+++ Death Guard Turn 3 Sitrep
It seems the Emperor’s mewling servants have decided to fight in earnest. The Tox Troopers in the ruins watched a squad of marines moved forward and cut 4 of them down with precision fire. The marines attempted an assault, but were out of range. The Tox Trooper’s morale was shattered, and after several turned and ran only the Champion and two cultists are left. On your Western flank, another squad of Marines poured out of the Hab Block supported by a Contemptor Dreadnought. The Marines were forced to split their bolter fire between Feculus Spew and the Plague Marines, but the Foul Blightspawn was a priority target for the Dreadnought. It hit him with combi-bolter fire which he shrugged off and then a single hit from its lascannons. That burned through his armor and inflicted 3 wounds, but after his Disgustingly Resilient rolls, he managed to ignore all but 1. So the Foul Blightspawn has taken 1 wound this turn. Additionally, the marine squad AND the Contemptor tried to assault the Foul Blightspawn, but failed to make their rolls. Feculus DID hit the marines with Overwatch, rolling an amazing Strength 9 for his weapon but a disappointing 1 for the number of hits. And the Marine who was hit made his save. Orders?
+++Lord Nurgle ! I believe this to be the start of turn 3.
Both Tox Trooper squads will continue to lay down distractive fire against the wounded Fist squad in the ruins.
Feculus Spew chokes down all desire to close range with its weapons. He moves with haste towards the objective while staying within range of his Revolting Stench to assist Squad Corrosis in case of being charged by the Loyalists. He has no desire to fight the Dread in CC.
Squad Corrosis moves forward on the side of the street (making room for the tracked terror supporting behind) They will engage with botlers and Blight Launchers at the troopers.
The Crawler advances towards the street with the goal of bringing all its weapons on the dread in the hopes to take some needed pressure off Feculus's goal of treating the water.
“Apostle Selkar gripped his autogun tight as it spat death at the advancing yellow-armored Marines. As shots ricocheted of armor and masonry, he found his faith wavering. Most of his brethren were now bloody smears lining the floor and walls of the ruins he and his fellow disciples occupied. Even the fire from the other coven of Tox Troopers, who were occupying the adjacent building like cowards, seemed to do nothing. Selkar felt his guts drop as he heard the Plagueburst Crawler’s engines rumble and start to move away. Were they abandoning us?! No! They were the faithful! They would remake this world in Father Nurgle’s image and turn it into a garden of delight! Selkar only wished that he’d live to see it.
Feculus Spew was busy heaving himself over the bridge towards the water reclamation plant. Unable to feel fear, pain, or many other emotions; the sight of the Imperial Dreadnought and the subsequent lascannon shot to Feculus’ guts was a cause for… concern. Luckily, Corrosis and his men were close behind and laying down fire with a precision that still marked them as Astartes. Two of the Loyalists' souls went to meet their moronic Emperor under the Death Guard’s weapons.
Spewing foul clouds from its exhausts, the Plagueburst Crawler groaned into the street. Training all of its weapons on the Dreadnought, it let loose with a torrent of fire. Both Entropy Cannons went wide, but a shot from its Rothail Volley Gun and the Mortar found their way through the Dreadnought’s energy field. The machine’s armor was rent and sparks flew from several places, but it was in no way out of the fight. Its retribution would be terrible.”
The Cultists are a typical disappointment. No love there. The Death Guard killed two tactical marines, and the Plagueburst Crawler did 4 wounds to the Contemptor. No assaults were launched, as the orders you gave seemed to indicate you’re going to try and defend against any? Hope that was the case!
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+++Imperial Fists Turn 3 Sitrep - On your Eastern flank, Squad Garrus continues to take copious amounts of ineffectual autogun fire. All it's done at this point is confirm that, yes, the other intact Hab Block is infested with Tox Trooper Cultists. No casualties.
The situation on the Western flank, however, has escalated seriously. The Foul Blightspawn trotted down the bridge, almost lazily compared to last time, while the Plague Marines advanced. Rolling up the street behind them came the Plagueburst Crawler. It fired on Brother Priam while the Plague Marines opened up on Arcturus’ men. The Crawler’s two Entropy cannons missed Priam, but it inflicted a wound with its Volley Gun. Its mortar looked to be a disappointment, but one hit got through causing 3 more wounds on the mighty Dreadnought. The Plague Marine’s fire killed two tactical marines, one with bolt-fire and one with a Blight Launcher. Orders?
