Cadian Retribution Crusade

[Marshal Vespasian]

This is great. Narrative play is where its at

[Arganias]

Sword Brother Ryan and Marshal Vespasian-- Thank you both! It was an epic campaign with intitial planet strike mini-mega battle planned for the 29th. The survivors of the Oberath Crusade will be regrouping with the Band of the Red Paw and the Martian Skitarri while being reinforced with a Cadian Armored regiment, and Space Marines from a yet declared chapter.

 

We will be on two tables and the Imperial side gets to set up the battle field and pick 6 ruins (must be 8 inches apart) as their objectives to hold. Imperials also get a free fortification for each player so long as it is painted. I will do my best as a proper son of Dorn to incorporate at least 4 of these ruins into a defensive structure and hold them at all costs.

 

We will be facing a Death Guard Army, a Nurgle Daemons army (some DG), Thousand Sons with lots of Tzangors and daemons and a more pure Thousand Sons army with more rubric marines, as well as Khorne Daemons Juggernought horde. A very interesting collection of Chaos forces that are likely vying with each other for the favor of their patrons after the success of the Oberath defense.

 

Here is the narrative write up and rules for the upcoming opening mega battle:

 

"The Oberath Crusade has made land fall and found a brief respite to resupply, but with them comes dire warnings. An invasion is coming, and the Pantogia system is in no state to repel the coming storm. The defenders of Kasmous find themselves in a desperate state. PDF troopers who haven't seen fighting on any battlefield overestimate their abilities, dying by the dozen to cultist uprisings. The Sons of Dorn and Russ train those who survive for the coming storm, while the guard of the Red Cowl and House Gryffith ready their arms. The mechanicus and their knightly allies remain oddly silent as an Ork WAAAGH!!! steers toward the Pantogia system, what the Machine God's servants are planning, none can say. Despite their best efforts, nothing can truly prepare the system of Pantogia for the arrival of Chaos, or the awakening of a far older threat deep below the surface."

The Invasion has begun.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fe3Rmn6xaIycWOl594RuQKziSKpdKMT088zAbt-WY6k/edit?usp=sharing

 

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As promised, here are the previous mega battle pics that sealed the fate of Oberath.

Here is the war on the main table, some of the pictures are out of order but there are some commentary beneath some of the pics.

https://imgur.com/a/Q3rfzE9

 

The battle for the Chaos Temple!

https://imgur.com/a/rh0StmK

[Marshal Vespasian]

So you are continuing the narrative? Very cool.

Could you see yourselves incorporating other Systems (e.g. Kill team) into your campaigns? I imagine that a mixed campaign of killteam, 40k and when/if it should Release battlefleet gothic might be very cool.

[Arganias]

So you are continuing the narrative? Very cool.

Could you see yourselves incorporating other Systems (e.g. Kill team) into your campaigns? I imagine that a mixed campaign of killteam, 40k and when/if it should Release battlefleet gothic might be very cool.

 

My friend is picking up where mine left off. So it'll be cool to see what happens. Plus there will be necrons spoiling around to help or hinder teams as they see fit.

 

I know we have been waiting for BFG and have been wanting to do a multi system/game invasion.

[Arganias]

I've been a bit busy during the time the forum has been down! My vow for Knightfall 2018 is almost complete, I just need to put chapter symbols on my Reivers, paint my Assault Terminators, and my marshall and I'll be good!

Aximan, The Emperor's Champion of the Pantogia Crusade

Reivers! These guys were really fun to paint!

Ancient Toma

[Honda]

Excellent  work brother and "yes' Reivers are great models.

 

Play on!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work. I especially like the severed head of the Daemon of Nurgle on the Emperor's Champion's base. These little details add a surprising amount of character to a model.

[Arganias]

@Honda-- Thank you! It's good practice when I get around to my Jump Pack Chaplain.

 

@Bjorn-- I appreciate the kind words! I had a bit of a vision for him from the get go, paid a bit of money in some bits orders. I wanted him to be a bit cocky.

[Brother Christopher]

I'm a huge fan of your paint style. Very neat. While I'm not that big on plumes on helmets, the selection of bits for the EC (and execution!) is great, but I like the Dreadnought the most.

[Arganias]

Sorry it's been awhile guys, life got me busy. I have been playing a little Vigilus campaign at my local GW store and they inspired me to paint up some Sword Breteren, a Company Champion and a new Marshall. 

 

Marshall Aximan leads his personal Sword Bretheren Body Guard and Fighting Company Champion Decius for operations on Vigilus.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/gallery/image/252353-swb2/

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/gallery/image/252352-swb/

 

(Not sure why it won't let me share my gallery stuff, sorry for the hyper links)

[Marshal Mattias]

Nice work! This Vigilus lore seems to have had a great impact on the number of people getting in-store and gaming; it's great to hear about. Will we be hearing any tales from your campaign?

[Arganias]

You will! I'm going to finish out my couple of games and have it all at once by the end of the week!

