Obolis Invasion: The Charadon Campaign

[Jye Nicolson]

Round 1 Standings after the April Game Day

Defenders: 19
Invaders: 10
Raiders: 12

While the stalwart defenders of the Imperium have weathered the initial assault on the Chromyd system far better than expected, their position is still vulnerable ahead of the imminent arrival of the Dusk Raiders and other forces of Chaos. Furthermore while we have so far seen only an exploratory tendril of the Tyranid forces, we can expect they and other Xenos forces to further exploit the opportunities opened by the brutal battles of the invasion.

(eg I will be playing for the Raiders next time, and hopefully will have 50PL of Drukhari painted for the job!)


Achievements

MattB earned Master of the 10th Company and 1RP or 5XP for one of his Crusades for showing Irongutsman the ropes of 9th edition.


War Diary of Master Inquisitor Tara - Chromyd System, Obolis Subsector, Charadon Sector

The fortunes of war have favoured us far better than could have been hoped, and the defenders of Chromyd remain substantially intact. We may yet save Metalica in spite of Fabricator General Khleng and his determined efforts to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Yet the immaterium roils and there are troubling signs of a deeper strategy in the enemy's works. The Death Guard are coming - Canoness Hypatia has reported the telltale signs of their infernal contagions already upon Okharium. When they appear we will be forced to evacuate the planet, and hence the Chromyd system as a whole, whether we are pushed out by their strength or by the approach of the Fabricator General's Eradication Hulks.

- The forces of the Alpha Legion were dramatically turned back in the field by the valour of the Astra Militarum and their Knight Household allies, a victory critical to both our strategic position and morale in these opening moments of the war. Yet I am deeply concerned, having received intelligence that one of my colleagues was brutally ambushed by a small band of operatives and relieved of particularly sensitive material in an Okharium ruin while the battle raged. I suspect the Alpha Legion have yet again traded a flashy tactical setback for a covert strategic victory of their own.

- The Black Cherubs volunteered to hunt down an incursion of Tyranids, both to protect the exposed flank of the Guard and to avenge the losses of their brothers at Baal. In this they succeeded admirably but the battle was hard-fought and they report the presence of worryingly large Tyranid warbeasts. We cannot expect that these alien horrors will be deterred, not with such a feast as the Charadon system laid before them.

- The Order of the Enduring Wrath likewise rendered sterling service eradicating units of traitorous Guard encountered during their investigation of possible demonic infection sites. While I would expect nothing less from Canoness Hypatia, I do find the lack of favour shown by the Ruinous Powers to their new converts in these engagements exceptionally suspicious*. Was this a yet more brutal version of the Alpha Legion's duplicity, with the sacrifice of a few diverting our eyes from the true goal accomplished elsewhere? We will not be able to hold Okharium long enough to solve this mystery, I fear.

- Meanwhile, I must confess my own forces have contributed to the instability of the system, and for once it is not even the fault of the Daughters of Russ. Since Captain Lazarus deigned to join us, the motives of the Emperor's Scythes have grown opaque even to me, and it appears his personal detachment traded live fire with their brothers under Ser Dyus Gorhaged. Whatever it was Lazarus sought he seems to have got it, and the Emperor's Scythes have closed ranks again, but they completely neglected their other missions and are very fortunate our victories elsewhere provided cover for their transgression.



*Matt sportingly offered to play for the Invaders in the Imperium vs Imperium matchups, but his dice registered their disapproval.


Edit: I played a Crusade game against a colleague at work to teach him the ropes and his Necrons trashed my Imperial Fists. So in the spirit of the CM arbitrarily balancing the campaign, I've awarded his points to the Raiders, but I'll count them against my own cap for contributing to that Alliance. I won't go around awarding points for no reason at all (especially since the battle for top spot shouldn't need any interference), but I'll probably seize on any excuse to stop the third place team from completely dropping off the pace.

[Mattb]

*Matt sportingly offered to play for the Invaders in the Imperium vs Imperium matchups, but his dice registered their disapproval.

Oh that explains it! I didn't have bad luck - my army just refused to fight for Chaos.

[Jye Nicolson]

Matt and I played a TTS game last night, which was the first outing of the Drukhari.

Turns out they're pretty good, and even with me not knowing the Drukhari rules (Matt had to correct me on most things) it allowed the Raiders to sneak up into second place, so I might end up playing for the Invaders at the game day!

While the Defenders still have a solid lead, they certainly shouldn't feel safe with more and more warbands joining the fray.

* * *

With the Tarsonian Ashwalkers withdrawing across the irradiated desert of Okharium in good order towards their extraction point, the consensus amongst the Drukhari was to disregard them. Their mechanised forces promised a poor ratio of captives to expenditure, especially after the hard pursuit that would be necessary to bring them to battle at all.

