Sons of Horus vs Blood Angels: Battle for Planetoid Provisa

 Background:

After their initial defeat (Battle for Provisa 1: Take and Hold), Praetor Ezman Vyke was forced to regroup his forces. He now knew the outer dwarf planet of the Xhorik System was defended by more than Planetary Defense Forces of the local Imperial Auxilia. Somehow, a mixed force of Loyalist Legions was present on the isolated hunk of rock at the distant edge of the system. With the primary planet of the system now under Traitor control and the majority of the local White Scars Legion forces defeated, he had expected the rest of the system to quickly succumb to their inevitable fate of slavery to the Traitor cause. Now it seems a force of the IXth Legion, supported by elements of the Vth and VIIth Legions, was defending this distant outpost of the system against the advance elements of Horus' fleet. This was very unexpected because all of their intelligence indicated the Blood Angels to be on a campaign in the Signus Cluster, far away in the Eastern Fringe, where Horus hoped to trap them in a hopeless struggle far from the primary theaters of the Heresy.

After orbital bombardments to destroy planetary defense systems, the Sons of Horus 12th company had made a successful landing with infantry forces and established a small zone of control to bring in heavier support. Praetor Vyke personally led these advance infantry forces in several small battles against the PDF to secure his flanks and buy time for his transports. In one of these routine excursions to take control of a communications relay, he unexpectedly encountered Loyalist Legion forces that inflicted a decisive defeat on his forces and drove him back to his landing zones. Even worse, he had been bested in a duel with the leader of the IXth Legion in the process. Now with heavier support elements being transported down to the surface, Vyke was prepared to launch a counterattack with the intent of eliminating the Loyalist Legion forces on Provisa, on his way to bringing this planetoid and the entire system under the control of the Warmaster. And just as importantly, he looked to get personal revenge on the arrogant and angelic Praetor Garo Arteo.

Scenario: Blood Feud

The objective is simple: destroy the enemy.

Primary Objective
Each infantry unit destroyed: 2 VP
Each other unit destroyed: 1 VP

Secondary Objectives
Slay the Warlord: 1 VP

Last Man Standing: 1 VP for the side with the most surviving units

Opposing Forces:

Blood Angels and White Scars: Pete

• Garo Arteo, Bloody Executioner of the Crimson Gate: Praetor w/ artificer armor, iron halo, digital lasers, jump pack, blade of perdition, bolt pistol
• Crimson Paladins with assault cannon
• The Sanguine Berzerkers:14 assault marines w/ jump packs, bolt pistols, 2 power axes, sergeant with power fist, plasma pistol, artificer armor
• The Golden Shields of Baal: 10 breacher marines, void-hardened armor, 8 bolters, 2 melta guns,
  breacher shields, sergeant with thunder hammer and artificer armor
• The Angel’s Judgement: Vindicator Tank w/ demolisher cannon, armored ceramite and twin-linked bolter
• White Scars Squadron Tsujen: 5 Outriders with twin-linked plasma guns, sergeant with power glaive

Sons of Horus: Phil

• Praetor Ezman Vyke with Cataphractii terminator armor, chain fist, combi-melta, digilasers
• Tactical Squad (6th Squad, 12th Company, the : 20 marines with additional close combat weapons, vexilla, artificer armor, power fist
• Terminator Squad Hammerfall: 5 marines with Cataphractii armor, 3 power fists, 2 chain fists, 5 combi-meltas
• Transport: Land Raider Phobos The Bladed Hand
• Veteran Tactical Squad Exomis ("The Remnants"): 10 marines with 2 power swords, 1 power axe, 1 power fist, vox, 2 meltaguns, 1 combi-melta, and artificer armor
• Transport: Rhino
• Contemptor Dreadnought Konax Silat with multi-melta and chainfist with inbuilt heavy flamer

 Battle:

The two sides square off across the center of the battered colony.

The Sanguine Berzerkers leap toward the approaching enemy using their jump packs.

Ezman Vyke leads the sixth tactical squad of the Sons of Horus 12th Company into the colony to confront the Loyalist defenders.

The Blood Angels find themselves outnumbered but await the arrival of reserves. 

Praetor Vyke spreads his forces across a broad front, in an attempt to encircle the approaching Blood Angels. 

Veterans clad in Cataphractii Terminator armor crawl forward in their Land Raider, The Bladed Hand. After seeing his infantry decimated by heavy firepower in the previous engagement, Praetor Vyke vows not to be outgunned again and deploys armored transports this time.

Terran Veteran Squad Exomis ("The Remnants") also advance more cautiously this time, using a Rhino for protection. 

The mighty Contemptor Dreadnought, Konax Silat, stomps forward, eagerly searching out the enemy.

Blood Angels Breachers, The Golden Shields of Baal, advance in tight formation with a Vindicator on their flank.

The Blood Angels leap forward, using the ruined buildings and storage containers to stay out of sight of the Traitors' guns. 

The Vindicator and the Bladed Hand face off, exchanging fire through the ruins. The Land Raider is immobilized by a shot from the Demolisher cannon.

Both sides close in and open fire.

Sons of Horus units advance through the ruined streets.

Blood Angels Breachers taek advantage of the cover of a ruined temple.

