Campaign

[Legiocustodes]

Hi guys,
Well now my fiance, my mates and I are conversant with the basic rules of second edition I thought I'd try my hand at a simple narrative campaign. Below is the scenario and battle report for the first of the games in the campaign played against my fiance this week:  I will try to add some pics!  Enjoy

The Enemy Within – Inquisitor De Rat Act I
(23/10/2011)

Situation

Whilst on investigations on the desolate Agri-world of Rardon VII Inquisitor Elena De Rat of the Ordo Xenos has discovered that the insidious forces of Chaos appear to be operating nearby.  Using her extensive psychic powers the inquisitor has uncovered that the dark forces present belong to the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion, one of the most despicable of all traitor warbands.  Further investigation reveals that they are under the command of the Warsmith Ham’y Gour’dn, known to his subordinates by the Moniker of ‘The Bear’ due to his size and atrocities commit during the early days of the Heresy.

It seems that the bear and his veteran Chaos Marines are set up on the planet’s equator amongst one of many derelict pre-imperial temple complexes’ deep within the mountains.  Unfortunately Inquisitor De Rat is unable to ascertain the Iron Warriors exact interest here but their presence alone is enough to warrant the deployment of Imperial Space Marines.  She quickly musters together her psychic strength and despatches an astropathic message to the wider Imperium requesting aid from the Space Marines, due to the nature of the foe encountered she attaches a marker denoting the importance level as Magenta.

Within hours her request is answered by Captain Dominic Santos of the Crimson Fists Space Marine Chapter.  He and his depleted second company are in system having recently crushed a genestealer cult on the nearby planet of Rardon II’s orbital relay station.  The Captain immediately pledges his aid and in short order the Inquisitor has been joined by Space Marine Reinforcements.

Immediately she moves to the Iron Warriors location aware that if she can get her forces into an enemy camp located in the passage way to an old subterranean complex then she will most likely be able to identify and hopefully thwart the Chaos Lords goals.

However the Bear hasn’t survived the ten thousand years of the long war by being oblivious to situations developing around him.  He is well aware of the presence of the Imperial Inquisition and he knows too that the Inquisitor is coming.  He also knows that leaving her body a broken and shattered ruin should be enough to deter the Imperium’s war effort before it has even begun.  With this in mind the Chaos Warrior deploys his corrupted veterans and awaits the Corpse-Emperor’s lackeys arrival.

Missions:
Imperial: Dawn Raid                                                              
Chaos: The Assassins (With the Inquisitor as the Target)

Forces:
Imperial (1350 Points)
• Inquisitor De Rat (L2 Psyker)
• Captain Santos
• 1 Tactical Squad / 1 Assault Squad / 1 Terminator Squad

Chaos (1350 Points)
• The Bear (Terminator Lord)
• Master Sorcerer Ishmael (L3 Psyker)
• 4 x 5 Man Veteran Squads

The Battle
The field of battle was a rock strewn wasteland on a desolate backward planet, scattered with the extensive remnants of a pre-imperial religious temple complex.  The Inquisitor had to deploy her forces first and so all of her marines deployed in a tight formation in the centre of her battle line.  Whilst this meant that the flanks were left unguarded it did mean that she could focus on running her forces forward until as quickly as possible in order to place scoring units within the Chaos deployment area, thereby securing her those valuable victory points.  Her assault marines stood to the rear of the line, ready to use their jump packs to secure victory at the last moment.  Meanwhile the terminators stood in the vanguard, the Inquisitor had fought alongside these formidable warriors before and new that their tactical dreadnought armour was more than capable of weathering most of what the enemy could throw at them.  The Inquisitor herself was aware that she was a target and so sequestered herself deep within the block of marines so that she couldn’t be sniped from afar.  Captain Santos also stayed close to the centre so that his troops could benefit from his leadership.  All squads were split into five man combat squads.

The Iron Warriors were as ever a sinister and nefarious foe.  Two Veteran Squads stood in the centre of their deployment zone beside some broken walls, both of these squads were equipped with heavy weapons.  This defensive line was bolstered by the presence of both the Lord and the Sorcerer.  Mean while the two other veteran squads armed with numerous special weapons used their Infiltration ability and set up ahead of the battle line behind some of the large rocks and crags.  One on the left flank and one a little closer on the right flank.  All units started in hiding.

The Inquisitor took the first turn and simply ran all of her units forward to cross the battle ground as quickly as possible.  There was no shooting.  In the psychic phase she successfully managed to cast hellfire on a group of veterans hidden nearby and fried one of their number inside their armour.  The Chaos sorcerer retaliated but failed to roll high enough to cast purge psyker on the Inquisitor.

The Iron Warriors then opened up, an initial folly from the lascannon wielding squads accounted for two tactical marines, but the terminators true to form shook off the blasts from these mighty weapons.  The hidden veterans on the left flank went into over watch.

In the psychic phase the Dark Gods once again deserted the sorcerer and he was unable to cast, however the Inquisitor managed to use her powers to fry another two of the hidden veterans.  Forcing them to take a leadership test, but these servants of the dark powers had seen worse and stayed in the fight.