+++Squad Arcturus and Brother Priam: Continue your push south. Prioritize your fire to destroy the Blightspawn and engage the traitor marines in combat! Destroy them!
+++Brother Stahl: Advance with all speed to keep up with the squad and ensure their rounds and blades find their mark!
+++Squad Garrus: Close on the cultists in the hab-block. Move in and clear them out! Split your fire between both cultist groups. I expect BOTH threats to be eliminated immediately!
+++End Transmission.
“Rage boiled inside Brother Sergeant Garrus. While his Battle Brothers in Squad Arcturus were engaged with members of the Arch-Traitor’s forces, he was playing games with cultists who were mere children compared to the Astartes. It was time to end it. As one, Squad Garrus stormed across the street towards the Hab Block, pausing only to blow apart a pair of Tox Troopers in the ruins foolish enough to peak out. Autogun fire barked at them from the windows, one catching Brother Enoch through the lense in his helmet and sending him crashing to the ground. The sound of bolter-fire and frag grenades was nearly inaudible over the sound of fury erupting from Garrus’ lungs over the vox link. The marines barely paused to see the effect of their fire before crashing through the Hab Block’s entrance. A kick from Brother Felix smashed the door off its hinges and twenty feet into the building, cutting a pair of cultists in half as it flew. There was a cacophony of boltgun fire and screaming that only ended when Garrus shook the gore from his power fist.
+++Hab Block Secundus secured.
Centurion Stahl barely had time to acknowledge as he sprinted down the street, desperate to keep up with Priam’s long mechanical strides. The Contemptor Dreadnought barreled towards the Foul Blightspawn like an out of control freight train, weapons ablaze. The dreadnought’s targeting augers were still covered in the feculence of the spray the Death Guard had spat at him before and all but one shot went wide. Again, a lascannon beam scored a lethal hit and again, the unholy creature somehow survived its heat.
Squad Arcturus was moving down the street, guns cracking with staccato blasts. One of the bolts found its mark amongst the Plague Marines causing his chest to erupt in spray of foulness. Arcturus pressed his men to charge, but intense return fire from the Plague God’s sons stalled their advance and killed Brother Tyrion.
Priam growled deep in his Dreadnought suit as he allowed his momentum to carry him at the Foul Blightspawn like an avalanche. A searing jet of something acidic sprayed from the monster’s weapon, burning through actuators and red-lining his sensorium readouts. It wasn't enough to stop Priam, though. He felt the satisfying crunch as his close combat arm grabbed the leaking thing and hefted it high into the air. Priam exaltation in victory as he smashed his foe into the girders of the bridge.
Priam stepped back and voxxed Centurion Stahl.
+++ The threat has been neutr - by Dorn’s hand! It's not dead! How is it not dead?!”
Squad Garrus moved between the two Cultist units. Their shots killed 2 in the ruins and 4 in the Hab. Stahl advanced, but only rolled a 2. Squad Arcturus moved forward and lit up the Plague Marines, killing 1. Priam Advanced towards the end of the bridge, shooting everything he had at the Foul Blightspawn. Only one lascannon hit. It caused a single wound, which the Blightspawn shook off with Disgustingly Resilient.
During the Assault portion of the turn, Garrus moved into the building, losing 1 marine to Overwatch fire. The remaining marines killed 4 more cultists and the remaining two failed their Morale roll horrifically. The building cleared, they consolidated within it. Arcturus lost another member to Overwatch from the Plague Marines and then promptly rolled 4”, failing to connect. Priam, however, decided to end the Blightspawn by assaulting a massive 10”. He took 2 more wounds from Overwatch but then hit the Blightspawn twice with his Power Fist for a staggering 6 wounds. In an amazing turn of events, the Blightspawn negated 4 of those wounds with his Disgustingly Resilient ability. Priam is now down to 4 remaining wounds and the Blightspawn to 1.
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+++ Death Guard Turn 4 Sitrep
The situation on your Eastern flank has deteriorated rapidly. The marine squad in that sector moved into the street and split fire between the two units of cultists. They killed 2 in the ruins and 4 in the Hab Block. They then assaulted the Hab Block, killing every soul within. Somehow, the last remaining Tox Trooper in the ruins made his Morale check.
