The battle is joined. Thankfully, the main thrust of the xeno attack falls on a detachment of experienced 728th Cadians, who weather an advance by mechanized troops and a “deep strike” attack by xeno battlesuits. (Units #1 and #2.) To the north, Imperial armored elements go on the attack. The Torimide Milita (#3) are considered very poor troops, and they remain entrenched on a rocky outcropping on the Imperial right flank. (Click on photo for larger image.)

“Some complain we demand too much of our guardsmen. Such critics misunderstand military discipline. A good commander always makes great demands on his soldiers, particularly when they are not fighting—during training, on the march grounds, when setting up camp. Demand much of your men and, when battle is joined, the fighting will just be another day.“—Major-Commissar Rael Dracos, 728th Cadian Regiment

* * *

Continued from Part 1 . . .

 Var’si began  to worry. Although he’d just destroyed yet another enemy walker, the gue’la continued their advance. And there were a lot of them.

Several armored transports were getting a little too close for comfort, but he could not target them. One of the gue’la heavy tanks—a variant that Var’si knew the gue’la called a Lemon Russ Battle Tank—had pulled into view.

It was a serious threat. He had to turn his fire on it.

As Var’si waited for his rail gun to recharge, he saw the gue’la tank jar to a halt, its turret gun swinging in his direction. At the same moment, his targeting array pinged that it had a lock.

He fired, but just a second too late. Flame already was billowing from the gue’la tank’s barrel.

The Hammerhead bucked, and Var’si felt his helmet slam into the nano-crystaline alloy hull. The enemy shell had fallen short, exploding just in front of the Hammerhead. That was good luck. But still, the force of the explosion had lifted the front end of the Hammerhead, causing its anti-grav projectors to strain in compensation of the hard blow.

As his head cleared, Var’si looked out the targeting portal. The Lemon Russ tank was still there. The battering to his tank must have forced the targeting array to lose its lock.

Once again, Var’si heard himself yelling: “Recharge!”

* * *

A team of Crisis Suits lands behind the Cadian front lines, threatening Imperial vehicles with fire into their thinner rear armor.

Haddaway was still terrified, but he was firing his lasgun. Why not? A trio of Crisis Suits had used its jetpacks to leap over the armored vehicles around him, and they were now opening up on the thinner rear armor of a pair of transports.

The Riptide also had redeployed. Haddaway hadn’t realized that such a large battlesuit could leap so gracefully, but leap it did. It bounded 20 meters into the air, over the top of the armored Sentinels to its front, and had descended on the flank of a Lemon Russ tank.

Meanwhile, Devilfish transports had advanced to the front and were disembarking Fire Warriors that opened fire on his position.

He might as well go down fighting.

Around him, his fellow guardsmen were putting up a good fight. The multi-lasers of the armored Sentinels had left the Riptide with signs of damage to its armor, and a Vanquisher  tank had gotten a clean shot on a Tau Broadside, tearing it in half.

There was a roar overhead, and Haddaway looked up to see a Valkyrie gunship race across the battlefield, a stream of missiles shooting out from under its wings. The missiles landed atop a squad of Fire Warriors who disappeared in a cloud of flame and smoke.

Haddaway just kept firing.

* * *

A Valkyrie gunship strafes team of Crisis Suits. The confusion of this attack allows a squad of Bullgryns to launch a charge on the xeno battlesuits.

It was with relief that Var’si saw a trio of Crisis Suits descend  in front of the advancing gue’la armored transports. One the Chimeras was hit by a fusion blaster, and the vehicle began to billow black smoke.

The reinforcements were appreciated, but the Tau commander didn’t think it would be enough. The gue’la counterattack was too strong. More armored vehicles were appearing out of the jungle, and a squadron of Sentinel walkers were advancing to his right, threatening to get behind him.

He fired the rail gun again at the gue’la tank, but the vehicle’s heavy armor shook off the plasma round that hit it squarely on the front hull. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Crisis Suit fall, the battle suit crumbling under the combined fire of several multi-lasers.

His senor array bleeped a warning. Yet more armored vehicles were moving to the south, heavily supported by infantry.  A gap had formed in the Tau lines, and the gue’la were seeking to get behind the Riptide and Crisis Suits to Var’si’s left.

Var’si vowed to hold his position, despite every instinct telling him the battle was lost.

Click here to read the conclusion of this battle.

Click here to return to Part 1 of this battle report.

—

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