Turn two kicked off with the terminators walking forwards followed by the rest of the force.  The Imperials opened fire but accounted for no enemy dead.  The Iron warriors on overwatch opened up as the tactical squad wandered past and took down two tactical marines.  In the psychic phase the Inquisitor changed her focus and aimed a blast of hellfire at the Chaos Veterans holed up with the lascannons.  She managed to sizzle two of the corrupted warriors, but the heavy weapons troopers escaped unscathed.  This time Ishmael the sorcerer successfully cast purge psyker, but was unable to roll high enough to snatch the Inquisitors soul from her body.

Now the Iron Warriors took their turn, the marines that had been on overwatch marched forwards and opened up on the loyalist marines.  After the volley of bolter fire had ceased and the flames from the flamer had lifted they saw the remainder of the tactical combat squad and Captain Santos smouldering on the floor.  The squad champion sneered, the Iron Warriors had long hated the Sons of Rogal Dorn, and whilst these Second Founding fools were not quite Imperial Fists they were closely related enough to make grilling one of their heroes a truly pleasurable experience.  Four lascannons then opened on the terminators, and finally tactical dreadnought armour began to crumble under the weight of tank busting blasts  and two Space Marine heroes disintegrated.  In the psychic phase another veteran was burned to a cinder from the Inquisitors hellfire, whilst once again the chaos sorcerer failed to purge the psyker.

In turn three the Imperium made its move as one of the assault combat squads leaped over the intervening terrain and landed to the right of the Chaos deployment zone.  Meanwhile the rest of the Imperial Force walked forwards and opened fire, felling two Iron Warriors; little happened in the psychic phase.  The Chaos Marines were shocked to find themselves on the defensive and so everyone opened fire on the newly arrived assault squad, only killing two of their number.  In the psychic phase one more Chaos Marine succumbed to the agony of hellfire.  But the Chaos Sorcerer knew now was the time to make his powers count, he intoned his mantras and whispered prayers to the gods of Hell before unleashing a bolt of energy into the Inquisitors mind, she screamed, gripped her head and fell to her knees, out of the fight.  The Chaos Lord laughed heartily, his goal had been achieved, now he just had to hold out.

Turn four began with all Imperial forces rushing forwards, the remainder of the initial assault squad charged the Sorcerer determined to avenge the Inquisitor, whilst the other assault squad jump packed into close combat in the deployment zone, engaging one of the lascannon squads.  Not much shooting occurred and the close combats were all fairly equal.  By the end of the Imperial turn the only scoring unit in the deployment zone was the second assault squad, realising that the elimination of this squad was vital to deny the Imperium victory points the Chaos Lord and another veteran squad charged in to aid their fellows.  At the end of the Chaos turn all of the assault marines lay dead.  So to tally up the Victory Points…

Results:
Imperial: 5 VP
Chaos: 15 VP

CHAOS VICTORY


Aftermath
The Iron Warriors Warsmith let out a mighty roar of triumph as he stomped across the battlefield in his heavy armour, the sinuous form of his sorcerer-slave shadowing him.  He surveyed the scene, the shattered blue armour of Dorn’s bastard progeny lay everywhere; it wasn’t just the fists of their power armour that was now stained crimson.  He turned to his lackey, ‘Ishmael, have the men secure the gene-seed of the fallen Astartes, bring ten percent to me to feast on, save the rest, we shall use it to make new Iron Warriors from the slaves we take on this world .’ The sorcerer did not speak, but bowed his head and backed away from his master.  The Bear smiled at the delicious irony of crafting new Iron Warriors from the genetic legacy of their greatest nemesis. Oh how Dorn would shudder at the thought.

This had been a successful campaign thus far, true he had lost some of his marines but he consoled himself that the Blood God would be happy, after all he didn’t care where the blood came from so long as it flowed.  It was lucky the Imperial forces had not penetrated his lair to see what was hidden within.  He couldn’t afford for them to discover his true purpose here.  Now that he had been discovered he new that further Imperial soldiery would be on route, he would have to advance his plan quicker than hoped, and also request more manpower from the Despoiler.  But this could be done later; right now he had something else to occupy his time….

He slogged over to where he had seen the Inquisitor fall earlier, he would enjoy desecrating her corpse and dedicating it to the Pantheon of Chaos; he might even make her flesh a puppet-host for a bound daemon.

He arrived at his destination and looked around, there was no sign of the bitch, just scorched grass that indicated a recent teleport had taken place.  This time his roar has one of rage as he pounded the body of a nearby Iron Warrior into a bloody pulp with his shimmering lightening claw……

* * *
The Inquisitor De Rat limped from the teleportation chamber of her ship ‘The Enduring Light’, a trail of blood trailed behind her, but she was already using her psychic powers to repair the damage to herself.  She arrived at the bridge and the door slid open, the crew looked at her about to speak, but she dismissed them with a flick of her hand.  She sat into her command throne and composed a communiqué to all Imperial Forces requesting aid and explaining the new situation on the planet below.  

Over the next few days replies began to arrive, significant portions of the Imperium’s fighting might was on its way to her location.  Affirmatives had so far been received from Space Marines of the Salamanders, Flesh Tearers and Dark Angels Chapters; the Ministorum had promised to commit Battle Sisters to the coming fight as had the local commander of the Imperial Guard.  More worryingly she had received missives from numerous Inquisitors of all thee Ordos saying they were en route.  

Six days after the initial battle she was once again on the surface of Rardon VII, this time she was meeting with representatives of various Space Marine detachments, explaining to them what was occurring and imploring them to put themselves under her command as a representative of the Holy Inquisition.