Labor Days Revisited: A 40k and Horus Heresy 3,000pt Game Part 2

Go to Part 1

And now Part 2....


Warsmith Martok had faced the Imperial Army before.  He knew how they operated.  He was not going to be intimidated by their artillery, masses of infantry and main battle tanks.

What he wasn't familiar with was the Landraider panted in red.  What does the "I" symbol on its hull respresent?  There were also rhinos with strange markings.  Martok prided himself on his knowledge of the Emperor's armies; what their marking represented, what their tactics were, where the weak points in their armor and strategies were.  But this was something new.  Something he hadn't seen before.

He realized at this point that perhaps something stranger than he originally thought was going on.

The right flank of the Iron Warriors advances. 

 The Contemptor levels his Heavy Conversion Beamer at the Basilisk across the field.

The basilisk is destroyed in a huge fireball leaving nothing but a smoking crater.

 The Astra Militarum advances.

The Astra Militarum, Sisters and Inquisition advances.

The Iron Warriors Tactical Squad annihilates a squad of Guardsmen.

A large tactical squad assaults a Devil Dog tank and destroys it.

Another tactical squad assaults another Devil Dog and it too is destroyed.

At this point in the game things are looking up for the Iron Warriors.

The tide begins to turn when the Sister's Dominion Squads begin to turn up.

The other squad outflanks to the opposite side.

The counter-offensive of the Imperials begins.

Both Medusas are destroyed by the Dominions.

The Contemptor Dreadnought has both arms blown off! 

The Iron Warriors are undeterred and continue their advance.  They fire up into the building. 

 This squad of Iron Warriors tacticals fires into a guard squad in the open.

The Central Iron Warrior Tactical squad lines up a charge against a guard squad. 

Warsmith Martok decides to personally take care of the Dominions. 

The battle ramps up! 

Outflanking Iron Warrior Veterans take the Guardsmen by surprise! 

Things are still looking up the Iron Warriors, they appear to be firmly in control.

 

Martok and his Destroyers eliminate the Dominions.

Martok voxes to his ship in orbit. "Soon we will have the supplies we need and these foolish Loyalists will be crushed."  

Master Ziggarauth warns Martok not to be too over confident.  "The Warsmith you took over for was over confident on Istvaan V and now he is dead."

"That was fighting against other Astartes.  Humans have never posed a threat to the Legions!  We will be victorious!"

Go to Part 3

Until next time....

Labor Days Revisited: A 40k and Horus Heresy 3,000pt Game

Traveling through the Warp can be a harrowing experience.  In one instance you enter the Warp in one planetary system and three weeks later you are halfway across the galaxy.  In another instance you enter the Warp near Terra and exit 300 years in the past orbiting Cadia.  Usually Warp travel is harmless and will get ships in the far future where they need to go but occasionally something goes wrong, very wrong.

009.M31

Warsmith Martok of the 82nd Grand Company of the IV Legion, also known as the Iron Warriors, glances at his command chair's left arm which has a small display showing the ETA to their destination.

The Mercian system was their destination.  Since the civil war broke out, his Grand Company and his fleet had been constantly on the move.  They have had to fight many battles on many planets and quite a few naval engagements in space as well.

Most of these missions were intended to cut off supply routes, capture resources, or silence listening stations of the loyalists.  Martok was not a fan of these types of mission but he knew they were required if this war was to be won.

The war had been going on for two years now and it showed no signs of slowing down, in fact it seems as if the engagements were simply going to get larger and larger until the inevitable clash on Terra itself occurred.

His relatively small fleet was going to need to be resupplied and he knew that the Mercian system, within the realm of the Ultramarines would have the supplies he needed and would also be relatively lightly guarded as Guilliman was distracted by the deception of the Word Bearers at the moment.

Master Ziggarauth of the Signals entered Martok's command chamber to report to the Warsmith their status.  He was an older warrior who was exceptional in his ability to calculate trajectories for artillery.  He was also excellent at logistics, having organized many of Martok's Grand Company's operations including orbital drops, supply trains, barrages, etc.

Ziggarauth came to witness the translation back to realspace and be available on the bridge to help coordinate the drop to the surface of Mercian 55.

As they translated out of the Warp their ships were suddenly struck by heavy impacts.  They weren't weapons fire, Martok was sure of it.

Ziggarauth, what is this? Martok asked by just thinking.  He had, many years prior, installed a Mind Impulse Unit so he could communicate faster with Ziggarauth and the rest of the ship in cases of emergency, which this definitely was.

The system is gone, the Master of Signals replied, we are in a debris field.  Navigation is compromised.  We do not have a bearing.

Apparently Mercia had been destroyed somehow.  The decision was made and the drop began.

For more story and the scenario rules follow these links from Excursions Beyond the Call of Duty Blog:
Story Part 1
Story Part 2
Scenario

Battle Report


I had a 3000 point Heresy Era Iron Warrior army.  I used the Hammer Of Olympia Rite of War.

 Iron Warriors

 1500pts Adeptus Sororitas and Inquisition

1500pts of Astra Militarum

 An Astra Militarum heavy gunner hunkers down in a ruin.

 A squad of Guardsmen deploy next to a ruin.

 A Devil Dog next to some brush.

 An Astra Militarum flamer squad.

 Another Devil Dog with Imperial guard backing it up.

The line of Guardsmen bravely stand at the ready. 

The Iron Warriors deploy.

 An Iron Warriors Vindicator stands at the ready.

 An Iron Warriors Tactical Squad deploys in the ruins.

Tactical Marines taking up firing positions.

 The Contemptor Dreadnought backs up another Tactical Squad.

 A Tactical Squad readies their weapons.

 The Contemptor Dreadnought lines up a shot on the Astra Militarum Basilisk.

 The Sisters Of Battle and an Inquisition Land Raider line up.

 The rest of the Iron Warriors deploy.

 A look from the back of the Iron Warriors' lines.

Iron Warriors' Armor.

 The Ratling Snipers line up their shots.

Deployment is done and tune in next time for part 2.

Go to Part 2

Until then...