TheGM: This was an unprecedented year for the Corvus Cluster. Here on Terra in M3, we discovered that Nurgle was in our midst—and The Gaffer and I were forced to stop playing face-to-face games.

To say it was a disappointment is an understatement.

But, as 740.M41 was the sixth year of our campaign, I was determined the Corvus Cluster would not go silent. I already had discovered the joys of solo gaming, so I decided to make lemonade out of lemons—and start playing regularly on my own to keep the narrative of the year going.

I didn’t do too badly. The Gaffer and I had started the year with several excellent matchups before the quarantine started, and since then, I’ve been as active as possible. All told, there were 29 battles fought on the tabletop.

Admittedly, without an ork army of my own, the war on Hegira settled into a stalemate in the latter two-thirds of the year. But we can attribute that to the bitter fighting in the early months, which left both sides so exhausted that there’s been a lull in the fighting. Not that the orks are just sitting around. There’s fighting, but none of the battles are so significant that they upset the stalemate.

Across the rest of the Corvus Cluster, however, there’s been a lot of activity. Here’s a summary of events in the past year:

The orks on Hegira launched a massive attack on Susa City in the latter half of 740.M41.

Imperials hold off ork menace on Hegira

Although fighting was constant across the industrialized moon, the fate of Hegira was influenced by a handful of major battles determining control of Hegira’s capital, Susa City—the key bastion to the Imperial defenses.

Senseless slaughter outside Susa City (3 075 740.M41)—The first battle takes place early in the year—an eight-hour fight that observers call a “free-for-all of bloody slaughter” between the Knights of Altair and the ork invaders. Both sides tear into one another with abandon, with both sides ultimately focusing on bringing down combat leaders. The fighting ends when the Knights strike down the ork warlord.

Battle for Redoubt 109 (3 097 740.M41)—The orks attempt to seize Redoubt 109, the foundation of the Imperial defenses on the southern perimeter of Sua City. While a tremendous air battle takes place overhead, Imperial guardsmen attempt to hold off one of the largest xeno attacks in a year. The greenskins actually reach the redoubt, but a valiant defense ultimately defeats the xeno effort.

Battle of the Bastion (3 116 740.M41)—The orks construct an eight-story-tall fortification right in front of the Imperial defenses, and the High Command orders it destroyed. The 728th Cadian Regiment leads the attack. Despite causing massive casualties to the greenskins, the orks are suicidal in their defense, and the frustrated Imperials finally call off the attack before ork reinforcements arrive.

An Imperial attack comes within meters of an ork-held bastion outside Susa City, but a strong ork response saves the fortification from destruction.

Ill-fated raid by loyal guardsmen (3 438 740.M41)—An inconsequential skirmish, a squad of guardsmen slips into ork territory in an attempt to rescue a popular officer captured by the greenskins. The rescue effort is a failure, but the guardsmen are saved from execution when commissars realize that the effort boosted troop morale and improved the bond between officers and men. The miscreant soldiers are sternly warned to behave themselves in the future.

Massive ork attack strikes at Susa City (3 735 740.M41)—At least a quarter of a million orks attack Susa City’s southern perimeter, breaking through the first line of trenches and penetrating, to a limited degree, the second—and final—line of trenches. Desperately bringing up reinforcements, the Imperial Guard launches a strong counterattack—at the same time as the Knights of Altair deep-strike behind the enemy vanguard and strike the orks from their rear. The greenskins are slaughtered, and the few survivors flee for their lives.

Orks held at bay (final months of 740.M41)—Massive casualties have left the orks with insufficient forces to mount further attacks against entrenched Imperial positions. For the rest of the year, the orks satisfy their lust for battle with raids and attacks on secondary defensive positions. Intelligence suggests some ork warlords are grumbling about the leadership of the dominant warlord on Hegira: the self-proclaimed Kaptin’ Rumlar.

Click here to read Part 2 of our summary of 740.M41.

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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.