appeared to rapidly blink fire at him and a steady stream of tracers zipped by him. More than several pinging off his armor, one penetrating his leg in a very brief flash of pain before the pain killers almost instantly stopped it. He pointed his Black Spear at the tank and fired a beam of light from ancient weapon striking the tank’s treads. It also served to answer the engagement question.

 

His Inceptor squad roared by overhead on their oversized jump packs and firing off volleys of blue plasma fire from their plasma exterminator pistols. Almost every shot hit and the tank was immolated in the blue flame of over-charged plasma. A risky venture Moloc noted as he saw the intense heat shimmer of their weapons as he closed. A volley of lasguns fired from the nearby ruins at him, being led on by a black long coated commissar.

 

“Engage the infantry, I’ll finish the tank.” Two separate clicks of acknowledgement came over his comm and he checked who the other was. Apparently Kappa 1, the only Intercessor squad in his command company was further back on the field and had engaged the traitor guard at long range.

 

The badly damaged tank attempted to fire again sending fire all around him but none penetrating his armor. He rounded the rock formation the tank was trying to keep cover behind and saw a four man squad of guardsmen huddled behind it. At point blank he released another blast from his Black Spear directly into the driver’s view port, the high powered laser not only punching through the driver’s compartment but through the turret and into the engine behind it. The turret boiled up superheating the interior of the tank in a flash of fire. He did not stop and continued into the frightened command squad who feebly tried to fire their lasguns into the bronze armored fury that appeared in their midst.

 

Beside him the inceptors soared through the air unleashing shot after shot into the infantry squad in the ruins decimating them, and continued their charge into the Commissar who bravely, although ineffectively, fired his bolt pistol into them.

 

Moloc speared two of the command squad members in a single hit and using the force of it, rotated his left side to simply crush the face and head with his shield. The last member’s last sight was a massive bronze terminator’s foot crushing the life from him.

 

Lasfire licked out at him from yet another squad of infantry from some ruins to the south and he shook the lifeless bodies off of his spear and charged like a madman or enraged bull at them.

 

The Inceptors beat the commissar down, mostly by the simple expedient of landing on him and taking off again torching the man in the thrusters of their jump packs as they turned and took off after their commander who was doing everything they were taught was wrong and running off blindly after new opponents unsupported.

 

“Try to keep one alive, Lord!” Sgt Calix shouted into his comm unit, ”They might know something.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind, Sergeant.” Moloc growled as this red cloaked incarnation of descended on the hapless guardsmen. To their credit the guardsmen initially held their ground as he stormed into them, firing both las, plasma and melta into him. Or attempting to as fear spoiled their aim and not a single shot out of the storm of energy hit him. One man essentially exploded from the Black Spears laser causing almost every cell in the man’s body to boil instantaneously. Another fell headless decapitated by the molecularly thin blade of the spear and another impaled and ripped in half. A forth was sliced almost in half by the storm shield’s energy field, and the final man was trampled underfoot as he ran by. The squad tried but failed to hit him with the butts of their rifles. Their sergeant attempted to penetrate his thick armor with the screaming blade of a chainsword and achieved nothing but scratching the paint of his right pauldron.

 

His follow on butt strike with his spear crushed the face of another guardsman and with the energy of the return swipe two men were almost cut in half by the blade of his spear, slicing through both flesh, bone and the flimsy flak armor they wore as if it was mere paper. A shield bash not only severely burned another guardsman but sent him flying into the rocks to land in a crumple.

The remaining two troopers finally had their nerves break and they turned to run. Moloc spun in place and expertly threw his spear impaling a guardsman to the ground. His inceptors bounded by. “We got him, Lord.”

 

“Kappa One, Report.” He growled in post-battle lust

 

“Lord, we have a position on a hill to your north west. We have comms with Delta Two and Snake One and they will be arriving shortly.” He spotted the squad and began walking across the dry desert rock to them.

