"Even the greatest mountain is worn to dust by the wind"
- Brother Veteran Gansukh,
Brotherhood of the Wind, White Scars Legion
Campaign To Date: It is the middle of the Age of Darkness, as the Warmaster Horus makes his long march toward Terra, leaving shattered star systems in his wake. Lying in the path of the traitors' advance, the planet of Xhorik Prime is torn apart in civil war after only recently being united by the Great Crusade. The largest nation, The Federation of Unimund declare for the Warmaster and Mortarian as their living gods and liberators, while their ancient rivals to the north, the stratocracy of Kozar and her allies, side with their kindred spirits and sworn blood brothers, the White Scars.
In the first phase of the campaign, the Death Guard captured the border city of Bielyer and the only space port of any consequence in the region.
The second phase of the campaign has centered around the conflict for the Vaalbara Plateau. The White Scars struck first with a false retreat leading to an ambush of the Death Guard vanguard. The Traitors were able to rescue Praetor Wolfgang in time to lead them to victory in the pitched battle that followed. Then, after using the space port in Bielyr to bring in a super heavy battle tank, the Death Guard attacked and destroyed the Loyalist base, Bunker Tauruk. Praetor Zherdan and a small band of survivors were forced to fall back and attempt to meet up with reinforcements that had been on their way to the battle at the bunker. After a lengthy pursuit over rough terrain, a Death Guard Eradication Patrol has finally caught up to Zherdan and his band of survivors and they are calling for reinforcements of their own.
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Sergeant Albrecht rode across the frozen terrain in the command seat of the Rhino. Outside the vision slit, the world was darkness other than where the small transport’s spotlight shone. He watched the monitor displaying the vehicle’s scanner outputs intently. He had been tracking the fleeing Loyalists for three days and nights since the Death Guard victory at Bunker Tauruk. He knew he had been close on the second day, but his quarry had slipped away in a dust storm. They were on foot and some were injured. He knew it was only a matter of time until he brought them to bay.
When the scanner display started blinking, Albrecht grinned in anticipation.
“We’ve got movement, sir. Looks like about twenty pings. Moving with some organization, not randomly. Must be the enemy survivors,” the driver reported.
Albrecht looked at the scan of the surrounding terrain and immediately gave the command to engage.
“Support teams, dismount and move into position on the hill with the supply depot. Kill anything that moves,” Albrecht ordered over the com-link to the other Rhinos in his patrol.
On the screen, the blips did not appear to be fleeing. They looked to be forming up and taking positions in the rocks. Albrecht swung the searchlight around and caught a glimpse of the pale shapes moving in the blackness. He spotted a distinct outline, a man larger than the others and with personal banners that he recognized.
Sergeant Albrecht got on the com-link to report out: “This is Sergeant Albrecht of Squad Ritter. Target of significance confirmed. It is Praetor Zherdan. Moving to engage. Request support immediately.” ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pre-Game and Mission We decided that the scenario Hunter/Hunted from the Shadow War missions in Horus Hersey Book VI captured the feel we were after: the forces on the table at the start would represent the retreating White Scars survivors of the last battle pursued by Death Guard patrols, while the reserves would represent the Loyalist reinforcements mentioned in the build up to the last battle and on the other side, the Death Guard patrol calling for support once they identified a target of significance. In this mission, you start with half of your force on the table and half in reserve. It is a Kill Point mission with a few additional considerations: a bonus VP for wiping out a unit the turn it arrives from reserves (Mortal Blow); Slay the Warlord; and a bonus VP for wiping out a unit in a Sweeping Advance (Execution). We continued to use our house rule that Kill Points would be awarded for each 100 pts (rounded up) of the cost of a unit. The final special rule in this scenario was that the winner of a Shadow War roll would get to decide if the game started with d3 turns of Night Fighting.
We decided the Search and Destroy deployment map would be most fitting for the mission. And with each player having two board edges, it would make the Reserves rules more interesting with more choices to be made by the players and the reserve units more likely to have an immediate impact.
We decided whoever deployed first would get to select his deployment zone, in order to help balance out the disadvantage. We rolled off and Phil (Loyalists) won and elected to deploy second. Pete (Traitors) selected Zone III, which meant Phil would deploy in Zone I. Pete won the Shadow War roll and elected to start with Night Fighting, rolling up three turns of night.
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| The battlefield: the rocky badlands of the Vaalbara Plateau. |
ARMY SELECTION: 1150 Points
Death Guard Eradication Patrol - Pete
- Praetor Wolfgang: Terminator armor, Paragon Blade, volkite charger, digilasers
- Tactical Squad Stärke: 14 marines with close combat weapons, sergeant with power fist and artificer armor and Apothecary Wilhelm
- Tactical Squad Ritter: 10 marines with close combat weapons, sergeant with power fist and artificer armor, rhino with heavy flamer
- Tactical Support Squad März: 7 marines with volkite calivers and Apothecary
- Heavy Support Squad Tragen: 3 marines with missile launchers
- Contemptor Dreadnought Friedrich: multi-melta, meltagun, dreadnought close combat weapon
White Scars, Brotherhood of the Wind - Phil
- Praetor Zalitai Zherdan: Master-crafted power glaive, refractor field, cyber hawk,
- Tactical Squad Kheeg: 10 marines with close combat weapons, sergeant with power glaive and artificer armor
- Tactical Support Squad Khoer: 8 marines with plasma guns
- Sicaran Omega Tank Destroyer Kharvaak: Omega Plasma Array, heavy bolter and lascannon sponsons
- Outrider Squad Anchin: 5 Outriders with twin-linked plasma guns, including sergeant
BATTLE:
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| Deployment: The Death Guard Patrol takes up position on a low hill being used as a supply depot. The White Scars turn to face their pursuers and use the rocky outcrops to stay out of sight of the Death Guard's long range weapons. |