The Fool of Commaragh had not earned her reputation - good or ill - with such pedestrian calculations. She saw instantly the Ashwalkers' trajectory would take them past the Shrine of St Beryl, an unnecessary diversion unless a relic was still present to be secured. Without hesitation she gathered her swiftest vanguard and set off across the wasteland.

Even as veterans of raids in the most hellish environs imagineable, the Drukhari found the long pursuit hard going, and both Aelf and machine were at their limits when they finally caught the Ashwalker rearguard. The Imperial Major, with little forewarning, improvised an excellent ambush, but was obliged to leave the precious relic of St Beryl exposed as bait.

It worked. The Drukhari were lured into the open and caught in brutal crossfire. Two of their transports went down immediately, with several of the attackers caught in the wreckage. However even the most cunning ambush was not proof against the callousness and luck of the Archon - even the Ashwalkers' disciplined maintenance could not keep their guns in optimal condition in the irradiated sands and with frequent misfires they were only really able to inflict serious casualties on the first Drukhari into the breach - mercenaries, not the Fool's core forces.*

Critically, the succubus Ieris and her Wyches were able to close with the Guard lines completely intact. Forced into hand-to-hand fighting versus gladiators of Commaragh, even the Ashwalkers could not hope to hold.

The Archon gleefully secured the relic, a feather in her cap following Lelith's failure to do the same against the Adeptus Sororitas. Having no use for it herself she gifted it to Ieris for her exceptional service. With her characteristic sentimentality, the Succubus pawned it for a frenzon injector.



* The wisdom of treating Drazhar himself as canon fodder may be questioned...

[Jye Nicolson]

Round 1 Standings after some TTS games

Defenders: 23
Invaders: 12
Raiders: 12

Good news: I got the Invaders back up level with the Raiders by playing my Nurgle into the Tarsonian Ashwalkers.

Bad news (for the non-Imperium): The Ashwalkers had something to prove after their adventures with the Drukhari and *absolutely proved it*. Matt tabled me even after forgetting his Scions for most of the game

So we'll have to work a bit harder to rein the Defenders in!

[Jye Nicolson]

As per Matt's wise suggestion, due to the disruption in this month's game day (which is going ahead but many folks are giving it a miss due to the Covid situation), we'll finish phase 1 of the campaign at the end of the *June* games day instead.

Please let me know what happens in the games that do happen in person, or if anyone catches a TTS game in the interim!

[Mattb]

As per Matt's wise suggestion, due to the disruption in this month's game day (which is going ahead but many folks are giving it a miss due to the Covid situation), we'll finish phase 1 of the campaign at the end of the *June* games day instead.

Please let me know what happens in the games that do happen in person, or if anyone catches a TTS game in the interim!

We were able to get 2 games done today:
Tyranids vs Thousand Sons, with a win for the Nids.
Imperial Guard vs Thousand Sons, with a win for the Guard.

No wins for Chaos, but they were really good close games! The Hive Tyrant, Exocrine and Hive Guard were able to put out an incredible amount of shooting, although Death Hex + Rubric Marines were able to demolish an entire unit of Zoanthropes and a Nuerothrope. Also it was one of the most psychic intensive games I've ever seen.

Meanwhile against the Gaurd, the Sons got a good headstart with a Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought completely demolishing a Russ in combat on the first turn thanks to the Warptime power. After that though the Guard were able to outcompete them on objectives whilst the Tank Commander and Stormtroopers brought too much firepower.

[Jye Nicolson]

Nice! How big were the games?

[Mattb]

Nice! How big were the games?

Both were 50PL crusade games.

[Jye Nicolson]

Round 1 Standings after the April Game Day

Defenders: 23
Invaders: 12
Raiders: 16

The Defenders are in a pretty good spot, but with the extension of the campaign there's a real opportunity for the Raiders in particular to overtake them. But even the Invaders are a chance if they rally on the June games day, or fire up TTS in the meantime!

(in particular it's looking like I'll be playing for the Invaders next time, even if I'm using Drukhari models to do so )

[Mattb]

Round 1 Standings after the April Game Day

Defenders: 23
Invaders: 12
Raiders: 16

The Defenders are in a pretty good spot, but with the extension of the campaign there's a real opportunity for the Raiders in particular to overtake them. But even the Invaders are a chance if they rally on the June games day, or fire up TTS in the meantime!

(in particular it's looking like I'll be playing for the Invaders next time, even if I'm using Drukhari models to do so )

I'm thinking to take my Orks out for a bit on TTS when I get some time, so that should be a very easy win for your Nurgle boys.