 

“Snake One?” Moloc asked,”They were already on the target hive planet, how are they here?” The Minotaurs chapter of space marines were renowned for their brutal shock assaults from out of nowhere and rumor had it they never did thorough reconnaissance of their targets. The exact opposite was the truth however but they preferred everyone believe the rumors. Under his command, on scheduled assaults they would often send in scout teams weeks ahead of the main force to gather and report information on target locations. Only rarely did they actually commit to battle or even get noticed unless they were corralling enemy troops towards a target area.

 

Neophytes were a valuable resource and rarely spent much time as scouts due to the chapter’s rapid indoctrination process. He kept telling himself that one day he would bring back the old Recon squads of old just to have specialist knowledge and experience in that areas.

 

“Unknown, Lord. They were surprised as well. They say this is nothing like Trygal IV where they were just minutes ago.” The communication NCO replied.

 

He trudged to the Intercessor squad who were busily setting up a portable long range comms unit on the highest point of the hill and waited patiently as their comms NCO tried to establish contact, mostly silently through his helm.

 

“Any word from the Daedelos Krata?” He asked referring to his Heavy Assault Carrier which should have been in orbit.

 

“I know it’s in system as we can pick up the beacon.” The corporal said looking up at him. “No contact however and it is not responding to hails. Hecaton Aiakos is on planet and is moving our direction but is unsure where exactly or how far we are from his position. Captain Kraatis is on board the BloodKite with his command squad, but they too are currently lost and comms are intermittent. All normal navigation appears to be fragged, my lord.”

 

“What else can you tell me, Corporal?”

 

The marine silently stared into the distance.

 

“Corporal?” Moloc asked, starting to get angry with being ignored.

 

“Enzos!” Sergeant Darius said sharply, kicking his fellow primaris to get his attention.

 

“Oh sorry, m’lord.” He apologized,”Was zoning out trying to pick out voices in the static.”

 

“And…?”

 

“The Imperial channels are busy. There are quite a few units broadcasting in the open although picking things out is difficult with all the static. All ground based, not hearing anything from orbit. There is at least one Imperial Guard regiment on planet, and I heard mention of the 1st Legion, Typhus, some Salamanders, Tyrannids, and other xenos.”

 

“Any indication of why that guard patrol attacked me?”

 

“I can only hazard a guess that they are as confused as we are and attacked us in a panic.”

 

“Incoming sir.” Sgt Darius said indicating behind the commander.

Moloc turned to see the Inceptor squad returning with the battered form of the guard squad leader in hand. He dropped the human at their feet.

 

Moloc handed his spear to Sgt Darius and easily picked up the man by his armor. “Do you know who I am?” He asked in low Gothic.

 

“N n n n no.” The human groveled.

 

“I am Asterion Moloc, Chapter Master of his Emperor’s Minotaur Chapter Space Marines. You will address me as Lord when I talk to you. Stand up and identify yourself.” He dropped the human in a pile at his feet.

 

“I said, stand, human!” He roared being used to instantly being obeyed.

 

The frightened human managed to get to his feet with the not soft help of one of the Inceptors standing behind him. “Who are you?”

 

“Sgt Calib Tor.” The human said softly with fear in his wide eyes.”1232nd Cadian Infantry Regiment, m’lord.”

 

“Why did you shoot at me? You are aware we will kill you in punishment?”

 

“We thought you were the forces we had been chasing into the badlands. Turns out you are not”

 

“So we aren’t.” He agreed. “What did they look like?”

 

“They were other marines, just in green and covered in diseased looking armor.”

 

“Death Guard. Radio said they were here.” Darius

 

“You realized we were not them and you continued to fire?”

 

“Beg pardon, m’lord. You didn’t really give us a chance to cease fire. You were on us like lightning before we even knew you weren’t the ones we were chasing and our commander was the first person you killed in that tank.”

 

“Any idea where we are?”

 

“No, m’lord.” He said,”We were fighting Plague forces on Harrel III in swamps when next thing we know we are here in the desert with a splitting head ache. Then those diseased marines started shooting and when we fought back, they retreated into these badlands.”

 

“The Commissar was the highest ranking officer we had.”

 

“Release him. He is of no further use.”