[Arganias]

Here are some brief write ups on my battles for Vigilus that I played at my local GW. I was thinking I might take up the store manager's officer to run Vigilus 2 at a larger venue that is closer to me. There is 5th 750 game I haven't written yet where I exacted bloody retribution on the Genestealer Cults. I will write it up shortly 

 

I also earned one of the Vigilus coins, along with my wife (who was the speedy eldar in the first two fights). Apparently it is also a ticket to the Warhammer Citadel Vigilus event in August, so far no details on what that is, but there could be a little mini vacation to participate!

 

I painted my Sword Bretheren so I kind of hampered myself a bit by bringing a Vanguard Detachment and then spending a CP for the specialist detachment, but I wanted some painted models on the table and they performed well. However, Templars are not the best at escort missions.

 

Enjoy!

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Marshal Aximan was elected to lead the elite portions of the still reeling Pantogia Crusade to the Planet Vigilus. This was an emergency deployment to help stem the rising tide of Xenos and Traitors and to establish a beach head while his former crusade regrouped. Aximan and his Sword Bretheren elites were not the only Black Templar elements deployed to the besieged world, and while nominally a Marshal by election there were more seasoned officers of the chapter on world. Regardless, Aximan and his finest battle-brothers made planet fall in the Trinity Hives region of Hyperia Hivesprawl .

While nominally deployed to protect the sacred waters under the Ecclisiarchy’s administration from the predations of roving Orks and now the Black Legion menace, the so-capped Hyperia Crusade launched reconnaissance in force to close with and destroy all that the threatened the area. To Aximan’s surprise they stumbled over a team covert team of Asuryani of Craftworld Il-Kaithe that quickly fled shortly after contact. A secret enclave of deviant xenos witches so close to the sacred waters of the Trinity Hives had the Templars pursuing.

 

Battle 1 (500 pts )—Shortly after the flight of the Asuryani Marshal Aximan and his closest Sword Bretheren body guards, was escorting Ancient Temblerich through a damaged water pipeline that had mired the area in swamp-like conditions. Temblerich was providing fire support in the event the Eldar revealed themselves again, or any other hostile force was encountered. All at once as the Astartes entered the waist deep water, the Il-Kaith battle host revealed themselves and poured relentless and effective fire into the dreadnaught. Aximan led a brutal counter attack as the Autarch, mounted on a jet bike, injured the Fighting Company Champion Decius before also laying low Aximan himself.

After intense and bloody close quarters combat, the Aeldari were able to seriously cripple Temblerich and stopped the Templars’ advance until the dreadnaught could be recovered and repaired. This defeat had Aximan quickly realizing that he needed to reconsider how this war was to be fought and called for armor, as well for his jump pack equipped veterans.

 

 

Battle 2 (500 pts)- Marshal Aximan, personally commanded a Rhino APC in order to rescue a beleaguered cadre of priests and missionaries from xenos threats. For several days the congregation of the Shrine of the Emperor’s Light had been picked off by sniper fire from Eldar rangers, or even butchered if they strayed too far from ghostly specters that howled in the night. Aximan arrived in his personal command Rhino, only to immediately be ambushed by Howling Banshees of the Il-Kaithe Craftworld, by now a persistent thorn in their side. The marshal stood his ground as he instructed the vehicle crews to move back to a make shift command post the Black Templars had established from an previously overrun Astra Militarum trench line.

The Rhino crew was able to get a vox communication to Aximan’s Sword Brethern, with his jump pack equipped elite leading the counter charge, led by Senior Sword Bretheren Senshal. The vehicle, and it’s occupants, did not make it far before Dire Avengers immobilized it by forcing it to throw a track.

Even with their increased mobility they were unable to make it to Aximan in time, forced to watch their force commander mortally wounded, although he reaped a great tally on the xenos warriors before falling. Enraged, Senshal swooped in and smashed the Exarch with his thunder hammer while deftly protecting himself from power blades with his storm shield. In the meantime, Company Champion Decius slew one of the filthy xeno psychers in close combat while the rest of Aximan’s entourage gunned down a number of Dire Avengers, with Brother Oreon landing a devastating blow on the Autarch’s jet bike, gravely wounding her.

In the end, it was a bloody engagement with the black knights of Dorn left awestruck and confused by the fury and suddenness of the battle with all battle brothers lost or incapacitated. A Quick Reaction Force from the near by outpost arrived, but the delegation from the shrine were all slaughtered, with Aximan wounded and alive in all but the most technical of terms. He was no longer fit for command and they had precious little time to try and save what little remained.

 

 

Battle 3 (750 pts)- The Hyperia Crusade, as this contingent of Black Templars now referred to themselves, had little time to mourn the fatal wounding of Aximan. Instead, the Sword Bretheren looked to electing their next Marshal. In short order they nominated and confirmed Cassander, the leader of Aximan’s personal retinue to the rank of Marshal with little fanfare—there was no time. Cassander took up a relic chainsword, one that was known to stoke the fiery spirit of the eternal crusaders of Dorn’s children. An Oath of Vengeance was sworn on the Eldar of Il-Kaithe, but Hyperia Hive Sprawl still had many enemies and they had mad this a very personal matter. Aximan had been a mentor to Cassander since he was a Neophyte, while the former marshal was an Initiate in a Crusader Squad the better part of two centuries ago.

