Don Hel Returns

On Saturday I played against my friend Lewis' Chaos force, having just got his new Chaos Daemons Codex! We drew Take & Hold from the Open War deck, along with diagonal deployments. With Bloodletters, Poxwalkers, Bloodcrushers and a Great Unclean One, I thought I'd be fighting an uphill battle.

My Pathfinders and Firesight Marksman were devastated very early on, allowing him to take all 3 objectives but I managed to take down the Great Unclean One after a sustained assault by a Commander, armed with 3 Fusion Blasters and a Shield Generator. Eventually, I managed to whittle down his forces and the game ended up in a tableing, which is no easy feat against a player like Lewis!

Some fluff follow the photos as always!

The forces of the Hunter Cadre gather

"Target acquired, begining bombing run."

Commander El'Var'run eliminating the last of the chaos threat

A prototype XV9 Hazard Support suit - an effective killing machine

Don Hel Returns

"Rannera'yaksha."

A silent ghost.

A demon.

The words echoed through El'Var'run's mind as she sat in the cocoon of her XV85.

The Enforcer-variant was a battlesuit like no other. Bigger, tougher, with much more advanced systems; there were few who were lucky enough to pilot something this grand. While Steadstrike prefered the sleek, speed-focused design of the Coldstar, El'Var'run couldn't live without the versatility the Enforcer afforded her.

Bathed in a dull, reddish glow, the command relay screens flashed with dozens upon dozens of drone-captured stills and footage of the forces of Chaos. Cadres from Pax'nera Sept had fought the forces of Chaos many times before and, for better or for worse, there was plenty to learn from the information gathered during those conflicts.

It had been over a full kai'rotta since she had been ordered to pull her Hunter Cadre out of the Charadon sector. Ever since the Death Guard had landed on Nem'myr, the Ethereals had been ready to declare an evacuation of the sector. Steadstrike had argued their case, having already lost so many T'au lives, but regardless, their orders were absolute.

And now, on the fringes of Pax'nera Sept, on a barren, wasteland of a world with no name, Don Hel had arrived.

Rumours had been circulating for many kai'rotta now. The Canis Aureus had apparently managed to pull a Greater Daemon from beyond the warp. Steadstrike had a strange relationship with the Chapter. A man named Jostein had earned the Commander's respect and they often allied against greater threats. However, there were splinters within the Chapter that were outright heretical - openly worshipping the Chaos Gods and abusing the power they had been gifted. This time appeared to be no different.

El'Var'run jumped, startled at the suddenly broken silence as a communication module opened up on the screen in front of her; a flashing golden symbol of the Air Caste. She quickly composed herself and made a small eye gesture to open up the channel.

On the screen was a tall, lithe T'au, clearly of the Air Caste and a familiar face to El'Var'run.

"Kor'vre Petra."

Petra immediately made the sign of contrition with her hands.

"I apologise O'Yaksha, I wouldn't disturb you if it wasn't important."

"No need Petra."

"It's just.. We've received a report from our contacts on the ground.. And, well.."

Growing a little agitated, El'Var'run shifted in her seat.

"Speak plainly. You said yourself this was important."

"O-of course. We've received a report that says a large daemonic army has begun marching towards Habitat 12-8. They say it was lead by a hulking monstrosity. I've doubled checked it against our databases and-"

El'Var'run cut her off there.

"Don Hel."

"I'm afraid so.."

With that, the T'au Commander closed the channel and sat back in her seat, sighing heavily.

"Rannera'yaksha.."

Pushing Back The Imperial Guard

Pathfinders and Fire Warriors supported by a Cadre Fireblade and Ethereal

On Tuesday, I played against Ron for the first time! As part of our ongoing campaign, he decided to try and invade one of my asteroids with his Imperial Guard force. I managed to push him back however! The game was standard Tactical Objectives and using the standard 12" deployment. My dice and the cards were with me and ultimately I won 11-3 but it was a great game with some intense moments! Armoured Sentinels with Plasma Guns are great; they're extremely survivable and can put out some mean damage, destroying a group of Crisis Suits. Fusion Commanders are nasty as well, Manta Strike one in and it cripple a Leman Russ in the first turn! Some fluff from the game follows the images.