 

“Thank you, m’Lord! I--!” Any word he was going to say was cut in a cough of blood off as Moloc with lightning quick speed impaled the guardsman through his chest on his Black Spear which had been in the other marine's hands a split second before.

 

He shook the body off his weapon to the dusty ground and looked down on the trooper. “You have been given the Emperor’s Grace and at the same time punished for daring to fire on the Emperor’s Astartes as I said you would.”

 

He looked over at the rest of his assembled marines, nine other bronze armored giants half of which were keeping watch, the other half checking their weapons and ammo mostly ignoring the guardsman’s death. “We await the nearby troops to arrive and we will collect our forces. I am not sure why we are here or where we are but we will make them pay.”

[Leonaides]

Theres always helmet cam and vox records even if there are no survivors...

[Galron]

Because of the rules of the campaign and how characters gain experience I dropped Moloc and added a terminator captain and a Primaris Librarian mostly because i had a model I hadnt painted yet from a lot I picked up. The Captain was less than impressive after using Moloc despite doing ok. Apparently the Captain was buddies with the Librarian so when he went down, the Librarian went on a killing spree. Should make for an interesting story when I get around to writing it this week.

[Galron]

His headache intensified as he stared at the silver tower. Images of war with a teal armored opponent flashed through his mind. Of him fighting side by side with giant robots and the forces of the hydra pushing further and further into his perimeter and a cursing battle cry as his one eyed commander charged into the metallic-teal armored marines heedless of his own safety, his green blade glowing and eerily reflecting off his steel with bronze trim armor in the dim light and he followed his commander of so many campaigns into the fray against the traitors…

“Sir?” asked a calm voice in the middle of the fight right as he swung his chain sword in a disemboweling fake at a tattooed marine in mk IV armor, it sounded strangely out of place.

“Sir? Are you ok?” The concerned voice asked again and felt a slight nudge. Helicon snapped out of his spell. And focused on the primaris marine in front of him. He awakened back to full awareness and his headache returned. He looked around and looked back to see the silver tower standing there barely a hundred yards from the ruins he and this intercessor squad was hiding in.

He saw the sniper team running from cover to cover, barely visible with their cameolyne cloaks. He took a final glance at the tower and wondered where that imagery came from. He had fought the forces of the Alpha Legion before but why were he and his companions wearing the steel and bronze armor of a different legion and who was the one eyed commander he was charging with.

The tower was the source of his migraine, of that there was no doubt. Perhaps it had something to do with his unit’s current predicament, spread out and nowhere near the warzone they were supposed to be in.

His musings were cut off by the communications NCO of the squad with him. “Sir, I have lost all contact with the beacon from the Daedelos Krata. However our own Jaw of Cerberus has made contact.” The Strike cruiser of the 2nd Company was a veteran vessel of hundreds of campaigns and had been his home as company librarian for the last fifty six.

“They say fighting is heavy in orbit and images on their computers are fuzzy. They have been in at least three engagements in as many hours and have no contact with the Krata either. They have some rapid reaction forces ready if we need them and Captain Xerion sends his regards and asks for a report when we know something. They are prepping a landing force when we need them.”

They had contact with Chapter Master Moloc but they had abruptly ceased when he had encountered a Tyrannid force earlier along with some of his 1st company force. His own 2nd Company had been in transit on their Storm Eagles to the drop zone when they suddenly awoke on this hell planet. So far they had encountered sporadic light resistance in the form of Tzeentch cultists. This silver tower, typically a hallmark of one of his more hated enemies made him concerned they were on a daemon world somehow.

“Sir, this is Snake Two,” The recon squad of the 2nd Company reported over their helmet comm.

“Go two.”

“We have incoming enemy troops. I see two squads of Rubric marines, one moving into some ruins to our north east and another coming from the east through that old ditch system. Seeing a lot of individual flames in the building in the far northeast. We are----“

His report was cut off as his position was slammed with a hail of sorcerous bolter fire from the Tzeentch marines. The robots of the Thousand Sons, they weren’t Alpha Legion but they would do. “All units move and engage.”

