HGR Journal Entry No. 020 - Black Saturday 40k Action!

Date : April 7, 2007
Venue : Midnight's residence
Attendees : Midnight, Balian, Kyuzo with special appearance of Salubri later in the evening
Games of Choice : Warhammer 40k
Highlights:

Sorry guys, writing a storyline's taking longer than I thought so here's a summary first of what's happened. :)

Game 1 - Balian (Dark Angels with Daemonhunter Allies) vs. Kyuzo (Emperor's Children)
2000pts Cleanse Alpha (say, even the mission is themed with the Holy Week. lolz.)
Kyuzo wins with scoring units claiming three quarters against Balian's one.

Met up with Salubri later that evening for coffee at, where else, Starbucks. Even on a Black Saturday folks, the place did not disappoint. We even got to sit on a couch too!!! hehehe...

Terrain building update. Salubri able to make 4 building ruin pieces from foamboard. Cool!

Will try to post a storyline report before Meanderer can post theirs before 2008. Pramis! +P
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It was morning, the husks of buildings casting weird shadows on the outskirts of what used to be a bustling city just a few weeks back. Never really cared to remember the name of this settlement, only the fleeting memory of its wanton destruction. And hopefully, before the day is over, that memory is about to be refreshed anew.

From our vantage point here at the city outskirts, activity can already be seen. The tell-tale contrails of Imperium transports tracing skywards. Dark figures moving furtively from structure to structure. The pattern of their movements is more deliberate and organized when they made planetfall, compared to that of the clumsier Imperial Guard. These are Space Marines, and judging by their colors, these must be a contingent of the Sons of El Johnson, though I sense a strange presence among them. Whoever they are, my instructions to my children were clear; they must be driven off this sector so as not to interfere with our plans.

Without further prompting, my children set forth on their mission. Brother Halus and his squad of havocs took the high ground, ready to choose their targets at will with missle and autocannon fire, while Brothers Furiax and Xarnon brought their respective havocs to the frontline. Brothers Ixius and Grax kept their noise marines slightly behind should the need for support fire arises.

It did not take long before our Enemy presented themselves to us. These are more heavily armed compared to the usual expeditionary force the Imperium would send. Then, did I realize the true nature of the strange presence that I've felt...

Daemonhosts! The Loyalist's feeble attempt at controlling the unstable power of the Warp and give it human form, though far from it. Some mad if not desperate being is leading this army, if he intends to harness the very substance of our existence against us. They shall pay dearly for this folly.

Brothers Furiax and Xarnon pressed forward, almost immediately you could hear the booming bass notes of blastmasters, combined with excellent shooting from Brother Halus, neutralizing the Dark Angels' jump troops from making any counterattack to our advance, at least for the time being.

This did not bode well for the defenders of the False Emperor, for their troubles were compounded when the daemonhosts turned on them as well, momentarily throwing them into disarray as they desperately try to regain their control over them. My children sensed that it is time they press their advantage.

Like a harbinger of death astride an iron steed. Brother Eidolon zooms into the fray, sent on engaging the nearest squad of marines even if it meant taking on two the daemonvessels at the vanguard, with Brother Zerus and his bikers closely behind in the hopes of flanking their fortification before they have a chance to return fire. Only the Daemonhosts were close enough to engage Brother Eidolon's advance, while the rest of the Enemy try to regroup. It is here where Brother Eidolon springs his trap.

Brother Eidolon, aided by the Dark Prince, summoned a coven of daemonettes to aid him, while Brother Zerus continued their blinding advance to the Unforgiven's now exposed flank. The daemonettes made short work of the daemonhosts, and quickly ran to the Dark Angels' firing line. The Dark Angels have yet to neutralize the first wave of daemons when Brother Zerus unleashed a second wave which was enough to break their resolve. Many space marines fell, dropping their guard to these pale svelte, exotic daemon women and their deadly charms. The Sons of the Lion fell back, albeit too easily, as if they have accomplished something important to them despite their great loss. Somehow, I do not think we have seen the last of them.



Journal of Brother Eleazar
Librarian, Dark Angels Fifth Company
Entry 040707

We are veterans of the Battle of the Sularian Gate. We serve the Emperor and hunt the Fallen.

To these vows we set out to the aid of Inquisitor Lord Quiroga, having picked-up a distress call sent out by one of his telepaths. We almost never trouble ourselves with the affairs of the inquisition, but Quiroga had information that is both valuable to us and sends a chill to our spine at the same time... in Quiroga we have someone outside the inner circle knowing about The Fallen...

Upon planetfall at Salvador I, we immediately located Quiroga, in battle with what I estimated to be half a company of the Emperor's Children. Supported only by his retinue, I say we just arrived in time to save him from utter doom. Upon deployment, we immediately felt something disturbing... something that caused us to hesitate... I am fearing blasphemy when I think that it could have been fear we felt... and we were quickly overwhelmed...

In the heat of battle Quiroga pointed out two of The Fallen among the traitors' ranks. We abandoned any thought of being victorius and just hunted the two Fallen at all cost. Upon accomplishing that, we withdrew, now with Quiroga and his knowledge.

It is clear that Quiroga knows of our secret crusade. In my opinion, my lord Ezekiel, it is to our best interest to keep him with us... to be able to hunt The Fallen down and figure out just exactly who this Quiroga is and how he knows what he knows. I sense something sinister, but what exactly I still have no clue.

