Raven's Fall part 1: Landing at Outpost 83Φ-1

Vigilator Vræl gazed at the unconscious Stormseer secured opposite him.  The White Scar psyker was a curiosity, albeit an exceptionally dangerous one.  The psyker had caused considerable damage on the Avis Caveum. The Stormseer seemed a potent psyker in his own right, his ferocious abilities in melee, especially when he lost control of himself were something to be seen.  Although he was far from the most skilled fighter in the Legionnes Astartes he could still devastate any foe foolish to come within reach of his Thunder Hammer.  That was not what interested him the most about this particular White Scar, what interested him the most was the devoted, almost fanatical loyalty his battle brothers had shown him.  The Bonds of brotherhood amongst the Vth were well known, but that so many of the Vth had recklessly thrown their lives away attempting to get the Stormseer off the doomed Avis Caveum was peculiar, even for the White Scars.  As the Darkwing they were in weaved its way to the surface of Deliverance Vræl pondered what this might mean for the fight ahead.

J'zargo and his Raven Guard escort Vræl and 3 Terminators

The Raven Guard:
Praetor
10 Tactical Marines
10 AssaultMarines
6 Flamer Tactical SupportMarines
Deredeo Dreadnought
Deredeo Dreadnought

The White Scars:
Chaplain
Legion Champion
7 Outriders
7 Outriders
6 Outriders
15 Assault Marines

We played the Planetfall mission from Planetstrike with a few minor modifications.  The Raven Guard got Vigilator Vræl and the surviving Terminators from Escape from the Avis Caveum game for free in a Darkwing.  The Darkwing couldn't do anything other than fly on the first turn, land the second turn and jink.  Vræl and the Terminators could only overwatch, fight in an assault and move towards the base entrance.

Outpost  83Φ-1 prior to the orbital bombardment

 The White Scars got J'zargo free but he would be escorted by Vræl and the Terminators and couldn't do anything unless his escort were in combat, then J'zargo could fight or dead in which case he acted normally.  In addition 2 stratagems were added to the Planet Strike attacker's list:
1pt Wyrm Drop:  the attacker gets one extra Planetary Bombardment.  If this extra strike hits a unit or building and there is no further effect.  If there are no models or intact models under the template place a crater as normal and add one Burrowing Wyrm to all other games in the Deliverance lost Campaign.
2pts Steel Rain: as Wyrm Drop but the attacker gets D3+1 extra Planetary Bombardments will all the rules listed above.
Burrowing Wyrms:  at the start of any game using the Burrowing Wyrms rule roll 1D6 per Burrowing Wyrm, for each roll of a 5+ add a Steel Wyrm to the White Scar's army.  If the Steel Wyrm sufferes a deepstrike mishap the Raven Guard player may automatically place it and scatter as normal.  Should the Steel Wyrm suffer a Deepstrike mishap the white scars player rolls on the mishap table as normal.  Any instance of the Burrowing Wyrm rule is removed once the associated Steel Wyrm is killed.

After the Planetary Bombardment and Raven Guard Deployment.  2 Steel Wyrms were fired into Deliverance boring their way to sow destruction throughout the moon.

 

As the White Scars speed towards Outpost  83Φ-1 the Raven Guard open fire, the two Deredeos raining a hail of fire into the Astartes of the Vth.

The Darkwing with its valuable payload comes in for a landing.

The White Scars advance under heavy fire.

Outriders rush to destroy the base's defenses before tackling the Deredeo.

The first unit of Outriders hit the Bastion but their Meltabombs fail to cause any serious damage.

The Assault Marines slam into the second Deredeo and destroy the mighty Dreadnought

The White Scars are closing in as the Darkwing lands and the passengers disembark onto the landing pad.

The Flamer Support squad counter attacks the Outriders attacking the Bastion wiping them out.

The Deredeo comes under attack from the Outriders.

The Preator and Flamer Support squad move out after being attacked by and seeing off the nest Outrider squad.

The White Scars Assault squad, who are chanting J'zargo's name close in on Vræl and the Terminators.

Only to be intercepted by the Raven Guard Praetor and the remnants of the flamer Support squad.  The White Scars Legion Champion bellows out a challenge and is swiftly outfought by the Raven Guard Praetor.

The last surviving outrider unit destroy the Deredeo and speed over towards J'zargo.

Vræl and his last surviving Terminator drag J'zargo past the assault squad as the Preator holds them up.

The Outriders close the gap.

.

