Probing Defences

 

The last game of the year was played on Monday. The Sisters were probing the defences of Phalona Prime and got a bit more than they bargained for!

Dutch prowled the wooded area on the capitols very edges. He was looking for signs of those meddlesome Ultramarines. Orders came down that there was a possibility the shift of the war would fall on Phalona Prime, Capitol of Phalona Reach. Try to cut the head off the snake and assume the planet will fall back in line. Dutch had serious reservations about that and thought the inquisition might pay the planet a visit .  

He struck off the dark thoughts as he heard a clanking of tank tracks and a hiss of something hydraulic. He silently moved forward and in a clearing saw a force of Adeptus Sororitas forming. A quick check of his map and he worked out they were going to march into Outpost 5 Beta. A forward listening post on the edge of the city. He best get there and warn them. 

Lt Dimitriv sat on his Vanquisher tanks turret enjoying a brief respite from the war. If he laid back and looked at the Phalona sky it almost felt like a summer training camp. “LT ! Friendlies coming in from the south “ a voice shouted up to him from the infantry command squad. With a stretch he stood up and climbed off the tank, a figure emerged from the woods. Lt Dimitriv recognised the figure as Dutch. He had seen the news pics of the legendary hero. With a confident swagger Dutch walked up to him. 

“Lieutenant. You got a force of those angry sisters coming towards you. I can't stay, orders and that but good luck”.

With that Dutch walked off towards the Capitol.

Lt Dimitriv took a second and then started ordering his small forces. “Get on the vox and call up the rest of the units. I want the full command here”.

Half an hour later, Lt Dimitriv stood watching the soldiers preparing positions and weapons. He noticed a civilian walking through the lines and heading towards the woods. He ran over and tried to stop the man. The strange man turned, he was dressed in a suit and looked like he was going to work in an admin block. 

“Where are you going sir ? You can't be here” Dimitriv said.

The man looked at the Dimitriv. His eyes held a coldness he hadn't seen before. 

“Daisy wasn't a part of this…..someone is going to pay”. The man pulled out an ornate but ancient pistol and walked away .

A soldier who Dimitriv recognised as being always a bit shady, anything you wanted he could get was staring at the man in awe. 

“Helsin, who was that?”

“Baba Yaga sir. I've only heard rumours he was supposed to be retired."

Tonight's battle was a simple take and hold. The Sisters have discovered a listening post and have to take it. Again not many pictures sorry, I really need to get better at this.

The battlefield for our game

I took a more infantry heavy force today (2 squads of 20 guardsmen, a squad of 10 Krieg and a squad of Kasrkin) and only 1 tank with 2 armoured Sentinels! Can you believe it.  

The Sisters started the battle by advancing forward. Sisters of Battle coming at my left flank and a Castigator tank with Penitant Engines in support coming at my right.  My infantry came under fire as my armoured vehicles were safely tucked away (I'm learning), my turn came and I unleashed my surprise for Matt. An Eversor assassin but this was no ordinary Eversor assassin.

They call him Baba Yaga a retired Bounty hunter

He sprinted up the left flank while my one 20 man squad held the ruins on that side. The right flank I pushed a 20 man squad forward going for the objective while keeping a squad behind for back up. One Sentinel stayed still on the left and fired a frag missile into the advancing Battle sisters squad. On the right the Castigator was a serious threat which my sentinel managed  to slap it with a hunter killer missile (A rare feat for the Guard!). My one tank, a Leman Russ Vanquisher tank (Really wanted to try out the Vanquisher battle cannon.....Spoiler alert as with any new model syndrome it did nothing!) was out of sight of the Castigator so shot at the Penitant engines.

The Sisters next turn brought the Penitent Engines right up to my squad and flamed it. They then charged in and carved up a good chunk of the squad. The Castigator pounded my infantry on the left along with the Sisters squad. Then as Matt loves to do a Canoness and Zerapyhm squad along with  a living Saint dropped in front of my lines! They truly butchered  the 20 man squad and wiped it out. This allowed me to use the Reinforcement strat and put a new 20 man squad into reserves. Exciting for me, infuriating for Matt. 

My turn cam and with the help of orders and a solid advance roll my back up squad on the right flank took the objective. The squad engaged with the Penitent engines fell back but screened the squad that had taken the objective hoping to buy them some time. The Sentinel on the right took a few wounds off one of the Penitant engines. My Kasrikin moved out of the base they were holding and hit the Castigator with a melta mine and hot shot las guns. My Vanquisher moved out of cover and hit the Castigator with everything it had (As mentioned except the main gun that missed entirely!), the Castigator still stood but was very hurt.  One the left flank the newly arrived 20 man squad exacted a bloody revenge on the Zerapyhm squad. A huge volley of las gun fire felled  most of the squad leaving the Canoness alone. Baba Yaga  fell upon the Sisters of battle from the rear. After his shooting and charge there were 3 of 10 Sisters left. 

