Blood Rain - Part 3

 Part 2 here.

Brasalion checked his chronometer. It was still three hours until the Thunderhawks would arrive to take them to orbit to the fleet. The extraction was supposed to the previous day but a second Imperial armada arrived in system and had forced the Black Storm cruisers to the other side of the planet. "Get yourselves to these coordinates," Helixian had transmitted, "and hold off until we get there."

"Easy for him to say," muttered the Chaos champion. The location used to be a mechanicus building of some import but had been reduced to ruins and rubble. There were no clear fire lines and the strongholds doors could not be secured.

He looked to the top of the ruins, where he saw an early dawn light glint off the barrel of a reaper chaincannon. Jogcest's enhanced ocular implants saw him in return and the half marine - half machine nodded. On the level below him Mardil's fingers played with blue warp fire with his eyes closed while he muttered extolations to their goddess. Elsewhere he heard the fidgeting of other marines eager for the waiting to be over. They were all warriors of action, not patience.

"I see a drop ship approaching," Jogcest reported on the comm link. "Imperial," he added after a moment. 

All around Brasalion he could hear bodies moving and weapons being checked. Mardil opened his eyes and dismissed the warp flames with a wave of his hands. "No quiet day in the legion, right my lord?" 

Brasalion nodded and grabbed his daemon sword. "Look lively men, and spare the trigger. We're running low on rounds and I hate to have to wade through a lake of gore to get to my ride!"  The men gave a cheer and shouted as one over the roar of the approaching enemy, "For Quintara!"

* * * * * 

Tinqiu and I got together to finish our mini campaign today, partaking in mission 3B Airborne Siege, even though I won 2B and 3C was supposed to be the final mission. We thought that 3B looked like a more interested 2B which was very slanted to the defenders.

I deployed in a mega stronghold with lots of shooting up on the vantages and the Chosen and Annointed holding the fort in the lower levels.

The Tempestus Aquilons, of course, did not deploy a soul to start. The goal for the attackers was simple: take the strongholds.

The imperials wisely dropped and rushed into cover. With all the marines on conceal there was little point in trying to stick a nose out of cover.

Tinqiu went for an enveloping attack, trying to use the ruins to approach as close as possible and deliver a one two punch. We are using the dataslated 1.1 rules so the legionaries are more vulnerable to piercing weapons.

On TP1 I had moved the Annointed out into the street with an eye to charging and killing up the middle to split the imperials up, but the once a game bombardment hit him for 9 damage while everyone else took some minor scrapes. And everyone was -1 APL. 

I was able to use the heavy gunner's reaper chaincannon to severely damage the heavy weapons turret machine, and a bolt pistol shot to finish it off. 

The Aquilions followed up with some las fire to finished off the daemon marine before he could try to power up or get healed.

In return, the balefyre acolyte used Life Siphon to drain the killer and give some health back to the heavy gunner who was coming under fire.

His commanding view of the street and 2+ Warded Armour made him a constant concern to the imperials. The plasma gunner landed and sent some plasma fire into the hardened positions of the enemy. Then, was covered in obscuring smoke the Tempestor threw before he advanced.

The melta gunner landed, took one look at the Icon Bearer with his double shooting bolt gun, and said "you must go."

"I mean, really really get gone." At Devastating 4 and piercing 2 (which is unmodified in the dataslate rules now) that was an impossible request to ignore.

The Chosen decided to run out and shoot the meltagunner with his plasma pistol but completely whiffed! In exchange, the grenadier whipped a melta bomb that failed to denotate properly. The Chosen was injured, but still alive with 5 wounds left! 

In his counteract, he charged the grenadier to avoid more shooting and hopes of healing himself later.

On both flanks the Aquilons go for the rear.

In a counteact shooting the reaper chaincannon removed the threat of the meltagun at the end of turning point 2.

At the beginning of turning point 3, the Legionaries win initiative and the Chosen begins to make up for his earlier misfire and begin to turn the tide. First he fights and obliterates the grenadier, heals himself a bit to 6 wounds left, and then uses the plasma pistol to shoot the Precursor with much better accuracy. 

Finally with his third APL he retreats into the stronghold to defend against flankers.

The aquilion plasma gunner shoots at the legionary plasma gunner and he becomes wounded, but the blessings of Quintara (aka Nurgle) keeps him on his feet. An activation later the legionary would fall to lasgun fire.

The reaper chaincannon takes down another Aquilon. They were not flashy kills but he's very consistent.

Finally the Tempestor tries to charge the Chosen in the stronghold through a doorway fight. He desperately needed one crit to kill the marine as the model inside the stronghold gets to fight first against those outside. But the Tempestor did not have luck on his side and he died while the Chosen still had a bit of life in his veins. 

With the Aquilons running low on models and the marines still having three models including two mostly uninjured, Tinqiu ordered the general retreat.

A great game and fun mini campaign, but definitely needs some work in the balance of mission.