Infantry Squad closed up the gap by taking an objective

The Commander made short work of the Sentinels

Crisis Team about to take on the Sentinels

Pushing Back The Imperial Guard

Shas'El Elsy'eir Var'run was eager to prove herself. A skilled tank hunter in her own right, she'd risen through the ranks under the tutelage of Twinsun, learning the art of taking down vehicles and flyers alike. Today was her chance to prove herself, to earn her right to sit on the War Council alongside Steadstrike and the other veterans. The Astra Militarum had been detected on one of the asteroids claimed in the Charadon Sector, a small landing party likely sent to scout out and harass the Earth Caste stationed on the floating rock.

"Remember, be patient. Strike at the opportune moment and hit with all the might you can muster."

Steadstrike's words echoed through her head as the Manta neared the research station. Down below, she saw several infantry and heavy weapons teams, supported by Commissars, Sentinels and a Leman Russ. The T'au forces burst forth from their cover, taking the Imperials by surprise and laying down pulse fire, pinning down their infantry. Elsy'eir ordered the Crisis team to drop in and deal with the Sentinels. As they slammed into the battlefield, unleashing white-hot ion rounds towards their targets, the T'au Commander closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

With a fluid grace, she launched herself down, mere feet in front of the looming battletank. She could see the fear in the eyes of the humans as they bought their arms up to bear, las rounds glancing off the shield drones in front of her. Raising her fusion blasters, she let the words of Steadstrike echo through her mind once more as she unleashed a devastating salvo. The Russ wasn't destroyed but crippled, so she fired again, determined to remove it from existence. Elsewhere, the Pathfinders and Strike teams brought down the infantry squads. The Sentinels fought back, destroying the Crisis team but they didn't live much longer as Elsy'eir charged across the field, firing the fusion rounds into the walkers, bringing them down with ease.

As the battlefield fell silent and the remaining Guard left, she called her dropship and gathered her remaining troops. Kamais Tsua'kran was the first to congratulate her.

"You were like a demon! A silent ghost that they never saw coming. Ranerra'yaksha."

A name had been earned that day.

An Alliance Forms

Although he was nervous, Steadstrike dared not show it to anyone except Lightstar. Sat in the comms room on his own, he drummed his fingers on the table nervously as the Ethereal tried to reassure him.

"All you have ~bzzz~ is be patient and calm with them. We've fought alongsi- ~bzzz~ before, against ~bzzz~ -anis Aureus nonetheless."

"I know, but what if it is a trap? You saw what the Mechanicum did to that planet, what if this is just some ruse?"

The Commander stood up and paced for a few steps. The hologram flickered and buzzed for a second.

"Besides", he said finally. "You're back in Vu'est and I'm the one flying out here."

"I know O'Lynu'Ka. I'm not ~bzzz~ the idea either, but if we show willingness then we'll have ~bzzz~ powerful ally this day, perhaps one that could turn the tide of this war. Now, I have things to attend to. Stay vigilant. ~bzzz~ Greater Good."

Steadstrike didn't reply and simply switched the holo-communicator off. He sat down and crossed his arms, so deep in thought that he flinched when a voice came over the intercom a few minutes later.

"We're entering the planet's atmosphere now Commander."

Steadstrike sighed and made his way to the front of the small ship, strapping himself in to the co-pilots seat.

"We were lucky to make it this far without being detected.." he thought to himself, growing more nervous as the seconds passed.

The ship then flew beneath the cloud cover, the sun glaring through the windshield. A deep reddish sky and a vast green and purple forest were all that laid before them, permeated by lavish, ancient stone ruins, clearly built by the Eldar many years ago. In the distance, a few miles off, a small, grey military installation loomed in the middle of a clearing. The planet was undeniably beautiful, almost a true paradise, but it did little to calm the T'au Commander.

