We just finished the most packed weekend of Warhammer we have ever played. We managed to fit in three full scale pitched battles of 1500 points per side and three special scenarios. These games represented the first phase of the Third Xhorik War. Hopefully, I will get around to battle reports eventually, but I will start with a quick recap while it is still fresh.
Battle 1: Cleanse
Hive Fleet Tarasque vs Planetary Defense Forces
After furious initial fighting with the ork invaders, the battered Planetary Defense Forces (PDF) were then set upon by a new threat: a novel type of Xenos. As the orks swept down into Chirosov Valley, the humans still held the mines and hills east of Vayya while the city itself was under siege. In the snowy hills, there were erratic and unreliable reports coming in about monsters appearing out of the snow and attacking. Then the garrison at Outpost Zeta-47 went silent. An expeditionary force was sent out to clear the threat and recover the outpost. The Tyranids were looking to sweep all resistance from the area so it could be harvested by ripper swarms. The PDF soldiers peered into the billowing snow, wondering what they would face at Outpost Zeta-47...
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| A mass of Tyranids streams through Outpost Zeta-47 toward the PDF line. |
Result: Tyranid Major Victory
The PDF's first encounter with the Tyranids resulted in defeat and the loss of the expeditionary force. The few survivors brought back clear intelligence on the nature of the new threat.
Battle 2: Secure and Control
Hive Fleet Tarasque vs Dagzag's Speed Freaks
As the Ork forces of General Woundwart and his two Warbosses, Dagzag and Ugwurr Grimzod, pushed south out of the frozen north, they were attacked in the rear by the awakening Tyranids. Although initially limited to ambushes of small Ork patrols and isolated bands, the Tyranid numbers were growing quickly. As the fighting intensified with both the humans and the Xenos, Woundwart ordered Dagzag to take his mobile forces to secure needed supplies. However, swarms of Tyranids were also patrolling the same areas. When the two sides clashed in a sector with particularly good pickings, the Orks saw it as a chance to have a good scrap and collect some loot.
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| The Ork and Tyranid lines clash. To the victor go the spoils. |
Result: Ork Major Victory
Dagzag and his boyz smashed the Tyranids and secured significant amounts of loot for the Ork forces, including weapons and forcefield technology.
Battle 3: Seek and Destroy
Hive Fleet Tarasque vs Blood Angels 2nd Co.
Jumping ahead, the Third Xhorik War has been raging for nearly a year. The Planetary Governor has been frantically calling for aid , ever since the loss of the major cities of Vayya and Ironton and most of Bhroivor north of Chiros Nova. The continued delays and excuses from Unimund have raised his suspicions, but he has no proof of disloyalty yet. With Imperial forces engaged on a thousand warzones across the galaxy during the dark time of the War of the Beast, there were no armies to spare. Finally, the Blood Angels strike force Belarius arrived: a single Vanguard-class Light Cruiser transporting the 2nd battle company plus reserves elements from the 7th, 8th and 9th companies.
The Space Marines quickly discovered that the novel species of Xenos was using the subterranean tunnels beneath Ironton to grow their strength out of the frigid winter weather and safe from the Ork and human armies. A small strike team was assembled to enter the tunnels and eliminate the aliens. Yet swarms of scuttling, clawed shapes soon started tracking the Blood Angels intruders and it quickly became unclear who was hunting whom. There would be no prisoners and no mercy in the darkness of the tunnels.
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| Marines of the Blood Angels 2nd Company clear the catacombs of Xenos threats. |
Result: Space Marine Major Victory
Chaplain __ purged the tunnels of genestealers and his men were able to flame the brood nests, reducing the numbers of Tyranids emerging from under the city. The Space Marines also realized how dangerous this new foe was and that clearing every city block by block would be too costly for their small force.
Battle 4: Orbital Strike Alpha (Rain of Blood)
Blood Angels 2nd Co. vs Orks
While Chaplain _ was leading the attacks on the Tyranid nests, Captain _ of the 2nd Company was seeking an opportunity to slow down the marauding Orks using his limited resources. With part of his strike force occupied with the Tyranids, he did not feel the time was yet right for a pitched battle; the Orks were too numerous. So he decided to strike where a small action could have an outsized impact. The Orks had captured a fuel refining plant and were making use of it to keep their Speed Freaks raiding parties active across a wide expanse. Cut off the fuel and it would limit the Orks' mobility, making it easier for the Space Marines to choose an engagement on their terms, without endless Ork reserves arriving. They would launch a Planetfall assault directly from their cruiser, using drop pods for the tactical squads and dreadnought, teleportation for the terminators, and finally the assault marines making direct orbital entry using jump packs. The attack would occur under the cover of darkness, hopefully catching the Orks completely off guard. The objective was to destroy as much of the stored fuel as possible.
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| A Blood Angels raid is driven off by a fierce Ork counterattack before they can complete their mission. |
Result: Ork Major Victory
Due to limited intelligence and bad luck, there were more Orks present at the refinery than anticipated. One silo was quickly destroyed, but the raid soon became bogged down into close quarters fighting, with most of the marines failing to reach the fuel silos. Captain __ had no choice but to pull his remaining men out before they were completely overwhelmed. The Orks would continue to have access to ample fuel stocks for the time being.
Battle 5: Take and Hold
Xhorik D-87th Drop Troops Veteran 3rd co. vs Hive Fleet Tarasque
After a year of nearly continuous combat with the Tyranids and Orks along their northern and eastern borders, several regiments of drop troopers had become quite adept at dealing with their new foes. Additionally, with losses of manpower running at an unsustainable rate (it takes much longer to train the elite drop trooper regiments than standard rifle companies), the Imperial High Command sanctioned a program of development and administration of experimental combat drugs. The goal was to keep the veteran units in the field longer, fighting at higher efficiency with less rest. It also had the added benefit of making them more aggressive, improving reaction speed, and dulling fear. These new regiments were identified by the inclusion of a D in their regimental number, as in the D-87.
These specialist forces were often used to strike specific strategic targets rapidly and then hold them until the armored regiments could arrive. One such target were the ridgeline outposts in the Uhtar Mountains that would prevent the aliens from invading the Kozar district. The 3rd Company of the D-87 regiment was ordered to take and hold one of these outposts against an advancing Tyranid force.
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| Despite reaching the bunker, the D-87 veterans are forced to cede the field to the more numerous Tyranids as darkness falls. |
Result: Tyranid Narrow Victory
The fighting around the outpost was particularly fierce, with both sides suffering heavy losses. As the fighting extended into the evening, the fall of darkness thwarted the X-87th's aim and they had to pull back, yielding most of the strategic ridgelines to the Tyranids.
Battle 6: Fuel Tank Raid
Xhorik D-87th Drop Troops Veteran 4th co. vs Hive Fleet Tarasque
Drop troop scouts and sniper teams had observed something unexpected: the Tyranids were seeking out and consuming vehicle fuel. As a hydrocarbon, the fuel consisted of the same elements as all life (only extremely energy-dense) and could thus be used to grow the hive fleet. Raids were undertaken by veteran D-companies of drop troopers to destroy any fuel supplies that had fallen into Xenos control before it could be utilized by the hive.
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| D-87 veterans attach a melta bomb to a fuel silo as another burns in the background after being struck by a Hellstrike missile from the Valkyrie. Tyranid defenders race toward the attackers. |
Result: Imperium Major Victory
The drop troopers were able to launch a series of rapid grav-chute insertions to destroy the fuel stores. They were dangerous missions and losses were significant, but the Tyranids would be denied this important resource.