The Praetor smashes aside the broken forms of the Assault marines as they hurl themselves at him in an attempt to break past and reach J'zargo

The Raven Guard Assault squad drops in trying to cut off the Outriders.

But are too late as the Outriders zoom in and with J'zargo's aid fell Vræl and the Terminator!

The victory is short lived as the Assault squad quickly lep onto the Outriders butchering them and recapturing J'zargo, although not without some losses of their own.

Victory for the Raven Guard!

Although the White Scars managed to bloody the Raven Guard's noses quite severely and even free J'zargo breifly the lack of damage from the Planetary Bomnbardment hindered their progress.  Coupled with an exceptionally strong counter attack from the Raven Guard in the form of the Praetor and flamer squad who killed 2 Outrider squads and the Assault squad.  The Raven Guard Assault squad's late game actions saved the day for the Raven Guard. 

Vræl coughed up blood and pulled himself upright.  J'zargo caught Vræl unawares as the Outriders had roared in from behind.  Taking a Thunderhammer to the chest was something few could survive, even amongst the post humans of the Legionnes Astartes.  The Curiass of his Artificer armour was all but ruined from the blow.  Ahead of him Vræl could see the Assult squad dragging the once again subdued J'zargo into Outpost 83Φ-1.  As he strode towards the entrance of the subsurface base Vræl gazed upwards.  Devastation rocked the skies above Deliverance as the two fleets tore each other to pieces and as lander after lander streaked down towards the moon.  This fight was far from over.

The Grand Battle of Forgeworld Sarum

As Guilliman's Imperium Secundus spread across the former Ultima Segmentum of the Imperium of Man more and more worlds turned to the benevolent rule of the Warmaster, rather than the uncaring rule of the distant Emperor of Mankind.  Not all worlds joined the Imperium Secundus so willingly however.   Many often vital worlds had to be brought to heel, shown the might of Guilliman's empire  before enjoying the benefits it brought.
The raging Battle for Mars and the reunification of the Dark and Sundered Mechanicum into a singular independent entity, the Martian Mechanicum, demonstrated to all the importance of shoring up their supply lines.  In light of these events Guilliman ordered the attack on Forgeworld Sarum.  Not willing to let such a vital asset fall into the hands of the Warmaster, Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons sent a force of his own.  Thus began the Grand Battle of Forgeworld Sarum.

The first battle of Sarum saw 2 knightly households take up arms alongside the Ordo Cybernetica and Skitarii Legions in defense of the forgeworld.  Arrayed against the Mechanicum forces were a combined force of various Imperialist Legions and Militia units and even Freeblade Knights. 

Such were the vast numbers sent by Magnus that they were easily able to outflank the smaller tighter spearhead of the Knights formation.

The Skitarii hold the line as the Knight households rush forward to meet the well dug in Imperialists.

As the 2 Knightly Households push into the Imperialists a second larger force of Secessionists attacked elsewhere in the Mechanicum's defense line.  The additional forces require the deployment of a fearsome Reaver Titan, supported by yet more knights from the two households.

Already hard pressed by the Imperialists the Mechanicum forces choose once again to marshal their strength on a narrow front, yet again being outflanked by the massively numerically superior Secessionist forces.  

The second battle of Sarum pits the Collegia Titanica, Knightly Households and a much more limited number of Skitarii and Cybernetica cohorts against the assembled Legions of the Secessionists and various Militia forces from across the fledgling Imperium Secundus, under the command of the Ultramarines.

The mighty God Machine unleashes its righteous praise to the Omnissiah in a swirling Maelstrom of death and destruction wrought by its many devastating weapons.  Beneath the Titan's gaze the Knights set to their enemies.

The Secessionist forces unleash a withering hail of firepower as their superior aerospace assets dominate the skies.

 

Although few in number the Mechanicum forces wield devastating weaponry making each warrior more than a match for even the mighty Legionnes Astartes

The focused fire of the Secessionists is able to bring the mighty Reaver Titan low!  The concentration of fire did leave relatively little fire being brought to bear on the Knights however, who caused staggering losses on their enemies.

The blasted ruin of the God Machine of the Collegia Titanica even in its death throws managed one last act of spite crushing a Militia Baneblade beneath its colossal form!

A Militia heavy weapons trooper surveys the cataclysmic scene unfolding ahead of him.  if these are not mankind's darkest days he ponders what could still be to come?