Suddenly, a voice buzzed over the radio.

"This is Kin's Ruin Control. Begin your approach."

"Understood", the pilot replied simply and began to flick a variety of switches. The engines began to slow as the ship descended down towards the large landing pad in the centre of the installation.

As they flew closer, Steadstrike could see several Guardians, all armed with deadly Shuriken Catapults, on guard and presumably ready for anyone, or anything.

A greeting party stood a few feet back from the pad. Steadstrike recognised the garb of two Farseers, having fought alongside their kind before. The group were flanked by a squad of Dire Avengers, their armour glistening in the low evening sunlight. The one in the centre was different however. A female Eldar, clearly the Commander of these forces. It was plain to see she had absolute authority - it almost exuded from her, even at this distance.

The ship landed smoothly and the pilot began to switch off the systems and power down the engines before Steadstrike put a hand on his shoulder.

"Keep the engines running. We may need to get out of here quickly."

The pilot nodded and complied, keeping the engines primed. Steadstrike headed back and into the hold where a small team of Fire Warriors were preparing to escort him outside.

"Listen up. I'll be honest with you all. I don't know what the intentions of these Eldar are. If anything goes awry, I want you back on the ship and preparing to leave immediately. You will not engage in combat, no matter what, understood?"

The squad saluted in agreement and stood ready to leave. Hitting a switch, Steadstrike moved to the loading ramp as it lowered down, the lush, warm air hitting him as it rushed into the hold.

The T'au Commander marched forwards and around to where the greeting party was, stopping a few feet away from them.

The female in the centre took a step forward and spoke in a soft voice, surprisingly gentle for a woman of war.

"Greetings O'Lynu'Ka. I am Miranel of Nai'Tzeleth. I trust your journey here was.. uneventful?"

"I am Commander Steadstrike of the Pax'nera Sept. I thank you for your hospitality and yes, our journey was pleasant enough."

She smiled knowingly, putting Steadstrike on edge a little.

"Come, we have much to discuss."

Abandoning Ash'hon

After our visit to Warhammer World on Saturday, I played a large scale game against Jack and Lewis. 3000 points of T'au versus Death Guard. It was an extremely tough and brutal game and I lost, although I had already resigned myself to that fate. Despite that, it was a great and really enjoyable game!

Lewis got to field a Typhon for the first time and I managed to try out a few new things, including a dedicated anti-tank Commander, fitted with Fusion Blasters, using Shadowun and Aun'shi for the first time as well as getting to field the Stormsurge once more! Aun'shi was great; a dedicated close combat unit, as well as being able to provide Invocation of the Elements, was absolutely brilliant and managed to lay waste to a fair few Seekers and Daemonettes!

Some fluff from the battle follows the photos. Beware, this one is an essay!

Just before the destruction...

Crisis Suits fighting off a Plague Crawler

Breachers fight off Plaguebearers while the Riptide holds out

"Target acquired. Lighting it up."

Ghostkeel coming out of Stealth

Abandoning Ash'hon

Steadstrike knew the impending battle wasn't a scenario he could win. The Death Guard are too powerful, especially now. Scouts reported an ancient war machine had been dug up several days ago and was being put to use, scorching the earth wherever it went. The time had come to abandon this moon, but not without putting up a fight.

All of the Earth and Water Caste had been evacuated, leaving only a skeleton crew of Earth Caste Engineers and the Firestorm Cadre, ready to lay down their lives. Steadstrike addressed them sincerely, telling them that the battle was not one they could win. However, the Death Guard were going to have to go through Hell and back before laying claim to the land here.

Farshot and Twinsun, Pax'nera Sept's own Hammerhead and Stealth Suit aces, were to finally take part as well as unleashing the might of the KV128, the Stormsurge. With everyone in position and raring to fight, they waited with bated breath, fingers on triggers, hearts in mouths.

The stench hit first, then the greenish brown miasma that seems to follow them everywhere. Several large war machines crested the hill, somehow their rotten and rusted shells still holding together. Steadstrike frowned, looking through his binoculars.

