A Thunderhawk of the Raven Guard sits on a landing pad aboard a Battle Barge orbiting Tallos VI. The Battle Barge must be ancient, as the original legion designatino (XIX) can still be seen on the hanger deck.

“You complain of war? Fool! War is the forge that makes humanity great. It is the tool of the Emperor to bring the galaxy to its knees. Do not hate war. Glorify it. Embrace it. Revel in its horror and glory. There is only war!“—Lord Solar Macharius

+ Security Clearance Alpha Beta 3 +

COMMISSARIAT 13578/22.91

SUBJECT: Military Threat Assessment – 3 747 738.M41
REPORT BY: Commissar-Colonel Nikolai Krylenko
REPORT TO: General Vacante Jordanes, Sector Commander, Astra Militarum
FILE: Threat Assessment, Corvus Cluster
CROSS FILE: Strategic Analysis
INPUT DATE: 3 747 738.M41
ACCESS CLEARANCE: Senior Command Only
CC: Admiral Hausu Dinola, commander, Battlefleet Bellious.

 Thought of the Day: Call no man happy until he is dead.

 + File AV/JP 3 874 +

Threat Assessment

Over the past four years, surrounding sectors have witnessed a dramatic increase in military threats posed by xenos, heretics, traitors, daemons, and interstellar phenomena. Responding to these threats have placed overwhelming demands on the military resources of the Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy. The strategic situation is critical.

More than a dozen planetary wars—as well as scores of smaller military engagements—currently are ongoing. At the present time, with military forces stretched thin, it is predicted that several Imperial worlds may fall within the next year.

For this reason, it is recommended that the Threat Level for the Corvus Cluster be raised to Alpha 2. A report of the upgraded threat level should be immediately forwarded to Segmentum Command, along with an urgent request that additional military resources be provided to this region of the galaxy.

Review of Naval Threats

The very organic-looking Tryanid fleet, scratch built from now-out-of-production Starship Trooper bugs.

DRYILLIAN QUARANTINE ZONE: A bionic xeno species now being called the Necrons have apparently seized several worlds surrounding the unpopulated Dryillian System. These xenos are technologically advanced, and early indications are that their naval assets are superior in speed and firepower to our own.

ELARA SYSTEM: A sizable xeno fleet of unknown origins defeated a naval flotilla near the Elara System. Since this battle, all contact with the stellar system has been lost, and any ship that has attempted to enter the Elara System has disappeared without a trace.

The Heart of Darkness has become increasingly turbulent and dangerous in recent months.

HEART OF DARKNESS: The expansion of this Warp storm, which has consumed several Imperial worlds, has required naval authorities to increase its patrols of the stellar phenomenon. It is known that elements of the traitorous Death Guard and World Eaters legions of the Horus Heresy have used the Heart of Darkness as a portal to enter the Corvus Cluster from the Warp.

Priority Concern: the Terminus Est, a warship of the Death Guard, has been spreading the Kassig Plague across the Corvus Cluster. All Imperial vessels have been ordered to immediately report any sighting of this ship and attack without hesitation.

SCULPTOR SYSTEM: Although repeatedly defeated, the Tau Navy continues to challenge Fleet Corvus in this system. In addition, the fleet reports a growing presence of ork raiders in the system’s sizable asteroid belt. It is feared these orks intend to support the ork invasion of Hegira.

Review of Militarum Threats

The IV Praetorian Guard has suffered heavy casualties—not only from battle casualties but due to exposure to the deadly Kassig Plague.

ADYDOS III: Although strategists assigned to General Jordanes have urged its cancellation, a campaign against the rebellion on Adydos III is scheduled to begin later this year. Ten regiments of Imperial Guard have been assigned from other high-need military campaigns for this expedition, which clearly has been authorized for political, rather than military, reasons.

DAR SAI: This moon in the Sculptor System has seen one-quarter of its main continent subjugated by Tau invaders. Although the xenos have advanced in recent months, they recently suffered a severe loss, leaving open the possibility that the agri-world will hold out.

On Dozaria, the Blood Angels Space Marine Chapter have deployed super-heavy tanks to combat the Death Guard traitors.

DOZARIA: Despite elements of two Space Marine Chapters, the Kassig Plague has ravaged the ranks of Imperial Guard and PDF regiments and severely degraded their military effectiveness. As a result, the rebels, supported by traitorous Death Guard Astartes, have regained the initiative and are seizing Imperial-held territory at an alarming rate. Imperial control of the planet is questionable.

HEGIRA: The ork invasion of this moon, nearly half a decade old, is entering a critical phase. The orks are now in striking range of the Imperial capital and the strategically vital Palatine Space Port. If these two urban centers are taken, it is possible that an ork WAAAGH! is in the offing.

On the barren world of Myopolis, two Onager Dunecrawlers patrol the empty landscape of this war-torn, but mineral-rich planet.

MYOPOLIS: A barren but mineral-rich world with a Adeptus Mechanicus mining operation. Two months ago, the bionic species known as the Necrons attacked. For reasons not yet clear, the Necrons appear strangely disorganized and their tactical responses slow. As a result, local Skitarii have managed to contain the xeno threat.

It appears the Necrons did not invade the world but instead had a hidden base beneath the planet’s surface. Why the xenos did not respond to the Imperial presence for centuries is unclear.

TRANTOR VI: This industrial planet, seduced by Tau water caste emissaries, has rebelled against the Imperium. Loyalist troops have managed to hold two hive cities on the planet, and they have recently been reinforced by the Raven Guard’s 3rd Company.

The only reason Anvillus has not fallen to the ork invasion is its sizable deployment of Titans and Imperial Knights.

ANVILLUS: A forge world, known for its production of Warlord Battle Titans of the Mars-Alpha Pattern, has been invaded by WAAAGH! ‘Eadcruncha. This unanticipated war with the orks has resulted in the cessation of munitions and weaponry to the region’s multiple war zones, as the forge world has been forced to reallocate all war production to its own defense.

Conclusions

In recent months, the bionic species known as the Necrons have appeared on Metropolis. Early reports suggest the Necrons did not invade the world but were hibernating beneath the planet’s surface for untold years. The reason for their sudden activity and hostile attack on Imperial mining operations is unclear.

Militarum Strategists offer the following assessment of the next year:

• There is an 80-percent likelihood that the Elara System has been lost to the Imperium and its population enslaved or killed.

• There is a 75-percent likelihood that the plague-wracked world of Dozaria will be lost. Already, some Inquisition assets are calling for Exterminatus.

• There is a 65-percent likelihood that the moon of Hegira will fall to its ork invaders.

• The threat level of the Heart of Darkness should be upgraded to Beta-One. It is clearly being used increasingly as a conduit for traitor forces to enter the Corvus cluster.

• It is predicted, with an estimated 45-percent level of accuracy, that the military demands on the Corvus Cluster will multiply over the next year.

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TheGM: Instead of another Rumors of the Underhive (which will continue as a series), I thought I would take some of the photos I took at the recent NOVA Open convention and use them to illustrate/expand the wars under way in the Corvus Cluster.

So, in addition to showing off some lovely models from the convention, this is an update of what’s happening with our now-four-year-old narrative campaign. Happy Birthday, Corvus Cluster!

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.