 

He climbed into some taller ruins to get a better view of the battle while the primaris marines with him moved forward firing their bolt rifles at the rubrics in the ditch getting multiple hits but none falling. He saw the enemy unit’s one living member try and cast a spell at his scout team and he roused enough power to stop it cold and the sorcerer turned his glowing green visor to look for him in the ruins.

On the far side of the field a winged monster in ornate blue power armor flew from its hiding spot and the one-time traitor astartes fired its arm mounted guns, some sort of mutated warp bolters at his scouts. “Comms, report daemon prince on the field and we have contact with thousand sons marines!”

“Already reported the situation sir, Captain Xerion is on his way.”

His migraine picked up in intensity and he stumbled as he tried to fire off his own bolt of sorcerous power at the marines and failed. Pleasantly though he saw the sorcerer leading them stumble and hold his blue gauntlets to his helm as well. The primaris librarian noticed all eyes look up and he got enough control of the pain to turn his head in that direction and see six contrails of fire from descending inceptors north west of the tower.

Then he felt the power of a teleporter and Captain Xerion appeared just behind the inserted inceptors. One squad fired its plasma exterminator carbines, the normal bright blue heat sinks turning white from overcharging, at the squad of rubrics in the building incinerating all of them in gobs of star hot blue plasma.

“Librarian Helicon!” The captain voxed, “Thought you would have a party without us?”

“Good timing, lord.”

The other squad unloaded its paired assault bolters on the daemon prince blowing several chunks from the beast and gaining its attention. He felt a tremble in the warp as a squad of rubric terminators appeared next to the ruins recently vacated by their melted power armored brethren. A roar of jets was heard and an individual with a jet pack and a great staff that flickered with lightning bounded across the field.

The daemon prince leapt into the air and flew over the bolter inceptors to face off with Captain Xerion, standing in the open ready with his own glorious red cape billowing out behind him. They began a dance of death, the relic blade lance of Xerion against the warp blade of the traitor prince, both inflicting wounds, nicks, and cuts, while he took several penetrating hits through his terminator armor.

The plasma inceptors took a withering amount of fire from the terminators and two fell to the ground with smoking holes in their bronze armor.

The scouts and the intercessors poured fire into the other rubric squad dropping one with most of their bolts sparkling off some warp barrier. He saw his captain needing help so leapt from the ruins and sprinted towards the fight and tried to send a bolt of power at the warp creature but failed to find the power all of a sudden. Xerion leapt back from the fight in a blur of red cloak and the inceptors bounded to close quarters unleashing a hail of bolter and plasma fire severely injuring the blue skinned prince and then stormed in to try and beat the injured daemon with their fists.

The daemon not only survived their assault but its magic armor exploded in a burst of energy at the plasma inceptor killing the marine. It brutally swung with its warp blade and a flurry of attacks killing the other inceptors in an orgy of violence so fast Helicon barely had time to register what just happened.

His own intercessors however charged into the rubrics and put them on the back foot slaying them all and taking up firing positions in the ditch. The enemy terminators turned their attention to the Scouts unleashing a hail of fire on the remaining scouts all of who fell to the fury of the enspelled bolts. From behind a building the sorcerer soared towards the intercessors.

The daemon with preternatural speed launched itself at Xerion and engulfed him in a storm of sword and claws downing the captain in a pile of rent terminator armor. But as the daemon raised its arms in triumph, Xerion with a final burst of life, shoved his lance deep under the armor of the beast and its roar turned into a bellow of pain as the creature began to dissipate back into the warp, its hold onto reality lost in death.

Helicon turned to see the intercessors under attack by the sorcerer and the terminators, bravely fighting from their position and refusing to give ground. Several were cut down in the storm of curved swords. Only the sergeant with uncanny agility evaded their leader’s force staff and managed to get slices of his own through the sorcerer’s ornate power armor and inflicted several grievous wounds with his red glowing power sword.

With a burst of speed Helicon sprinted across the distance and leapt into the fight angry now about seeing his captain and battle brothers laid low by these traitors. He cast a simple spell increasing his power and felt his strength and speed grow. He heard the Rubric terminator sorcerer shout a warning to his leader. The sorcerer turned in time to see the blue force blade of Helicon enter through his chest plate and emerge from the jet pack in a shower of sparks and smoke.