"Ka'mais. Look to the left hand side just outside the city."

The Fireblade raised his own eye piece and sighed heavily.

"Canis Aureus. Looks like they're piloting that ancient machine too.. Looks like a.. Typhon."

The Commander took one last look and swore under his breath.

"They always have to put a spanner in the works.

With a concerned look on his face, he immediately began barking orders over the comms. The Surge was to target the Typhon, with Farshot and the Riptide punching a hole through the centre. Twinsun was to lead her Stealth team around to the right, hoping to catch a few of the larger targets off guard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fight did not go in Steadstrike's favour, but alas he knew that was to be the case. The Stormsurge barely managed to glance the Typhon, even though the ancient machine itself didn't manage to put more than a dent in the titanic battlesuit. Rog, the large demonic entity they had fought, and killed, before, charged through the ranks, smashing the Riptide to pieces while a hulking mess of a demon, oozing guts and viscera, lumbered across the field of battle, destroying near everything in it's path. A team of Breachers put up a good fight, their Pulseblasters putting several holes in the beast, but they were soon beaten down by the entity as well.

Steadstrike launched himself headfirst into the fray, cutting down Plaguebearers. A lucky shot from an Aureus cultist punched a hole through one of the systems in his Coldstar suit and it began to malfunction. In those few precious seconds, the remaining Plaguebearers and Cultists rushed forwards, slashing and bludgeoning the battlesuit. Ordering a retreat, Steadstrike immediately pulled the ejector switch and was launched in to the air, barely seconds before the suit was torn apart and overrun by the hungry Chaos below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Steadstrike and the other members of his command arrived back on board their Manta ship, a vigil was held for those fallen.

"They died with honor and with dignity. They fought bravely in the face of extreme odds and we will remember their sacrifice. For the Greater Good."

"For the Greater Good!", the rest of the Cadre shouted back, saluting their Commander.

"Now, we will press on with our efforts in the Charadon sector. Our allies in the Bay'be Sept have requested assistance dealing with a certain greenskinned threat that has invaded their foothold planet. How about we hunt us some Ork?"

Jewel of Nem'myr

On Sunday, our campaign, Battle for the Charadon Sector, kicked off! All 8 of us gathered at our local Scout Hut for a day of hobbying and gaming. Several games were played, not all of them went the way we wanted them to and a lot has already changed in the campaign within the first week!

I played my first solo game against Richard, who was playing Orks. He decimated me in the first 2 turns, but somehow I managed to just steal it back through sheer luck by eliminating his squad of Boyz. That allowed me to focus on his remaining characters and Grots and ultimately I won by the skin of my teeth.

I then assisted Mia's Tau force against Richard refreshed Ork force by sending a squad of Pathfinders. However, they weren't as effective as I'd hoped and Richard had certainly learnt the lessons of the previous game, completely obliterating us by the third turn for his first 40k victory!

Here are some photos from the event and below is some fluff from the first game.

From the Tau perspective

From the Ork perspective

Kroot are wonderful in large numbers!

Jewel of Nem'myr

You could almost taste the bloodlust in the air. The Tau of Pax'nera Sept had not fought Ork forces for a very long time, but their hatred of them never faltered once. So when reports of an Ork patrol on the nearby moon Tinek came through, it was all Steadstrike could do to keep his forces under control.

The Commander immediately ordered a small patrol of Fire Warriors, Pathfinders and Stealth Suits, lead by his trusted Fireblade, Shas'el Ka'mais Tsua'kran, to intercept them. Reports of a meteor shower overheard concerned him little, but he knew that's what the Ork forces had come for.