For the Emperor

HGR Journal Entry No. 019 - Rabid Dogs and Barbed Wires

[Start Transmission: Grand Master Belial, Deathwing Company]

In answer to a call put thru by the Research Station on Arx. The Battle Barge, Defiance dropped out of warp space within the sector. As soon as we reached orbit, I sent out a Ravenwing scouting party to investigate. En route to Caliban, we earlier recieved word that traitor marines have been spotted in the area. Within hours the scouting party stumbled on a contingent of these traitors and our suspicions were confirmed.

It was unfortunate that they had scouts of their own and Sgt. Seth's Ravenwing were discovered. The enemy entrenched itself in an area with old walls... no doubt a ruin of the past wars when the vile Abaddon tried to enter Imperial Space thru this Sector, bypassing the Cadian Gate. Still, thru the use of their training they were able to secure good positions and advance into the enemy lines. Seizing this opportunity I ordered our battle hardened brethren to make ready to teleport as soon as the Ravenwing party gave their signal.

Sgt. Seth chose to break his unit up into combat squads and approach from both flanks of the enemy entrenchment. The signal came and the reserved Deathwing terminators, dropped one after another on the enemy's right flank. As the battle progressed I realized that it would be to our advantage should I throw the full weight of our Deathwing forces on a single flank. The theory proved correct as he tried to support his endangered right flank with their leaders and some fast moving bikers. However this was not enough to stop the righteous fury of the Deathwing. We finished them off with a final melee that saw the death of their leaders as well. I ordered Sgt. Seth to lead a team of ravenwing bikers to hunt down the stragglers. None must escape.

It is worth mentioning that after the battle we surveyed the dead bodies of the traitors. They closely resembled a mix between wolves and man. I recall that their fighting style closely mirrors that of the barbarians from Fenris. But these... abominations can not truly be of their kin... not even the Wolves would don armor worn by the chaos traitors. This... I find strange...

[End Transmission]


SAGA OF GUNNAR FIREAXE
Youngest Wolf Lord, Space Wolves 13th Company
Entry 033107 - by Rune Priest Hjarrand

We were roused by the scent of smoke and the roar of engines. In this isolated world we now call Kievan Rus, it can only mean one thing... confrontation.

Lord Gunnar mustered the Storm Claws and, along with Wolf Priest Thorolf, set out to take the fight to the potential enemy. I stayed long enough to set-up the firing line for the Long Fangs, and then moved forward with the Slayers to lend support to Gunnar and his Claws, with our fenrisian wolves running point. I have, time and again, advised the young wolf against using speed and cunning exclusively in every battle. Evidently, Gunnar still has a lot to learn, and I hope for the warband's own good he does.

We covered a lot of ground in our advance, but the main force of the enemy appeared in the flank where we did not expect them to be. In hindsight, even if we covered that flank, we would not have been able to break through their lines... or even stop their advance. Our fast reaction was not enough, and our Long Fangs could not give the full might of their firepower to bear given their initial deployment. It was like water hitting stone.

Speed, cunning and the strength of our Lord Gunnar and the Storm Claws have given us a number of victories, but this time our strength was not enough to cleave through the enemy's battle lines. We were forced to withdraw and redraw our battle line... maybe for another day...

We still don't know the purpose of the enemy we faced... what they were doing in Kievan Rus... they have the markings of the Sons of the Lion, but their armour's colour were far different the last time we saw them... and that was before we went in the Eye.

There was a time when we knew who our enemies were. That time is long gone. We are alone...

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Intercept Code: Catachan IG.
Transmission: Gonza V to Battleship Righteous Vengeance
Verification: 90.45.01 (confirmed)

Start Transmission: 10.32
Abort Refuelling - We have made contact with a local from the settlement on Therex XI and cannot secure the landing zone designated *Touchdown*.

We are confronted by fortifications being built on the outskirts of Therex. The surrounding swamplands are cleared about 500 m from the first bunkers. The village itself looks like it went through several years of conflict. The native we recovered - Uwe Neiner told us the attackers came only a week before - enslaving the villagers and then forcing those into labor. I cannot pretend to understand the workings behind the minds of such a cruel horde. The silver armour with yellow and black trimmings mark them out to be the cursed Iron Warriors once, the Emperium's finest siegemasters. Now they are here, led by a ten foot daemon whose armour seemed to have fused with his flesh.

End Transmission

Start Transmission: 14.32
We have moved our vantage position as the Iron Warriors started to scan the perimeter. My fear is that they've detected our transmission but the level of alert indicated the Iron Warriors were interested in something more.

The awful detonation of large demolisher shells marked the first locations where the Iron Warriors suspected their attackers to be seeking cover. Then we saw them break cover - they looked like Space Marines but their armour was mixed with Chaos markings. Their attack was at once fierce - seeking to overwhelm the Iron Warriors through their speed. These attackers were easily able to get through the defences and engage the well-entreched Iron Warrior defenders.

The Space Marine (if he was still loyal to the Emperor) leader drove his bike straight into a wall of Iron Warriors taking on all comers. He eventually bested even the 10 foot tall monster before being felled by a demolisher shell that fell a meter from his bike. With their leader gone and most of their number dead or injuired, the remaining attackers slipped back into the swamps. Even now I can still hear their awful howling...

Priority request for evacuation Lt. Duncan. Catachan 23rd.

End Transmission