On the street to the West things are… delicate. The marine squad’s fire killed one of your Plague Marines, but your Overwatch fire killed a marine and they rolled a 4 for charging and couldn’t make it in. The Dreadnought closed the gap with your Foul Blightspawn and after letting him have it with everything, caused 1 wound with a lascannon shot that Feculus promptly ignored. This must’ve pissed the dread off, because he rolled a 10 for his charge. Feculus’ Overwatch did two more points of damage, but it wasn't enough to stave off close combat. The dready hit the Blightspawn twice with his Power Fist for a staggering 6 wounds. Amazingly, the Foul Blightspawn negated 4 of those wounds with his Disgustingly Resilient ability. The Contemptor is now down to 4 remaining wounds and the Blightspawn to 1.
Your Plague Marines are unengaged at the moment and your tank has a lot of target options - though the marines in the building are almost certainly within 12” of it, so they can't be targeted by the mortar. Orders?
+++Squad Corrosis moves toward the Dred, shoots at the unit of Loyalist, then charges the dread. Feculus Spew will disengage (fall back) from the Dred and move towards the objective. The crawler will fire everything at the unit.
“Corrosis snarled as he watched the Loyalist dreadnought toss Feculus about like a rag-doll. The incompetent fool was still moving, thank Nurgle, and crawling away from the hulking Contemptor. It always fell to the Plague Marines to actually get the job done, he groussed inwardly.
“Forward! Kill those yellow fools and follow me!” Corrosis gurgled through his boil-ridden and ruined throat.
His brothers slimed their way onto the bridge, bolters and Blight Launcher coughing death at the Tactical Marines trying to cut them off. Two dropped like corpse flies gutted on a feast. The deamon engine added to their fire; unleashing a hideous stream of dark matter beams, crashing mortar fire and crackling volley gun fire. The Crawler must have been distracted, because after the dust cleared only one more Loyalist dog lay as a feast for the worms.
“Blast!” Corrosis croaked. “At least that Dreadnought will die by my hand. Charge!”
As the Plague Marines closed on the Dreadnought, it turned - audibly straining ruined servos - and raised its weapons. Corrosis began to giggle as he covered the distance. The damn thing had barely hit anything since it started firing. It would do nothing to stop its doom.
Bolt fire from the Dreadnought suit went wide, but then in a blinding flash of energy its Lascannons found their marks. Two of Corrosis’ brothers were vaporized instantly.
In shock, the two remaining Plague Marines met the ancient machine in battle. Brother Gulax tried to fire at the armored suit’s weakened abdomen, failed, and was promptly crushed into scraps of meat for his trouble. As Corrosis was showered with his comrade’s guts he swung his power fist, crunching down through armor, pistons and cables. The Contemptor fell to one knee. Barely clinging to life. A time when it was at its most dangerous, Corroris knew.”
Feculus Spew fell back towards the objective. Squad Corrosis advanced towards the bridge, killing two marines with their fire. The Plagueburst Crawler’s fire was an exercise in sadness. It finally hit with one Entropy Cannon and rolled a 1 to wound. It killed another marine with its Volley Gun. The mortar got 5 shots, hit twice, wounded twice, and the targets made their saves.
Squad Corrosis charged the dread. It made up for a thus far disappointing game of shooting by rolling double 6’s with its lascannon Overwatch shots. It smoked two guys on the way in. In melee, Corroris hit it twice with his power fist. It saved one with its invulnerable save, but the one that got through did the max of 3 wounds. The Dread then crushed the last non-champion Plague Marine.
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+++ Imperial Fists Turn 4 Sitrep
Victory or defeat hangs on the edge of a knife. The Foul Blightspawn fell back from Brother Priam, towards the filtration plant. The Plague Marines advanced towards the bridge, firing at the Squad Arcturus as they passed. Bolter rounds and Blight Launchers found their mark, killing two of your men. The Plagueburst Crawler then let loose with everything on Squad Acturus. After the smoke cleared, it had succeeded in killing one more Tactical Marine. The Plague Marines then charged Priam, who finally seemed to get his lascannons to work by killing two of them in Overwatch! The Plague Marine sergeant and his remaining trooper connected. In the melee, the sergeant hit Priam twice but his atomantic shielding turned one blow away. Down to his last remaining wound, Priam crushed the regular Plague Marine with his close combat weapon. Your squad could not fail its Morale test and held firm. Orders?
+++Brutus Stahl, lead Squad Arcturus onto the bridge toward the blightspawn. Everyone get as close as possible and open fire with everything you have! Rapid fire! He must not reach the other side of the river! Everyone charge and engage in hand-to-hand if possible! Let the foul beast feel the teeth of your chainsword! Do not fail me again!
+++Brother Priam, after your fist has crushed that loathsome traitor marine, if Arcturus and Stahl's shooting has not destroyed the Blightspawn, then consolidate your position toward it to pin him in place. If he is beyond your reach, conceal yourself behind the silo, and be ready to fire on the crawler or the Blightspawn as necessary.