They soon came face to face with the green skins, already eager to open fire, but Tsua'kran urged caution as he knew they would charge at a moments notice. Without warning however, the Weirdboy unleashed a mighty arcane storm as the group of Boyz phased out of reality, only to reappear mere feet in front of the firing line. Without a word, the pulse fire opened up upon the Orks, but only a few fell as they charged directly into the first squad of Fire Warriors, taking nearly all of them out in the bloody melee that ensued. Tsua'kran ordered the Stealth team to flank, taking their Drone support with them as the Fire Warrior squads pulled back, managing to put the rest of the Boyz down in a hail of pulse fire. The Ork truck was split in two under the power of Fusion Blasters and the Grots were mowed down effortlessly by Burst Cannon fire.

Suddenly, the ground shook as a large chunk of meteorite slammed into the ground, rupturing the dry earth beneath their feet. The Weirdboy and Big Mek darted for it, clearly their goal in this battle, but both soon met their end under the fury of pulse fire.

Tsua'kran called in his transport as the rest of the patrol unit ensured there were no enemy survivors. Turning to Steadstrike as the meteorite was carried aboard, he sounded glum. "What even is that thing? Why did they want it so badly?"

Steadstrike stared at the strange glowing rock, deep in thought, eyes unblinking. He shook his head and looked away. "I don't know, but I imagine whatever they were planning wasn't good. Good job Shas'El. Whatever it is, we've kept it out of their hands. For the Greater Good."

"For the Greater Good."

Tsua'kran saluted but his heart wasn't in it. He'd lost a lot of good warriors for something completely foreign even to the Commander himself.

How much more blood was to be shed in the name of this expansion?

Guilliman's Demise

Tau & Chaos forces ready to take on the Imperium

Last night was supposed to be revenge for mine and Lewis' forces against Ultramarines. However, it was not to be as they had help from the Dark Angels and we lost.

The game mode was The Prize, and they gained first turn, killing Lewis' Knight immediately and crippling my Riptide. They then grabbed the objective and took it straight inside a Landraider (which had a 4+ invun and gave -1 to hit it). Knowing that we had already lost the game, we instead decided to hunt down Guilliman and take him out. We succeeded (twice, no less) and in turn were the first factions to actually take him out so far!

The first time was from a squad of Cultists, Breachers and Crisis Suits and then second time was from Tzeentch Flamers, more Cultists, Strike Teams and a Coldstar Commander.

Overall it was an extremely tough game and our heavy hitters were taken out almost immediately, nearly crippling our entire forces in one fell swoop. Some fluff from the Tau perspective is below the photos.

Guilliman's first death

Shield Drones with 4+/5++ are horrible, especially when you roll like this..

Moments before the second death of Guilliman

Lewis also joined me in the 5's and 6's with his Disgustingly Resilliant

Guilliman's Demise

Pax'nera Sept was still reeling from the crushing defeat at the hands of the Ultramarines. Barely a week had passed, Gottfried, the pilot of the Knight, was still in critical condition despite having 24 hour care. Tau medical staff were not used to treating human injuries, but they couldn't let him die.

Steadstrike stood outside the medical room, watching over him, deep in thought, when he was interrupted by Tallet, one of the Militia Leaders of the Canis Aureus.

"The Ultramarines are advancing on our position. They say Guilliman is marching again and he's brought friends.. Dark Angels."

The Tau commander sighed heavily and simply nodded, electing not to say too much.

"Very well. Prepare yourselves. I will have the shell sent for."

~~~~~~~~~~

"This plan had better work O'Lynu'ka."

Farshot was a Hammerhead ace, one of the best pilots in the Sept. A good job really, as his gruff demeanour and abrasive personality certainly earned him no favours.

Steadstrike smirked a little, uneasy.

"It will work my friend. All we have to do is draw him out. I care not for whatever trinket they are after."

There behind them stood a towering Knight, far bigger than a Riptide suit. It was as imposing as they remembered. If only it wasn't a fake..

The Ultramarines poured all of their firepower into the shell, destroying it near immediately, but the plan had worked. Guilliman himself had entered the battlefield and was striding right towards the group. However, he was so focused, he neglected his flank and left himself exposed. A Breacher team opened fire, weakening his incredible armour as a group of Crisis Suits, led by Steadstrike himself in his Coldstar suit, dropped in behind, unleashing the fury of their Fusion Blasters and Ion Blasters, tearing chunks out of his armour, leaving his body exposed. The Cultists then moved up and opened fire, their bolter shots tearing Guilliman's leg and arm off as he crumpled to the ground unmoving.

