After his resounding victory Adraxys Molech had decided to toy with the Void Spectres on Tuberosum. The remaining force were attempting to meet up with other aspects of the chapter many hundreds of klicks away. For his entertainment many individual Primaris marines were abducted, never to be seen again by their comrades. Less welcome, they would be found by forward scouts horrifically mutilated on the brink of death, necessitating a merciful death and gene seed removal. The marine's commander seemed to tire of the games and fortified an old manufacturing complex in a ruined settlement of Dunrunnin. This suited the Archon, as he was eager to gain more Primaris playthings for his plans when he returned to the Commoragh. The marines had seen the Drukhari and were now taking defensive positions. Good he thought, their heightened adrenaline will provide an exquisite flavour to the conflict. On the subject of flavours, the doses of combat drugs were kicking in, Splintermind and Painbringer would added spice to the proceedings. With that the signal was given to take the Void Spectres.
Greetings, a while back, myself and Dylan played another crusade game, this time from the Beyond the Veil crusade book. This mission sets two forces against each other with the object of the battle for the defenders (marines) to survive for 5 turns and the attackers (druchari) to stop it from happening. The previous engagement was the battle of gnocchi heights.
Prior to game I gave Quntifel Karks the Triptych Whip, and healed her chest wound injury. A Ravager was added to the battle roster.
Agendas
For this game Take credit, Reaper and Kingslayer. I have only just discovered how good Take credit is for these games, basically a HQ choice claims all success for the raid is all their doing and they get bonus exp and raid spoils into the bargain. This is how I get to profit from all the carnage!
Requisitions
One of the most thematic requisitions was patron of the killing arts, for one RP I can give an Archon of Haemonculous the combat drugs special rule. So I did and Adraxxys injected, smoked or snorted splintermind and painbringer, so +1 to leadership, ballistic skill and toughness. Nice.
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| On the left a Ravager and Venom take the flank while the over eager Hellions are more central. |
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| The other flank is occupied by the other Venom and Reavers. |
Adraxys stood to the fore of his command raider; Daemonbane, both the Reavers and Hellions showed their usual lack of restraint by hurtling forward as did the Venom containing the Wyches, their ululating war cries adding to the chaotic din of battle. The Reavers engaged some Marine bikers before they could attempt to break free of the Druchari lines. The Hellions driven insensible by their combat drugs flew directly towards the Marine's lines heedless of the danger. A veritable fusillade bolter fire shot several out of the air then a unit of Assault marines engaged them wiping them out.
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| The Ravager skulks behind the Hellions to save their crew's skins while the Hellions trust painbringer to see them through the conflict. |
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| An intense fight breaks out within the ruins of a building. |
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| The Wyches see their prey, a lone Aggressor in the ruined building. |
Quentifel Karks led her hand picked Wych squad a merry dance, first through a lone Aggressor then on to the Intercessors huddled in the ugly mon-keigh structure. Her bloodlust was up and since she had 'acquired' the Triptych Whip from her former ally Serpentia H'Tamm she fought with wild abandon. Her main goal was to storm the building before the other group of Wyches from her cult managed to, cementing her position as senior Succubus. Whether the rest of her unit survived the confrontation mattered not.
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| Having dealt with the Aggressor the Wyches start their assault on the main group of marines. |
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| The Wyches in the Venom reach the central defensive structure. |
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| The Ravager positions itself to enfilade the void spectres. |
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| The scourge arrive. |
Shem the Unprincipled, Solarite of the Scourges of the Cursed Descent landed amidst the carnage revelling in the anguish. His unit opening fire with dark lances almost before landing. Spitting out beams of agonising oblivion with every shot. So distracted with the carnage, a squad of Space Marines appeared out of the gloom to engage them...
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| The ruined Imperial building provides protection from incessant Drukhari attacks. |
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| Assault marines make short work of the Scourges. |
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| Like lightning the Wyches reach their prey. In particular the Succubus slaughters nearly the entire unit. |
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| The Wyches run amok through the ruined building hunting for Primaris. As the last Void Spectre is slain within the ruins three Assault marines attempt to escape the Druchari. |
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| Transhuman Physiology saves the Void Spectres from dark lances. |
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| The Raider is too far to reach the assault marines |
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| The three Primaris marines survive to bring word of the attack. |
The last three Void Spectres were allowed to escape the fight, partly as there was too much sport tormenting the wounded, but mainly to bring word back of the slaughter to the commander. Astartes were easily manipulated, Adraxys mused, give them tales of tortured battle brothers and they will rush to rescue them or avenge the fallen. In any case, giving the chapter a grudge to settle amused the Archon immensely, especially if he could arrange for the Void Spectres to enact their vengeance on a rival from Commoragh.
The post match book keeping was fairly simple.
Battle traits; No new skills or upgrades.
Territorial Dominance; Thanks to the 'take credit' agenda three raid spoils points were gained, Murder Cove, Vale of Vapours, Rethvvyr's Veinyard.
Weapon Enhancements; None
Crusade Relics; None
Quite a bit of experience points were earned but not enough to get some new cool upgrades. There should however, be a few in the next game.
Once back in the Adraxys sanctum it was time to count the costs of the raid. Despite three Assault Marines escaping, the attack was successful. The slave transports were full of sullen Primaris Marines and terrified mon-keigh insignificants. The raid had been so successful in fact, that enough bribes and threats were enacted to gain control of Murder Cove, the Vale of Vapours and Rethvyr's Veinyard. None of his underlings had received further injuries, and more importantly, none had displeased him to the extent that they would be delivered to Beldam Qud for 'experimentation'.
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