+++Squad Garrus, Exit to the south of the building. Fire everything you have at the plague crawler and charge! Do not let it retreat behind the hab block. Sgt Garrus, put your fist. Through. That. Foul. Machine.
+++End Transmission.
“Brothers. We end these Traitors now! Follow me.” growled the Centurion.
The remaining members of Sergeant Arcturus’ squad formed up and followed Brutus Stahl onto the bridge. Taking every ounce of the marine’s iron discipline, they ignored the battle between stricken Priam and the Plague Marine Champion to focus their fire on the Foul Blightspawn that was dragging itself towards the water filtration controls. A torrent of mass-reactive bolts tore through the creature's fragmented armor hurling bits of pus, bone, and meat high into the air. Even when the remains had fallen into a lumpen mass, Centurion Stahl put one last shot from his bolt pistol in it to be sure.
To the South, Sergeant Garrus led his men through the shattered windows of the Hab Block and out onto the street. Like a giant swollen beetle, an enemy tank sat waiting at the corner. Boltguns and a poorly hurled Krak grenade did only superficial damage. Crying oaths to the Emperor, the squad charged even as one of its brothers was torn apart by a rain of shot from the machine.
Back on the bridge, Stahl and Arcturus raced to Priam’s aid. The Plague Marine was about to deliver the killing blow to the dying dreadnought, his loathsome power fist swinging down in blur. The weapon suddenly shuddered on a new impact, caught by the power field of Brutus’ gauntlet before it could hit the mighty armored suit.
Stahl watched with satisfaction through crackling energy as what had happened dawned on the Plague Marine’s molten face. With a mighty wrench of Brutus’ fist; ceramite, flesh, bone and power cables came away as he ripped his foe’s arm off at the shoulder. The Traitor barely had time to register the pain before Stahl turned back and put a bolt round through his skull.
+++Veteran Sergeant Darius. This is Stahl. The Traitors have been dealt with. Casualties high. Nominal resistance left. Glory to his Majesty, the Emperor! End Transmission.”
Squad Garrus exited the building via the South wall and opened fire on the Plagueburst Crawler doing a wound with their boltguns.Brutus Stahl led the remnants of Squad Arcturus onto the bridge and concentrated their fire on the Foul Blightspawn. They did two wounds in the end. The Blightspawn failed both armor saves and then both of his Disgustingly Resilient rolls, finally succumbing to his wounds.
In the assault phase, Squad Garrus charged the Crawler, losing 1 member to Overwatch fire. Despite several decent hits, the Plagueburst crawler took no damage. On the bridge, Stahl and Arcturus charged to assist Priam. Stahl’s power fist put an end to the last Plague Marine.
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+++ Death Guard Turn 5 Sitrep
It’s all over but the crying. A marine squad exited the building via the South wall and opened fire on the Plagueburst Crawler doing a wound with their boltguns.The Centurion led the other marines onto the bridge and concentrated their fire on the Feculus Spew. They did two wounds in the end. The Blightspawn failed both armor saves and then both of his Disgustingly Resilient rolls, finally succumbing to his wounds.
In the assault phase, marines charged the Crawler, losing 1 member to Overwatch fire. Despite several decent hits, the Plagueburst crawler took no damage. On the bridge, Corrosis was charged to by all the remaining marines. The Centurion’s power fist put an end to the last Plague Marine.
All that remains is one Cultist and a Plagueburst Crawler pinned in combat.
Game Results
With the end of the Imperial Fist’s 4th turn, any hope for the Death Guard achieving their primary objective has dissipated. I took the liberty of playing out the final turn and the melee between the Crawler and the marines, but it was inconclusive - neither was able to wound the other.
In the end, the Imperial Fists were able to achieve their Primary and Secondary Objectives:
- The Traitors MUST be eradicated! All Death Guard units must be eliminated from the board by the end of the 5th turn. Non-Death Guard units do not count towards this total.
- At the very least, enemy positions must be reconnoitered. To do this, you must have at least 1 Imperial Fist unit within 12” of the Southern table edge by the end of turn 5.
Despite their Primary Objective slipping through their talons the Death Guard were able to achieve their Secondary Objective:
- Breaking the will of the Loyalist forces is always an objective. Destroy 50% or more of the Imperial Fists models on the board.
With a 2:1 objective count, the game has ended with an Imperial Fist victory! But only just by the skin of their teeth.
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