Cassander wasted little time requisitioning the Vindicator, Shield Breaker, and an outrider attack bike. Cassander’s vision for this crusade was one of blunt force and speed. An insurgent force of T’au had been located, seeming to observe the fighting, and likely relaying back to a larger contingent of their vile ilk the best way to swoop in like a carrion bird to claim Vigilus. As a leader of Templars, the Marshal could not let this stand and drove deep into the heart of the line, accompanied by Chaplain Derosan. The newly appointed war leader managed to destroy a Hammerhead Tank with his relic blade, spurred on by the Litanies of Hate his brother chaplain bellowed at the top of his lungs.

The T’au firepower was relentless, but the Templars met them at close quarters. In the end, however, the Templars were unprepared for such volume of fire and had to withdraw and regroup. The T’au have yet to be seen since, perhaps the zeal and fire of the Sons of Dorn had made the deplorable aliens rethink visiting a world with such steely defenders.

 

 

 

Battle 4 (750 pts)- Marneus Calgar had been giving the Hyperia Crusade a number of escort missions since arriving on Vigilus—an understandable assignment to some degree given the cursade’s numerous armored vehicles. Cassander, on the other hand, quietly chaffed, but performed his duty and minded his place in this war and in the face of his betters. A new convoy was called for that saw the Black Templars leave the walls of the Hyperia Hive Sprawl and enter into the blasted wastelands beyond to recover ordinance from a now abandoned bunker in order to keep it out of the hands of the myriad forces that assailed Vigilus.

The convoy out wasn’t eventful in the least, only serving to sour the mood of the young Cassander as his mind lingered on his, and his brothers’, lot in the war. The line of vehicles passed a set of ruins, mostly reclaimed by the shifting sands, the marshal’s autosenses registering movement, but he could not lock on. While the black knight would have loved to have had his Astartes pull over and purge whatever may or may not have been behind those walls, he knew that was not his mission and pushed on. The extraction of a small cache of arms and ammunition was quickly loaded into the Rhino before returning.

It was on the return trip that the Pauper Princes sprung their trap out of the ruins, surrounding the convoy and immediately swarming Shield Breaker and cutting it off from the rest of the convoy before gunning down the outriding attack bike. A Pair of Scout Sentinels throwing off their camouflage to stand in the way of the APC, but Shield Breaker managed to cripple both enemy machines with its primary canon and HK Missile before it was engulfed in fanatical cultists.  Senshal and his jump pack equipped Sword Brethren swooped in once more and cleared the convoy’s path, but were shot apart by concealed heavy weapons.

Cassander rallied his bodyguard, along with Chaplain Derosan and Champion Decius to counter attack while ordering the rhino to push ahead with all speed. The Astartes advancing under the cover of bolter fire and fragmentation grenades, tearing apart their ambushers with impunity, however it nearly stopped in its tracks when a thunderous blast rocked the Rhino, seriously damaging it. The willpower and hatred of the witch was not enough to spare the vehicles crew from the psychic might of the cult’s magus which had joined the fray. Once the Shield Breaker’s commander regained his senses he told the marshal he and his crew would fight the mutants till the bitter end to allow for the Rhino to escape with its cargo. Cassander acknowledged his brother’s wish, but it only fueled his anger as he blasted apart a cultist with his plasma pistol before rending apart most of the mob with his own relic chain blade. Decius, as well as Derosan and the Sword Brethren smashed apart a renegade PDF squad that could do more than flail helplessly at the onslaught of veteran super human might.

The techmarines on board the Rhino frantically repaired the drive train in time to barrel ahead and close on their target, however, it was not to be. A mining laser blasted apart the driver’s compartment and brought the vehicle to a stop. A final group of cultists had arrived and assaulted the survivors as they disembarked from the burning wreckage.  An opportunistic strike from a poisoned blade managed to strike Cassander as the he smashed down the Rhino’s hatch to lead his men into a counter attack—but he was laid low. Decius then challenged the assailant, a cult Primus. With masterful skill that saw him earn the rank honorary position, Decius shield bashed the envenomed blade away before driving his master crafted power blade into the skull of the vile creature, cleaving him in half.

Battle 4 Continued--   Decius and the surviving Sword Brethren  protected the body of their wounded marshal, driving away the cultists and managing to save the Shield Breaker, although heavily damaged., The Rhino was beyond salvageable, and so were the materials inside.  Decius, now de facto war leader called for an extraction. The company apothecary, Tygron, was able to save Cassander and restore him back to the fighting condition in reasonable time, but the marshal wasted little time lodging a complaint directly to Chapter Master Calgar. He informed the Master of the Ultramarines that the Black Templars were warriors and not administratum quarter masters. They were meant for war and that is what Cassander demanded for his battle-brothers.