Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report – Stronghold of the Damned 1

Here begins a fun little fictional record of the games of Warhammer 40,000 I play with my kids. 

I come up with simple scenarios that they can enjoy and help to move forward, while shouting excitedly and dropping several dice on the floor with glee.

This first one recounts the battle we fought at Warhammer World itself during the school holiday. 

Report by Lieutenant Talis of the Ironwing Space Marines 
Transcribed by Andrew Hawnt 

When long-range Auspex of our ship, the Defiant Shadow, picked up not only a powerful energy signature but also signs of different lifeforms converging on that energy source, Master Ferin commanded that we investigate further. The ship was steered towards the signal, and work began on unravelling the jumble of noise that surrounded it. The planet was dead, formerly known as Yvynn, dotted only with the ruins of an Imperial colony in a cold area of one hemisphere. While it should have been devoid of life, it soon became clear that we had stumbled upon a skirmish, and it was a skirmish with familiar participants.

A renowned squad of the Emperor's finest, the Ultramarines, was down there already, as was the notorious Ork warband The Noisy Gitz, who we have faced on a previous mission. They must have replenished their ranks. While the Ultramarines and Orks traded fire, their objective was elsewhere. The ruined central fortress appeared to be their target, and upon closer examination it became clear that it was under the control of the Death Guard. They not only had control of the ruins, but the source of the energy signature.

Surface scans matched its output to a lost experimental Teleport relay device which would allow clean teleportation across vast distances. It was never completed as it was stolen during an Eldar raid a century ago. It would appear that the power cells were still operational. If that technology could be completed, it would turn the tide of so many battles for those that possessed it. No Death Guard transports were in this region of space, so it was clear they were holding fort until the relay could be removed from this barren hellhole of a world.

The Defiant Shadow's teleportarium delivered us to a raised landing platform, which gave us an immediate vantage point, allowing us to survey the area in full. The nearby ruins contained six Plague Marines, its exterior surrounded by a moaning swarm of Poxwalkers. To the West moved the Noisy Gitz Orks, some in stolen and modified Space Marine armour, others scarred and battered, all heavily armed. Four Grots scurried around the front of their group.

It was clear the Ultramarines wouldn't get to the stronghold before the Orks, so we had to assist, lest the relay fall into the Greenskins' hands, or worse, letting the Death Guard use it to shift more of their filthy hordes across the Imperium and further spread their horror. We contacted the Ultramarines and agreed that we would work independently towards a common goal. The Orks had to be held back, and the Plague Marines had to be wiped out.

Before we were within range of them, the Orks had opened fire on the stronghold, blasting chunks out of the ruins but doing no structural damage and costing the Death Guard none of their number save for a few of the shambling Poxwalkers. Three of the mutated, grinning creatures were turned into red mist as the Orks' ramshackle onslaught blew them apart. The other Poxwalkers continued ambling towards the Greenskins, and those Orks were eager to face them in close combat for the thrill alone.

While that went on, our two Ironwing units and the Ultramarines advanced, taking shelter in other nearby ruins and observing the Orks picking off the easy prey while the half dozen Death Guard watched from high in the stronghold tower, Blight Launchers and Bolters primed.

Again and again we alternated our attacks on the Orks and Death Guard, but while the Orks eventually lost some of their number, the festering horrors of those ruined marines managed to retain control of the stronghold – and with it, the relay. One unit of Death Guard emerged from the building once the Orks had converged on their slaves and the Ultramarines and ourselves grew too close for comfort.

We lay down a formidable barrage of fire, but one of the Ultramarines and our own loyal Graeus and Hokkannen were lost to the horrific onslaught of blight launchers and other perverted weaponry. The decision was made to regroup in some of the other ruins and plan the next assault. For the time being, that relay remains in the pus-smeared hands of the Plague Marines. That will change soon, and we Ironwing will stand beside the sons of Roboute Guilliman and we shall not relent until those followers of Nurgle are nought but dust.

The battle will continue.

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