The Sisters hit back, the Penitent engines flamed the squad they had charged out of existence and then charged the squad on the objective killing all but 1. The Canoness retreated back to the sisters of Battle and the Saint. There they shot and brought down my Eversor Assassin. The Eversor has deadly demise which wiped the sister of battle squad out and left the Canoness and saint quite exposed with very few body guards. 

My turn all my fire was aimed at surviving Canoness and saint and tank. I managed to kill  the tank,  all the body guards and the Canoness (I think, that one detail evades me) The Penitant engines killed the remaining guardsmen and then Matt called it. He had no infantry to hold the objectives and his Castigator being gone meant my tank had a significant advantage with its weapon being able to one shot anything he had. 

Was a fun game and I tried hard to use stuff I had read about with Guard and not just charge forward.

Phalona Reach VP total for Victory: 1000

Phalona Reach Defence Forces: 341

Ultramarines :339

The gunfire finally died down. Lt Dimitriv opened the hatch of his Vanquisher letting the cordite smoke out and fresh air in. They had held the line, seen off the enemy but it had not been earned freely. Officio Medicae staff now moved amongst the broken and dead searching for casualties. A stream of stretchers went one way and bodies the other. A squad of Phalona PDF were maneuvering through the Adeptus Sororitas bodies. Every now and then a soldier would stop and pull a trophy  

off a body. Dimitriv went to find the Vox operator to send his report. A commotion caught his eye. Several soldiers were dragging a prisoner towards him. Her white armour was stained with blood and mud. Rent open in several places. The soldiers forced her onto her knees before Dimitriv, she was barely conscious but stared at him eyes burning with pain and hatred. 

“Secure the prisoner and get a medicae to stabilise her for transport” Dimitriv said. No one moved , one of the soldiers pulled out a las pistol and pointed it at the Sister

“For Marshall Dreval “ 

“I wouldn't do that if I were you” a new voice said. Dimitriv blinked as Dutch appeared from nowhere, knife to the soldier's throat. 

“There is enough out there for revenge. She goes to the Governor.” Dutch pointed angrily out into the woods. The soldier white with terror, lowered his pistol. 

“She needs to die “ he mumbled as he stalked off. Dutch and 3 soldiers took the sister away in a transport. Dimitriv was glad that problem was out of his hands. Fighting a war appealed more to him than politics. 

The Martyr’s Toll

​Sister Superior Cassian entered the requisitioned administrative office, the servo-motors in her armour whining softly with the movement. She stopped before the heavy oak desk and snapped a sharp salute, the sign of the Aquila formed perfectly across her chest. Canoness Superior Angelica did not look up immediately from the maps spread before her, but her presence filled the room. "Report, Sister."

​Cassian lowered her hands, her expression grim. "The scout force dispatched to assess the outer defences of the planetary capital has been silenced, Canoness. They encountered a concealed strongpoint. It was an ambush."

​She stepped forward and placed a cracked data-slate on the desk. "Telemetry indicates total loss of the force. They died fighting."

​Angelica stared at the data-slate for a long moment, her face an unreadable mask of cold marble. She did not shout, nor did she strike the table. She simply nodded, accepting the weight of the dead.

​"They sit at the right hand of the Golden Throne now," Angelica said quietly. "Dismissed, Cassian."

​Penance and Prayer

​As the door closed behind the Sister Superior, Angelica rose. She crossed the ferro-crete hallway to the small, makeshift chapel established in the building's east wing. The air inside was thick with the scent of sacred incense and beeswax. Angelica knelt before the small shrine of the God-Emperor, bowing her head until her forehead touched the cold floor. She did not move for hours. She offered prayers for the fallen, reciting the Litany of the Martyred and the Catechism of Hate, letting her grief harden into a diamond-sharp resolve.

​The Call to War

​Several hours later, the heavy doors of the chapel opened. Angelica emerged, her face composed, her eyes dry and burning with renewed purpose. She returned to her office and sat heavily at her desk. Her fingers danced across the runic keys of the comms-console, dialling in a secure frequency. The static hissed for a moment before the connection stabilized. She leaned into the vox-caster.

​"This is Canoness Angelica hailing the Battle Barge Resilient. Patch me through to Lieutenant Titus. Immediately."