Crimson Paladins teleport down onto the battlefield behind the Sons of Horus lines.

The Golden Shields take up firing positions in the ruins. 

The assault squad activates their jump packs and leaps forward, coming face to face with the hated traitors. 

With a bloodthirsty battle cry, the assault squad charges through a hail of bolter fire into the Traitor battle line. 

The two armies clash in a ferocious melee. 

At the center, the two praetors duel. 

Both sides fight with a fury born of mutual hatred.

As inured warriors fall, others step forward to take their place and the battle rages on. Ezman Vyke is severely wounded by the Garo Arteo's Blade of Perdition but does not fall and the duel continues.

On the Traitors' right flank, the Terminator squad Hammerfall disembarks from their damaged transport to attack the Vindicator.

After immobilizing the Land Raider, The Angel's Judgement is destroyed by meltagun fire from the combi-weapons.

Veteran Squad Exomis changes course to launch a ferocious counter attack against the deep striking Crimson Paladins. With the combined firepower of Konax Silat, they cut down the Blood Angels. 

The Crimson Paladins hold their ground under merciless enemy fire, even when only one remains standing.

To deal with the last stubborn Paladin, Konax charges in and attacks with his chainfist. The Blood Angel dies a proud death, on his feet with weapon in hand.

On the Traitor left flank, Ezman Vyke and his Sons of Horus defeat the Blood Angels and drive them from the ruins.

Around the ruined temple, the Sons of Horus terminators clash with the Blood Angels breachers.

Despite the heavier weapons and armor of the Traitors, The Golden Shields of Baal hold their ground and put up a stiff resistance. 

White Scars Outrider Squadron Tsujen arrives on the Traitor left flank, taking Ezman by surprise. The Praetor is injured and dragged from the battlefield.

The Outriders continue their sweep behind enemy lines, this time targeting the Rhino...

...and turning it into a burning wreck with their plasma guns.

Wrecked tanks litter the battlefield as the survivors of each side converge on the temple.

The Golden Shields continue to hold the line despite their losses and even manage to knock out a few terminators!

While the noble Angels are engaged in an epic melee with the Traitor terminators, Squad Exomis strikes from behind and cuts down all but one.

The last Blood Angel falls back from the overwhelming Sons of Horus attack, but he does not flee.

Squadron Tsujen, not yet satisfied with their kill count, swarms the Contemptor Dreadnought and pelts him with plasma fire.

The Blood Angels are driven back, leaving the Sons of Horus in control of the center of the colony, while the White Scars continue to strike at the Traitor flanks.

Konax Silat repels the plasma fire with his atomatic shielding. 

His return fire, knocks a few more of the bikers out of the fight. 

The surviving White Scars race around to the weaker side armor and are able to badly damage the Contemptor, but cannot bring him down. 

Traitors win: 8 - 5

Post Game:

Despite heavy casualties to his forces and additional personal injury, Praetor Ezman Vyke prevailed, inflicting a clear defeat on the Loyalists. And just as importantly, this time he had bested his rival in a duel to regain his pride of place among his men. It was clear the Loyalists would not be giving up this rock without a fight, but that suited Ezman well and he relished the thought of the next engagement with these foes and a chance to crush them utterly.

Traitor Comments (Phil):

That was a complete reversal of the previous game. It is amazing how much difference heavy armor and vehicles make in this game. I put the full credit for the different result in the use of the transports and Contemptor dreadnought. The heavily-armored tanks and dreadnought allowed me to control the battle by forcing Pete to attack where I wanted. In smaller games, even one or two heavy vehicles can unbalance a game to the point the result is almost inevitable. Going forward, we will have to do better at ensuring both sides are better matched. 

It was great fun to use my transports, as this force was intended to be fast moving and hard hitting. It was my first time using a Land Raider or a Contemptor after being on the receiving end of both of those units so many times, and they were both very fun to use and looked great on the battlefield. 

The key moment of the battle was, of course, the duel between the Praetors. Whereas last time, Garo cut down Ezman before he could retaliate, this time Pete rolled an awful handful of dice for his mass of attacks. Ezman survived with one wound remaining and was then able to pummel that blonde ponce into the ground with his brutal chain fist. Last time it was the speed and finesse of Garo that won, this time it was the raw power of Ezman. The duel was really intense and every die roll had us sweating and then either cheering or crying out in agony at the results. We knew whichever Praetor won would almost assuredly tip the remaining melee in his favor. And despite all my advantage in armor, if his Praetor and some of his assault marines had survived and attacked my veterans with the support of the Outriders, they could have turned the tide in the center. Needless to say, these two Praetors are establishing a bit of a heated rivalry and I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out in coming games!

I love the look and style of this Sons of Horus army so far. The spiked treads, the Spartan crests, the clean green armor, the combat blades of the tactical marines. And they look especially nice and menacing going against the bright red heroes of Pete's Blood Angels. Throwing in the bright white of the White Scars is just icing on the cake. We are going to be set for some amazing looking battles as this campaign progresses. The first few battles of this campaign have been pretty one-sided but as the forces expand, things should start to balance out a bit better. 

It turns out this is going to be our last game of the first edition of Horus Hersey. I am looking forward to hopefully a more balanced and more dynamic game in the second edition. 

Loyalist Comments (Pete):

TBD