“Do not seek to understand war. It is horrific. It is a tragedy. But it is not pointless. War is a part of the human condition. Without it, we would drown under the onslaught of heretic, traitor, and xeno. There is only war. There can only be war. Learn to live with it . . . until your duty is done.”—Commissar-Major Rael Dracos

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Whoops! It appears that, somehow, I forgot to post the Strategic Update for 743.M41. That’s a bit of an oversight.

I write these updates at the beginning of each year because it’s nice to have a summary of what happened the previous year. It makes it a bit easier to follow the scope of our nearly 10-year-old narrative campaign.

It also helps me keep track of what’s going on around the Corvus Cluster. I mean, we’ve got nearly 600,000 words written, and it’s hard sometimes to keep track of who is invading what planet at what time.

Ah well, better late than never.—TheGM

The Damocles Crusade Fleet damages a Tau warship in the Hydass System.

Limited word of Damocles Crusade

Launched with great fanfare a year ago, little has been heard of the Damocles Gulf Crusade, the massive military campaign dedicated to the destruction of the burgeoning Tau Empire.

In the first half of 743.M41, the Crusade Fleet reported it had consolidated Imperial control over a number of Tau-influenced worlds. The only blemish in the Crusade’s success was on the world of Namatos, where the 5th Company of the Knights of Altair had met fierce resistance from the xenos.

A second message followed, reporting that the Knights of Altair had stormed a Tau-held town on Namataos, wiped out the xeno garrison. and were on the offensive against the xenos. (Space Marines storm Tau-held town)

No other messages were received from the Crusade Fleet until early 744.M41, when a brief but garbled astropathic message reported disturbances in the Warp that were hampering communications and Warp travel.

The message indicated that the Crusade Fleet had moved on to the Hydass System, where it encountered a small naval force and defeated it decisively. (Crusade fleet routs xeno ships in Hydass System).

It also indicated that it would leave the Knights of Altair to deal with the Tau on Namatas, while the majority of the fleet would cross the Damocles Gulf and begin the invasion of the Tau Empire.

Ork warlord confronts a Chimera on the streets of the Acheon Suburbs of Susa City, Hegira.

Ork infighting aids Hegira defenders

Only a few years ago, it appeared that the mining moon of Hegira would be lost to ork invaders. The xenos had captured vast areas of the desert world, and their steady advance brought them to the suburbs of Hegira’s capital, Susa City.

The city suffered several massive assaults—each stopped only after a desperate struggle. Then, suddenly, major fighting came to a halt, and military strategists were at a loss to explain why the powerful xeno army had fallen into relative inactivity.

Relative inactivity, mind you. While large-scale military attacks ended, the war-minded orks continued to throw themselves at the Imperial lines in sporadic, isolated assaults.

One of the most serious was on 3 135 743.M41. Ork Kommandos set off a massive explosion alongside a city wall on the edge of the Achaeon Suburbs of the capital city. The defensive wall collapsed, allowing thousands of orks to breach Imperial defenses and seek to break through to the city’s center. (New ork attack stopped in Acheon Suburbs)

Thankfully, Imperial reinforcements arrived to bolster the crumbling defenses, and the xenos were repulsed. Much credit went to Major-Commissar Rael Dracos, who was awarded the Medusan Laureate for rallying guardsmen during the fighting.  (Commissar-Major Dracos awarded Medusan Laureate)

Orks also tested Imperial defenses elsewhere.  In the Sea of Dust, one of the most barren and treacherous regions of Hegira, a plucky squad of guardsmen—who informally call themselves Mal’s Malcontents (named after their sergeant)—fought off a reconnaissance force seeking to find a hole in the Imperial line. (Mal’s Malcontents stop ork infiltration)

It was late in the year that Imperial authorities determined why the xeno attacks were so erratic. Satellite images revealed dozens of sizable battles being fought among orks far behind the xeno lines. At the Tarak Mines, more than 100,000 orks battled among themselves. (Ork infighting spread across Hegira)

Military strategists now hypothesize that many ork leaders, sensing that the greenskin warlord, Rumlar GrimRekkah, has lost his iron grip on power, and the ork-on-ork battles represent various lesser warlords seeking to seize ultimate power.

For now, the imperial position on Hegira remains stable. However, should the orks rally behind a single leader once again, the fate of Hegira will hang in the balance.

The Knights of Altair strike at Death Guard invaders on the war-torn world of Dozaria.

Stalemate on Dozaria

Fighting has been fierce on the industrial world of Dozaria, but the invading Death Guard army found itself unable to gain significant territory in 743.M41.

Numerous battles were fought across the planet, but one of the most significant came mid-year when Imperial authorities determined that the Death Guard were massing forces outside the city of Diaspar. Captain Alaric Galba of the 1st Company of the Knights of Altair Space Marine Chapter led a large reconnaissance force to find the enemy and break up the enemy troop concentration.

Battle soon was joined, but after a ferocious fight, the traitor warlord Ghaz Tak was wounded and forced from the battlefield, soon joined by his demoralized troops. Galba returned to Diaspar in triumpth. (Astartes and Death Guard clash outside Diaspar)

Imperial authorities also found themselves plagued by heresy and treason behind the battle lines. In the capital city of Alicante, a heretical cult inspired civil disobedience that exploded into outright rebellion.

Thankfully, 1,000 Sisters of the Order of the Bloody Rose descended upon the area and, after intense urban fighting, wiped out the heretics at a cost of seeing a 20-kilometer-square habitation block left in ruins. (Rumors of the Underhive – 6 683 743.M41)

Click here to read Part 2 of our743.M41 update.

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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.