The primaris librarian shook the dead traitor off his sword without pause and leapt into the terminators. The world almost seemed slow as he jumped into their midst. He didn’t notice the sergeant drop back out of the fight too wounded to continue as he weathered and dodged the traitor marine’s attacks and managed to cut two down with a vicious slashing riposte. The terminators continued to fight, one inflicted a nasty wound on his midsection with it’s curved power sword in a lucky hit. He didn’t even notice the strike and managed to keep his power going and in a red fury fading to black.

The tattooed warrior wore a white cloak and wielded a massive thunder hammer. He gripped his own executioner chain blade two handed and nimbly leapt to the side dodging a blow from the powerful weapon. Dynat. Dynat was his name, he remembered, the Harrowmaster of the Alpha Legion. He swung out and Dynat barely was able to bring the haft of his own weapon up in a block and the chain toothed weapons sent a shower of sparks into the air off of the amaranthine colored armor. The great warrior spun his weapon butt up and jabbed at Helicon in the face with the blunt end, throwing him back to the ground. Another steel and bronze warrior roared and side tackled Dynat in a blur of hazard stripes and teal.

A series of explosions ignited in the cavern the two forces fought in, killing the lights momentarily, when they came back Dynat was gone, but Warsmith Kyr Vhalen grinned down at him holding out a gauntleted hand to him, a silver skull emblazoned on his black pauldron catching the flickering light, “It’s too early to lie down, Scythas. We have more of these fething lizard scum to send to Hades for betraying the Emperor.”

Helicon came back to the present as he was withdrawing his force sword from the helm of the Rubric sorcerer which fell to the ground in a clank of plates. The rest of the Rubric terminator squad lay in piles around him, all felled by his blade.
Helicon heard a chittering nearby and saw the forms of blue and brimstone horrors staring at him in what he felt and hoped was fear and raising his bolt pistol he charged towards them sending bolter shells and a bolt of sorcery to banish several back to the warp with high pitched inhuman screams, the rest withdrew into the building and presumably out the back.

The battered librarian came to his senses and stopped to survey the field. Several of his marines were moving along the ground applying first aid to themselves and if able their companions. He approached his captain’s body. The grizzled veteran was still breathing despite wounds that would have felled a lesser man. The tower glimmered in the middle of the field as he carried the captain to a collection area awaiting apothecary support.

He was rattled by the weird visions he was seeing. Why was he wearing Iron Warrior armor and fighting the Alpha Legion? He didn’t feel like he had his powers in his vision where were they? Who was Kyr Vhalen and why did he act as if they were old friends in arms? Was Scythas the name of the holder of his original geneseed? Too many answers were needed and he had a war to fight.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Galron

[Galron]

Basically I lost this match due to that pesky squad of horrors sitting on one of the objectives all game but it wasn't a massive loss as I held multiple objectives also most of the game as well. I got to bring out a new character I wouldn't normally have used so cool beans. Man did he get pissed when the captain died. He failed a smite on the daemon prince before the prince killed the captain and then died to the marine stratagem allowing one final attack after dying. Because we rolled on the warp storm table every player round weird stuff kept happening although both of us rarely rolled outside the teens. On the turn Helicon charged though we had the +1 movement effect going and he got a the Might of Heroes(I think) spell off and charged into the melee as a hail Mary. By himself he took out the sorcerer on the charge, weathered a full combat round of hits from 5 man terminator squad and got his spell off again and proceeded to beat down the entire squad over two rounds and simply ran out of time as he was trying to get to the horrors. It was a fun game despite losing with a great opponent. I had a really bad game I did not enjoy with a player who brought three monstrous creature characters to a 750 point fun narrative escalation league and because of the league's rules, all three tyranids had relics, one had the phoenix gem, one had the elder blades of something, and the other had the death guard armor of BS that does mortal wounds on successful saves. So far the most over powered relic in the game I have seen.