A Tau Riptide attempts to sew havoc by descending into the middle of an armored column. Behind him, a squad of veteran guardsmen disembark from a Chimera and courageously charge the massive walker.

“Why are you asking for orders, soldier? There’s the enemy in front of you. He’s shooting at you. He’s trying to kill you. You don’ t need me to tell you to shoot back. Kill the enemy, before he kills you!“—veteran sergeant on the front lines, encouraging a frightened raw recruit in his first battle

* * *

Continued from Part 2 . . .

The intensity of enemy fire was weakening, and Haddaway sensed that the course of the battle had changed.

The Crisis Suits that had gotten into the rear were no more. Haddaway had emptied an entire battery pack into the xeno battlesuits and, although he had no reason to think he had damaged any of them, all three of the battlesuits lay motionless on the ground.

A Salamander scout transport, holding three Bullgryn abhumans, roared forward on the flank. Two gun drones barely managed to evade being hit, and the transport raced directly at another set of Crisis Suits firing in the transport’s direction.

When the transport reached the xeno battlesuits, the Salamander braked to a halt, and the Bullgryn jumped out the back. They bellowed loudly as they charged the xenos, and the Crisis Suits actually stumbled backward when the charge of the massive abhumans slammed home.

One suit fell to the blows of the  Bullgryns’ power mauls, and the other two xenos fired their jetpacks and retreated.

But the real turning point came when a squad of Veterans charged out of the jungle and charged the Riptide. Opening up with shotguns and a plasma gun, they showered the walker with fire while a Veteran ran forward and—at the cost of his life—shoved a krak greanade into a rent in the xeno’s leg armor.

The subsequent explosion ripped off the Riptide’s entire leg, and the massive walker collapsed on its side. The Veterans quickly made short work of the crippled war machine.

 * * *

Imperial walkers and transports advance on the Tau left flank. They take heavy enemy fire but successfully advance on the Tau position.

The sun was just touching the horizon when Major Stark finally got word that the Tau were withdrawing. The xenos had sent a pretty strong force up the valley, but by taking the risk of thinning his lines elsewhere–Stark had correctly anticipated the point of the xeno attack—and deployed his elite Cadians accordingly.

And he’d had just enough troops to stop them.

Around him, the headquarters staff was celebrating, thumping backs and shouting praises to the Emperor. Stark allowed the men their momentary lapse of discipline.

For himself, he was simply relieved. There just weren’t enough trained soldiers on the front line these days, and any adequately supplied force of Tau would have broken through his lines and advanced on the port city of Malifax.

Thankfully, the Imperial Nay was fighting hard to limit Tau supplies reaching the moon. If the navy could keep the partial blockade going, and if the xenos took a few months to regroup before attacking again, he might have his brigade—consisting mostly of raw militia troops and poorly equipped PDF troops—actually hammered into an effective fighting force.

Those were s a lot of ifs. But, for today, the line had held.

Stark said a quiet prayer to the God-Emperor.

Scenario: The Scouring

Points: 1,850 per army

Imperial Victory Points: Slay the Warlord (1 v.p.) + First Blood (1 v.p.) + three objectives (8 v.p.)

Tau Victory Points: Two objectives (5 v.p.)

Solid Imperial Victory

TheGM: Congratulations to Major Stark! He truly is one of the great heroes of Dar Sai.

This tabletop victory ensures the Tau will continue to struggle to seize the strategically critical port city of Malifax.

It may determine the fate of Dar Sai. If the Tau should take the city, they’d be able to consolidate control of the moon’s Great Continent, and the Imperial defenders would be hard-pressed to hold onto the handful of small island-continents that would still be under their control.

The Tau Navy really needs to face facts: If they don’t launch an all-out assault on Fleet Corvus, the partial Imperial blockade will doom the xeno invasion.

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

Click here to return to Part 2.

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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.