~~~~~~~~~~

Amazingly, despite the fact he lost limbs, Guilliman rose again. The battle was nearly over; Farshot's Hammerhead was destroyed, the Riptide crippled and the Crisis team reduced to ash. Guilliman was advancing fast, firing upon the last of the Plaguebearers. Even Steadstrike felt a pang of guilt as the cries of the Chaos forces rang out as the Primarch tore them down.

More Cultists rained down bolter fire, backed up by Strike teams unleashing their pulse rifles, tearing open the man's armour. He wiped the blood off his chin, expecting to take them all on.

Pushing his suit as fast as it would go, Steadstrike barrelled into him at full force, knocking the man from his feet. Pinning him down, the Tau Commander said no words, only a singular, hatred-filled glare as he pointed his burst cannon at the once-mighty Primarch pinned at his feet. Without a shred of remorse, guilt or empathy, he opened fire, severing Guilliman in half with white-hot pulse rounds.

The Fall of Faustus

Steadstrike about to face Faustus

Over the course of the weekend, and after a year of playing, I managed my first solo win against Lewis and his Canis Aureus! It was a hard fought victory but luck was on my side. The objective was to find a supply cache and I managed to sieze initiative as well as finding the cache on one of my objectives on the first turn.

From that point, the game switched to pure defense for me. Through a combination of good rolling and some tactics, I managed to pull off a win. I have a new found respect for Terminators, as well as Runic Armour, as the amount of shots they managed to survive was absolutely insane. I had 2 squads of Fire Warriors, 20 models in total, a Cadre Fireblade, a Riptide and a Coldstar commander, all focusing their fire on one model, Vlees, who managed to survive 2 full turns of shooting!

Overall the game was incredible and for my first real win, I couldn't have asked for it to be any better! Some fluff from the battle follows the photos.

Sun Shark flying low over Noise Marines and Terminators

Despite all that firepower, Vlees survived!

Fire Warriors preparing their barrage

The Fall of Faustus

Steadstrike couldn't help but blame himself. The needless death of so many warriors at the hands of the Death Guard made his blood boil. Calming his nerves, he received a message informing him of a supply cache on a nearby desolate world. "A good way to de-stress I suppose.." However the message was not without warning. The Canis Aureus had been spotted in the sector and were closing in fast.

  

With no time wasted, the Firestorm Cadre found themselves touching down in the nick of time, with the Aureus not far behind them. As luck would have it, the supply cache was on their end of the battlefield. All they had to do was hold it. Then Steadstrike saw him. The one who had humiliated him time and again. Faustus. Holding back his anger, he delayed his strike until the optimum moment, eager to live up to his own moniker.

  

Deploying quickly, he found the old sorcerer was just as fast as ever. But Steadstrike was ready. Despite having his suit partly torn open, he lashed back and managed a quick retreat from the charging man. Taking a slow and steady aim, he raised his burst cannon and closed his eyes, squeezing the trigger. When he opened them, there was barely anything of the man he once faced.

  

The battle was not over however. The Crisis team had been held up in combat with Danor, another potent psyker of the Aureus. Rushing over, he commanded all his forces focus fire on an advancing Terminator squad. Eventually the pulse fire found weakness in the armour and downed the two foes, just for another to come walking forwards. Yet this one was different. No matter how much firepower was sent his way, the rounds glanced off his armour, some even seemed to bend around him. His advance was only halted when Danor fell. Steadstrike knew it was futile to push the victory they'd earned and ordered his Cadre to pull out. The supplies had been claimed and the battle was won. An old enemy had been removed, only to be replaced by another.

 

"Vlees.. Well done.", Steadstrike shouted over to him as they boarded the Manta.