The Ritual ; Thwarted?

The dawn mists were thick but swiftly dissappaitng, the ruins of an Imperial outpost lay before them with the delicious whiff of fear and despair in the air. Adraxys Molech  sat at the fore of the Raider, eager to taste more. His personal Incubi bodyguard and Kabalite underlings were there too, his two Succubi allies were alongside him, each in their Venom accompanied by their bodyguards. His contacts had told him of a world that had not felt the depredations of the Drukhari for many generations - it's name was Neararva, however this world came with an added complication. The foul Death Guard were preparing to enact a ritual on this benighted Imperial desert world and try to claim it as their own, this could not be allowed. So with the Death Guard forces deployed to defend their warlord, Molech's raid began.

The calm before the battle

 

So myself and Dylan had a Crusade game with our respective forces: my Drukhari vs his smelly Death Guard. My forces can be found here.  Due to the narrative nature of Crusade games I will give a coloured text type report with a few pics and an end game section.

Plague Company: Mortarion's Chosen Sons

+ HQ +

Death Guard Daemon Prince : 1. Revoltingly Resilient, 5. Curse of the Leper, Hellforged sword, Plague spewer, Warlord

Malignant Plaguecaster: 2. Gift of Contagion, 3. Plague Wind, Bolt pistol

+ Troops +

Plague Marines . Plague Champion: Plague knife, Plasma gun, Power fist. 2x Plague Marine w/ blight launcher: 2x Blight grenades, 2x Blight launcher, 2x Krak grenades, 2x Plague knife. 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun: 4x Blight grenades, 4x Boltgun, 4x Krak grenades, 4x Plague knife. Plague Marine w/ sigil: Sigil of decay. Plague Marine w/ special weapon: Plasma gun. Plague Marine w/ special weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines. Plague Champion: Daemonic plague blade, Plasma pistol, Power fist. Plague Marine w/ cleaver: Great plague cleaver. Plague Marine w/ flail: Flail of corruption. Plague Marine w/ mace and axe: Bubotic Axe, Mace of Contagion. Plague Marine w/ plague spewer: Plague spewer

Poxwalkers . 10x Poxwalker: 10x Improvised weapon

+ Elites +

Foul Blightspawn: Revolting Stench-vats, Viscous Death

+ Heavy Support +

Plagueburst Crawler: 2x Entropy cannon, Rothail volley gun

+ Dedicated Transport +

Chaos Rhino: Combi-melta, Havoc launcher

Adraxxys could see the vile Daemon Prince - Fluxmangler chanting and gesturing on a slighly raised dais amongst a rocky outcrop. Shreiking out a challenge Serpentia H'Tamm saw it too, her Venom darting forward as did the Reavers and Hellions. Too late the misshapen figures of Plague Marines and Poxwalkers loomed out of the mist, the element of surprise was lost, if ever it was there! With a snarl Molech barked orders with implicit threats to stop the ritual and bring pain to the chaos spawn.

Having fought the long war for millenia the Death Guard make good use of the cover to surprise the Wych cult.

Out of the gloom Death Guard marines burst from covered disabling the Venom containing Serpentia H'Tamm and her entourage spilling them all out, to make make matters worse the vile organisms charged the survivors laying into them with pestilent weapons.

In the distance the Daemon Prince begins his ritual, poxwalkers amble towards the Drukhari lines to stop any interference.

To Molech's right gunfire from more plague marines and artillery fire take a heavy toll on the Seven Cliques Hellion gang. In response the Hellions target the Foul Blightspawn behind them while Quentifel Karks and her bodyguard attacked the Plague Marines. 

Daemon Prince Fluxmangler sends his Plaguecaster and Poxwalkers to delay the Druchari so the ritual is not stopped. 

Shambling through the ruins the Plague Marines are eager to engage the interlopers.

Serpentia H'Tamm rides her Venom accompanied by her bodyguard. In her eagerness to close with the enemy the Venom was wrecked before they could reach them, disorientated the Wyches were then set upon by the Plague Marines, slaughtering several, Serpentia however, fought the Plague marines killing them all with the timely assistance of  Adaxxys Incubi .

The battle devolved into several skirmishes where one group of fighters was overwhelmed by another only to be subsequently overran in return. The Reavers who attempted to thwart the ritual were intercepted by poxwalkers and the Malignant Plaguecaster. Once they were defeated both the Incubi and Serpentia herself cut their way through to stop the Daemon Prince only to find his unearthly resilience too much for them. As the final rites of the ritual were being enacted the crew of the raider rammed the Daemon Prince ending the rite by slaying it. As the powers from the ritual faded the survivors dragged themselves from the field. The ritual was ended before it could take effect but the benevolent gaze of Nurgle had strengthened the Death Guard force.

The Aftermath.....

The Death Guard was victorious but of their force only a couple of Plague Marines were left standing and only the Plagueburst Crawler was able to leave the battle under it's own daemonic motivators. As Fluxmangler had been impaled on the Raiders prow there was no sense of elation among their ranks, and the surviving Drukhari fled back through the webway. When Adraxxys returned to his stronghold  -The Onyx Tower - his mood was dark, the Nurglites had bested him and only a few captives were taken. Barely enough to cover the cost of the expedition. The Wyches of the Sinister Path - Karks own handmaidens had shamed themselves. The Hellions were barely able to move around without their skyboards and the Reavers were disgraced, Molech was tempted to throw them all to Haemonculus Qud for vivisection but the taint of defeat was on them so little would be gained. One benefit of the raid was the significant amount to Daemon ichor that had been gleaned from the raider, some sort of elixir could be made once a suitable bargain could be made. Now all that consumed the Archon was to get revenge on the Death Guard.

So that was a fanciful account of a recent game. No raid spoils, no advances but a couple of devastating blows and a mark of shame for a unit of Wyches. Walking wounded Hellions and Disgraced Reavers are both more problematic. To be honext the number of 1's rolled in the end game phase was shocking! They very nearly ended up as a one battle crusade army but I decided to persevere. Next up on the list of whimsical battle reports is the return bought against Dylan's Death Guard.

Thanks for Reading