This was yet another report that I completely forgot about (I think that is the last of the forgotten battles).  Details are roughly as I remember them and what I could gather from the pictures (of which there aren't as many as I'd like).  Some details weren't really important to add given the pictures above but I'll add here for interests sake.
-The Imperialists/Secessionists could outflank 1 super heavy and 3 tanks per turn
-The Imperialists/Secessionists had unlimited respawns of tanks and super heavies (I think it was only those) and infantry for their trenches so long as the trenches had any infantry in them.
-The Reaver Titan got killed in turn 1 or 2 in the second game so it got to respawn too (since some tool forgot to bring it on day 1)
 -All vehicles doubled any form of movement they could perform so we could better make use of the 12' long (I think) table.
-The game was meant to be a spectacle so no real winner could be determined although it flt pretty balanced with crazy fast knights vs unlimited tanks and super heavies
-Originally the game was meant to be Knights vs Superheavies, but a few players dropped out at late notice leaving us with a severely reduced number of super heavies.  Hence the respawns.

Battle of Solis Planum

The Battle of Solis Planum was a colossal battle on Mars that saw both the Secessionists and Mechanicum simultaneously attacking the last major holdings of the Imperialists on Mars.

Defending the center the Imperialists were composed of Thousand Sons, Salamanders and Iron Hands with supporting elements of Solar Auxilia, Imperial Fists and some renegade Emperor's Children. 

Attacking from the north were the forces of the Mechanicum.  Comprising of a Reaver Titan of the Legio Astraman and attending Knight House, Skitarii Legions, a considerable Legio Cybernetica cohort and a small force of Raven Guard. 

From the south cam the Secessionists composed primarily of Iron Warriors and Imperial Militia, lead by a contingent of Ultramarines and supporting elements of the Alpha Legion.

The Salamanders and a small contingent of Iron Hands Held off the Mechanicum in the north.  Vulkan and one Iron Hands Veteran Tactical squad destroying almost all of the Knight Titans, all the while the Reaver Titan bombarded Vulkan whilst all watching saw him walk unscathed from the God machines hellish firepower. 
The bulk of the Iron Warriors, Thousand Sons and the supporting Imperial Fists and Emperor's Children tried to sally forth in the south smashing into the Secessionists whilst the Reaver randomly bombarded both sides from afar.
The defence in the center was disrupted somewhat with the Raven Guard dropping virtually their entire force in the middle of the defenders throwing their defence into disary. 

Ultimately the defence held, with Imperialist forces taking massive damage but seriously bloodying the noses of the Mechanicum and Secessionist forces.

Due to this game having taken place some time ago, and me only having 4 pics and my terrible memory to work off of I will give a few highlights I remember.  If people have any fond anecdotes they want to add in then please do so in the comments below.

Here are a few of my highlights:
-The Raven Guard Moritat being killed by the Scattering Raven Guard Deathstorm Drop Pod, before he had fired.
-Vulkan surviving every shot the Reaver fired his way and merrily beating down Knight Titans.
-The Defenders leaving their entire center open with a Raven Guard Drop Army waiting on the wings.
-1 Iron Hands Veteran Tactical squad killing 2 (or 3 I forget) knight Titans in close combat and only losing less than half the squad total.
-The crazy amount of armoured firepower that the Secessionists had.
-The Secessionist hill well away from the front line ,with the Ultramarines command squad and Lascannon toting Iron Havoks on it getting bombarded into oblivion by orbital bombardment (2-3 orbital bombardments I think).
-The crazy number of Dreadnoughts on the table (from the pictures I can see 29 but I think there may have been a few more)

Tides of War

Luna Wolf Deployment

Imperial Fists Deployment

The Knights and Luna Wolves advance, Artox performs true to form buy targeting the Spartan Victory with his Thermal Cannon, only to realise that between its Armoured Ceramite, Flare Shield and the range he was completely unable to harm the mighty tank.  The rest of the army's fire was just as lackluster and resulted in nothing more than some scorched paint!

Thin Imperial Fists mighty tanks backed up in an attempt to buy more time for their fiercesome firepower to do its work.  Brilliant beams of focussed light burst from their many Lascannons severyly damaging Artox' Errant and the Styrix!  The Knights on the other hand powered up the left flank.  The Hawkshroud Errant thought to finish off the Styrix with its own Thermal Cannon but once again a Flare Shield was the undoing of a Thermal Cannon, not the best day to be a Knight Errant!

