The Death Guard scored First Blood when their Obliterators opened fire–and blew up–Brother Mðestra, an ancient and honored dreadnought of the loyalist forces.

“There is no place in the galaxy for the heretic, the traitor, the unbeliever. Such men are a taint that threaten the very existence of humanity. Do not listen to them. Do not shy  away from them. Do not be afraid of them. Kill them. Kill the heretic. Kill the traitor. Kill the unbeliever. That is the only hope for your soul.”—Confessor Guidonis Bernard, currenting serving as commander of Bernard’s Battle Brethren on Dozaria

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Continued from Part 1 . . .

First Blood

Both combatants found themselves constrained by a combination of the terrain and the enemy deployment.

For the Death Guard, the presence of two powerful tanks targeting the open meadow on their center and west flank was problematic. The Vindicator’s short range would put it at a disadvantage against the combined firepower of a Sicaran and Predator tank. Sending infantry across this meadow—particularly under fire by the Sicaran’s twin-linked accelerator autocannons–could cost them the battle.

But the traitor Astartes did what they could. To start, the Vindicator maneuvered carefully, allowing it to remain in some cover while acquiring a shot on a loyalist Razorback supporting Galba. To the traitors’ frustration, the shot went wide.

The Obiliterators disembarked from the Rhino, targeted the approaching loyalist dreadnought and fired two lascannon into Brother Mðestra’s chest. To the horror of Galba, the ancient walking sarcophagus exploded.

First Blood went to the Death Guard.

This was a major blow to Galba’s plans. In addition to the emotional loss of such a great hero, the dreadnought’s fall was a blow to the Knights’ hopes of seizing the enemy objective. The loyalist attack already was weaker than desired and, without the dreadnought’s muilti-melta, there was little hope of breaking through enemy lines.

To Ghaz Tak’s misfortune, just as he is crossing an open meadow to reach the cover of trees, a Stormtalon gunship appears overhead and strafes his advancing squad.

Meanwhile, the Death Guard continued to push forward elsewhere. In the center, Ghaz Tak and his Plague Marines cleared the first copse of trees and made a dash to the next. Alas, the warlord rolled a 1 on his Run roll, leaving his squad dangerously exposed in the open.

To the east, the Death Guard’s mechanized force (Predator and Rhino) continued at maximum speed and prepared to turn the Knights’ right flank.

It was at this point that Galba exhibited his notable flexibility in battle. Recognizing that he would come under fire from the two Obliterators before he could force them into hand-to-hand combat, he ordered his Command Squad and Crusader Squad to redeploy in the nearby woods. This allowed him to approach the warp-tainted traitors from cover and reduce the risk of their deadly fire for a time.

Outclassed  in armor and weaponry, the Knights’ Razorback withdrew into cover before the Death Guard’s Vindicator could take another shot. But the Sicaran tank advanced slightly, bringing into sight Ghaz Tak and his warriors, and the relic tank opens up with its autocannons. An impressive number of 300mm-long shells flew across the battlefield, tearing three Plague Marines to death and injuring the Chaos warlord.

If that wasn’t bad enough, an Imperial Stormtalon gunship dove from the clouds and strafed the Plague Marines. Another traitor fell, and Ghaz Tak was  severely wounded. His forces faltered under the Imperial onslaught and staggered back into the safety of the woods from whence they’d come.

Finally, the Knights’ Predator tank turned to face the Death Guard’s flank attack and took aim at the advancing enemy Predator tank. Firing its twin-linked main lascannons, along with its two sponson-mounted lascannon, the loyalist tank struck home. The enemy’s tank exploded.

The Death Guard cross a narrow stream to turn the Knights’ east flank.

Deadly Fire

In the west, a Death Guard tactical squad had been waiting in the woods. It eased up to the wood’s edge, identified a few loyalist targets in the woods across the meadow, and open fire. No loyalist casualties were reported.

Nearby, the Obliterators entered the Imperial-held woods and opened fire with heavy bolters. To their dismay, the loyalists’ power armor held up to the onslaught. Not a single Space Marine fell.

The Death Guard’s malevolence was not yet done. Necrosius also stood at the wood’s edge, and he cast Plague Wind on the opposing Crusader Squad. Two scouts died.

A wounded Ghaz Tak rallied his warriors in the center, desperate to advance and support the troops leading the flank attack. From the corner of his eye, he looked for sight of his flanking force, and he was pleased to see his Rhino transport splash into the stream to its front, avoid bogging, and claw its way over the muddy stream banks to turn the Imperial flank.

To the east, traitor fire suppresses the loyalist Marines in the woods, but one of the Obliterators exposes itself —and is cut down by the Knights’ Devastator Squad.

In the center, Ghaz Tak’s Plague Marines retreat to avoid the fire of a Stormtalon.

In the east, the Death Guard’s flanking force suffers a setback when its supporting Predator tank is destroyed.

At this point, fortune began to favor the Knights. One of the Obliterators, rushing forward recklessly to destroy Galba’s forces, momentarily exposed itself to the loyalists’ Devastator Squad. These heavy-weapons specialists opened fire with a mix of lascannon and plasma guns and destroyed the warp-tainted monstrosity.

Meanwhile, the Sicaran Battle Tank turned its sccelerator sutocannons on the Vindicator. The front of the enemy tank disappeared behind a blaze of dozen of exploding cannon shells, but when the smoke finally cleared, the front armor of the traitor armor was blackened and dented but still intact.

The speeding Stormtalon broke out of its strafing run and left the battlefield, already beginning a turn that will bring it back for another attack.

To the east, the Knights’ Predator tank targeted the Death Guard Rhino and destroyed it with a single shot. The traitor Astartes inside abandoned the burning transport but had the good sense to use the wreckage for cover.

Click here to read Part 3 of the battle.

Click here to return to Part 1.

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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.