Horus Heresy Campaign Phase 3 Final Battle - Assault on the Walls of Berat

"Preservation lies in the defense, but the possibility of victory lies only in the attack."

 - Khan Turan Jorma,
Brotherhood of the Wind,
White Scars Legion

Campaign To Date:

It has been about 40 years since a combined force of Sons of Horus, Death Guard, and White Scars brought the Xhorik System into compliance during the Great Crusade. The major population centers of the largest continent were quickly brought under Imperial control in the typical fashion: a series of pinpoint attacks of overwhelming force by the Legions against the enemy's strong points, followed by rapid surrender. Due to the richness of the primary planet and the strategic location of the system on a sort of crossroads of warp currents, small garrisons of the Death Guard and White Scars legions were left on the planet to oversee the tithes of men and material to the Great Crusade and to help eradicate the threat of large ork populations in the eastern wastes.

With the advent of the Horus Heresy, the Warmaster ordered that the Xhorik System be taken to act as a way station for resupply on his long march to Terra. The Death Guard and their human allies on Xhorik Prime launched an attack on the White Scars and their allies, the Stratocracy of Kozar.

In Phase 1 of the campaign, the Traitors pushed the Loyalists from the war-torn border city of Bielyr in a series of bloody street fighting.

In Phase 2, the war escalated across the badlands of the Valbaara Plateau in several pitched battles. In the end, the Brotherhood of the Wind was defeated and their leader Praetor Zherdan was killed by the Death Guard.

Phase 3 of the Campaign for Xhorik Prime finds the battered Loyalists unable to stand against the Death Guard heavy armor and so they are resorting to guerrilla tactics as the Traitor army advances north toward the major cities of Kozar. This phase will culminate with a large Traitor assault on a fortified Loyalist city. There will be four missions that will impact the deciding battle of the phase.

PRE-GAME AND MISSION:

The defender selects an army of 3000 - 3500 points and splits his forces into two parts: Sentries and Reserves. Only units with the Infantry or Artillery type may be selected as Sentries. At least one HQ and one Troops choice must be included. This portion of the army can cost up to half the army total points cost and may be deployed anywhere up to 6" in front of the city walls. The HQ unit must be deployed inside a piece of ruins designated as the Defenders Headquarters. The Defender Reserves force starts in Reserve as normal and enters using the normal rules for those units. The Warlord may be part of either force.

The Attacker can select an army of 3500 - 4000 points following the normal army selection rules. Any points chosen in excess of the Defender's total must start in Reserve and are ineligible to enter on Turn 1 even if normally allowed to do so. The Attacker may deploy any units with Infiltrate as per the normal rules. The Attacker automatically goes first (no chance to seize the initiative) and may move as much of his army onto the table from his board edge as desired.  Any unit with the Deep Strike rule that is chosen to enter the table on Turn 1 may deploy using Deep Strike on Turn 1. Any unit that does not enter the table on Turn 1 starts in Reserves as normal. The Attacker's army can include a Lord of War.

There are three primary objectives: the gate, the loyalist headquarters and the defensive artillery platform. Holding an objective at the end of the game is worth 3 VPs. Or the attacker can earn 2 VPs for destroying the gate or the artillery platform (the headquarters must be held). Holding a destroyed objective at the end of the game is still worth 1 VP. Secondary objectives: Slay the Warlord (1 VP) and Annihilation (whichever side destroys more points worth of enemy units gets 1 VP). Additionally, the Attacker can earn Line Breaker (1 VP) and, as always, the Defender can earn The Price of Failure (1 VP) if they destroy the Attacker's Lord or War.

Gate: AP 14, 5 Hull Points, fortification damage table. If you control the Gate Controls at the start of your turn, you may choose to open or close the gate. The Gate can still be attacked in the open position. The Gate controls count as the objective for holding purposes.

Artillery Platform: AP 14, 5 Hull Points, fortification damage table. Any units on the platform count as being on the ramparts. Any artillery units on the platform can re-roll scatter.

Command Post: Uses standard rules for a ruin. Any unit (of either side) in this ruin may re-roll failed morale and leadership tests.

City Wall: This counts as a terrain piece and not a fortification. Units on the wall receive a 3+ cover save from the front a 6+ cover save from behind. Multiple units from opposing sides may simultaneously be on the walls. Although not a fortification, the walls can be attacked. AP 15, 5 Hull Points (Mighty Bulwark). If destroyed, a 5" x 5" hole opens through the wall. The ramparts are unaffected.

The battle lasts for a minimum of six turns. At the end of the sixth turn, there is a seventh turn on a roll of a 4+. The Attacker determines if Night Fighting is in effect in Turn 1. No need to roll. 