Having failed to cleanly cross the cratered ground the Hawkshroud Knights are blasted with Thermal Cannon, Volkite Chieorovile and Graviton shots, before being smashed into with the combined fury of 3 Knights!  This was about to get messy!

The Hawkshroud Seneschal faced off both Artox' Errant and the Styrix Arbalester, and completely missed his attacks!  Artox swung back in an amazing display utterly unlike any he had ever performed and smote the Seneschal!  Surely he would be promoted to Scion Marshal for this mighty deed.  As Artox celebrated his mighty strike he watched the Styrix Arbalester engulfed in the catastrophic fireball unleashed by the demise of the Hawkshroud Knight.  Only for the Styrix to also Explode! smashing aside the nearby shipping containers and crushing a few Luna Wolves too.  Letting out a defeated sigh Artox awaited the Seneschal Lancer's next furious lecture.

 The Acheron Preceptor meanwhile demonstrated the correct way to dispatch a honourable foe, who seemed just as adept in the Hawkshroud art of close quarter fighting as the Hawkshroud Seneschal, without getting a team kill in the process.

  The Imperial fists having seen their Hawkshroud allies cut to ribbons were none to impressed.  Virctory rumbled forward quadlascannons blazing whilst Praetor Adalwulf, Primus Medicae Omni and the Huscarls ran headlong into Artox.  Once again in a display quite unlike his normal actions Artox slew 3 of the Huscarls.  The remaining Huscarls tore the Knight's legs off and 2 were promptly crushed as the top half of the Knight came tumbling down. The Land Raiders Indomitable and Dauntless poured fire into the Lancer Seneschal doing only minor damage as the Knight and Luna Wolves closed in.

The end is nigh, the Knights rush in destroying the Dauntless and felling Adalwulf, Omni and the last Huscarl. 

Meanwhile the Luna Wolves rushed in the Destroyers making short work of the Spartan Victory with their meltabombs.  The Reavers on the other hand politely knocked on the Indomitable's hull with a powerrfist as they had forgotten to bring any meltabombs.

 The Imperial Fists Tactical squads hop out and open fire in a desperate attempt to turn the tide.

The dreaded el Fisto and his squad open fire on the Reaver Attack squad, a ferocious fusillade of firepower that kills a single marine,  apparently Luna Wolves power armour is crazy good.  Tactical Squad 1  opens fire on the Destroyers and is similarly ineffective!

Laughing off the bolter shells detonating harmlessly off their power armour the Tactical squad, Destroyers and Acheron blast Tactical Squad 1 before the Destroyers launch in to the attack, and are promptly beaten back!  The one surviving Destroyer clearly thought his job in this battle was done as he legged it never to rally.

At the other end of the battle the Reavers and Lancer charged el Fisto's squad, wanting to guarantee the meddlesome Sergeant would cause no havoc.  El Fisto promptly challenged the Chaplain and was beaten down by the Luna Wolf, who clearly hadn't heard of, or didn't care about the legendary sergeant.  The Reavers then proceeded to butcher the remaining marines whilst the Lancer watched.

The last 3 Tactical marines can't help but feel something terrible is about to happen as they fire at the fleeing Destroyer.

Being the stubborn and resolute warriors they are, it was at this point the Imperial Fists conceded that this might not be going to plan.  The day was over, except for a bit more bloodshed and screaming.

Victory for the Knights and Luna Wolves!

The Mission was Dominion, from Betrayal with Hammer and Anvil deployment.

We had 3 objectives (all mid-field) worth 3pts each, Slay the warlord, First Blood, Attrition (extra victory point if you destroy more enemy units than your opponent).
In addition everything except Independent Characters, Flyers and Dedicated Transports were scoring.

The armies were Liam's Imperial fists with Quistoris Knight allies vs my Questoris Knights with Luna Wolf Allies.

Imperial Fists, and Knight allies
Praetor Adalwulf and Primus Medicae Omni

The Huscarls

The Land Raider Spartan "Victory"

el Fisto and his Tactical squad

Tactical squad 1

The Land Raiders "Dauntless" and "Indomitable"

The Quistoris Knight Paladin Seneschal

The Quistori Knight Errant Scion Marshal

The Knights and Luna Wolf allies
Cerastus Knight Lancer Seneschal

Questoris Knight Scion Aspirant Artox (aka fail knight)

Cerastus Knight Acheron Preceptor (with its top off)

Questoris Knight Styrix Scion Arbalester

Luna Wolf Chaplain and Reaver Attack squad

Tactical Squad

Destroyer Squad