Additionally, the four games already played have an impact on this battle.

(1) The Conclave of the Damned: If the traitors win, they have successfully coordinated their assault in the final battle.  One unit from the allied detachment (and any transport) gains Outflank and the allied detachment counts as "Sworn Brothers".

(2) The Boarding of the KVS Defiant: If the Traitors win, they control geosynchronous orbit above the city and can launch bombardments (as per the Damocles Command Rhino) at the start of the shooting phase of their first two turns. Also, one unit of Terminators gains Deep Strike.

(3) Night Raiders: If the Traitors win, they have successfully defended their depot of war materiel and can use the supply lines to push their attack farther. The attacker can re-roll the result when determining if the game ends.

(4) The Road to Berat: If the Traitors win, they have successfully blitzed the approach to the city. The attacker can select three units to gain the Scout rule and move on from their table edge prior to Turn 1. The attacker can also re-roll reserves rolls.

The Traitors won battles 2 and 4 and would gain those advantages in this game.

ARMY SELECTION:

Traitors - Pete

Death Guard

• Preator Wolfgang: terminator armor, volkite charger, paragon blade, digital lasers, fearless, It will not Die
• Tactical Squad Folterer: 10 marines with close combat weapons, sergeant with power first and artificer armor. In a Rhino APC with a pintle mounted heavy flamer.
• Tactical Squad Toddestraffe: 14 marines with close combat weapons, sergeant with power fist and artificer armor and Apothecary Gerhard
• Tactical Support Squad Blitz Schock: 7 marines with volkite calivers 
• Heavy Support Squad Feuer Sturm: 7 marines with missile launchers and Apothecary Gerhard
• Contemptor Dreadnought Friedrich with multimelta, melta gun and close combat weapon
• Legion Fellblade Super Heavy Battle Tank Welt Zerstörer

World Eaters

• Tactical Squad Hell Hounds: 17 marines – 16 with bolters, bolt pistols and chain axes. 1 sergeant with artificer armor, power fist and plasma pistol
•  Chaplin Zungarz: Artificer Armor, plasma pistol, refractor field, crozius arcanum
•  Reconnaissance Squad Butcher's Eyes: 5 marines with power armor, sniper rifles, cameleoline 
• The Red Butchers: 1 Devoured with dual chain fists, 4 Butchers with dual power axes
• Land Raider Phobos Flesh Grinder: side sponson twin-linked lascannons, twin heavy bolter, armored ceramite, machine spirit 
• Contemptor Dreadnought with twin-linked lascannon and chainfist
• Unending Slaughter: Terminator squad with lightning claws

Army of House Harkhathe

• Grenadiers The Hero Hammers: 15 grenadiers with 2 plasma guns
• Support squad with 2 missile launcher teams and 3 lascannon teams

Loyalists - Phil

White Scars Brotherhood of the Wind 

• Khan Turan Jorma: jetbike, glaive, cyber hawk
• Centurion with glaive
• Skyhunters: 6 jetbikes,  2 x volkite culverin
• Outrider Squad Tsujen: 5 Outriders with plasma, sergeant
• Tactical Squad Temgar: 10 marines, sergeant has power glaive, artificer armor
• Tactical Support Squad Khoer: 8 marines with plasma guns, with drop pod
• Ebon Keshig: 10 terminators, 8 power glaives, 2 power fists, 1 melta gun
• Sicaran Omega Tank Destroyer Kharvaak: lascannon sponsons

Kozar Army, Berat Garrison

• Captain Xhaer, plasma pistol, power sword 
• Command squad: 6 veterans, medi pack, missile launcher, plasma gun, carapace armor
• 2nd Platoon, 3rd Company
• Infantry squad: 10 infantry with grenade launcher
• Valkyrie with heavy bolter sponsons, lascannon, Hellfury missiles
• Infantry squad: 10 infantry with melta gun
• Special weapons squad: 6 infantry with 3 melta guns
• Special weapons squad: 6 infantry with 3 melta guns
• 2 x Sentinels with multi-meltas
• Veteran squad: 10 veterans with carapace armor, 3 sniper rifles, 1 missile launcher
• Tauros with grenade launcher
• 3 x Tarantulas with twin-linked lascannon

Imperial Fists

• Terminator Squad Stalwart Blade: 5 marines with plasma blaster, volkite charger, two power fists, chainfist, lighting claw

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BATTLE:

Assault on the Walls of Berat

Battlefield overview. Objectives shown in green. 

Aerial view of the battlefield from the east, prior to deployment. The main gate of Berat is closed.