Although Fire Warriors attempted to keep their distance from their greenskin opponents, there were instances where an ork charge could disrupt the steady advance of Tau forces.

“The Be’gel (orks) are insane, unable to comprehend the advantages of the Greater Good. For this reason, we communicate with the Be’gel in a language they understand: Violence.  Overwhelming firepower. Genocide.“—Ethereal Aun’Ui’ Tsu’Yr, part of his first communique to Tau forces on Al’gel II

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Continued from Part 2 . . .

Devastation and Victory

The carnage of the orbital bombardment is best left undocumented. Simply let it be said that the ork army was shattered. The 1st and 3rd Hunter Cadres slammed into the rear-echelon greenskins that escaped the bombardment’s devastation and, within five days, more than half a million orks were dead.

The ork warlord, Greenclaw, was never seen again, suggesting he was killed in the massive bombardment. Other ork warbosses attempted to assume command of what remained of the ork forces, but the isolated xenos that still survived were soon assailed on multiple fronts by the quickly advancing Tau.

For the rest of the campaign for Ger’ta’on, the orks could never organized a cohesive command structure. The highly mobile Tau, particularly the 11th Armored Cadre, would strike at any sizable concentration of orks and make quick work of them.

The fighting continued for another year, such was the ferocity and tenacity of the orks—but the Tau’s superior sensor technology, high mobility, and tactically talented commanders made it difficult for the greenskins to organize any serious  opposition.

The few times they managed to slow Bloodsword, the veteran commander turned to what the Gue’la would call “scorched-earth” tactics: Forests were set afire, valley s blasted by orbital bombardment, and—despite objections voiced by Aun’ui—toxins were introduced into water supplies across the continent.

By the end of 742.M41, the continent was declared subjugated, although garrison troops would spend years destroying new ork infestations. Thankfully, the few remaining ork survivors quickly descended to a primitive state and, without firearms or other technology to support their violence, new ork tribes were easily destroyed.

Tau Crisis Suits find themselves beset by charging orks. Despite the xeno advantage of numbers, the Crisis Suit pilots managed to extricate themselves from hand-to-hand fighting, use their jetpacks to fall back to a safe distance, and then destroy the greenskins with their Burst Cannons.

Final continents fall

To avoid writing a tome of immense proportions, I have relegated the campaigns for the continents Ta’Ko’gha and Por’Chi’ba to Appendices 103-112.

Let it simply be said that these two continents—one little more than an archipelago of islands—were subdued using the same tactics as on Ger’ta’on. Both campaigns were bloody, and full control of the planet was not officially confirmed until 6 745 744.M41.

Yet, even before the campaign was declred over, controversy swirled over Bloodsword’s tactics. Although the overwhelming use of orbital bombardments were effective—and the genocide of the ork population accomplished—the damage to the planetary biosphere was severe.

What’s more, although designed to decompose into harmless substances, the toxins used to poison the greenskins remixed with the water and soil to create compounds that had an unintended negative impact on the planet’s fauna and flora.

In some instances, entire species were destroyed, and with their loss, a vacuum in the ecosystem precipitated the death of other species. For example, some herbivores saw a sizable population loss as their grazing grounds shrank as vegetation died, and certain large avian creatures died out after massive fish die-offs in the waters contaminated near the shore of one continent.

The use of orbital ion cannons, rail guns, and nuclear missiles meanwhile, sparked massive wildfires that devastated many regions and filled the atmosphere with particulates that damaged the respiratory systems of most fauna on the planet.

Anther major impact was a worsening of atmospheric conditions. As planet’s elliptical orbit brought Al’gel II closer to its sun, increased solar radiation interacted with the atmospheric pollution, and once-occasional electromagnetic storms became more frequent and powerful. At times, it was necessary for Tau forces to suspend military operations and shelter in concrete bunkers.

Ork war buggies and a Dakkajet attempt to counterattack the advancing Tau. None of these forces survived the battle on Ger’ta’on, although they managed to stem the Tau advance for a day.

Bloodsword’s legacy

Some among the Ethereals overseeing the Al’gel II campaign voiced criticism at Bloodsword’s tactics in the latter half of the campaign. But the commander strenuously defended his actions.

As he argued, the campaign already had lasted years longer than anticipated, and there were still three planets and a massive space station yet to conquer before the Al’gel System would be available for colonization. By the end of the campaign, he predicted, the climatic turmoil of Al’gel II’s atmosphere would subside as particulates fell from the atmosphere, and the planet’s ecosystem would adapt.

In this, Bloodsword eventually would be proved correct. But his prophecies failed to take into account that the blood shed on Al’gel II had fueled the gestalt psychic field of the ork species.

Although light years separated the Al’gel system from other ork-held worlds, the campaign’s violence was drawing the orks to the Al’gel System as moths are drawn to a flame.

Indeed, unbeknownst to the Tau leadership, a fleet of ork warships under the banner of Freebooterz (ork priates) already was gathered in the outer region of the system, waiting to pounce on the Tau Navy. After years of Bloodsword dominating the fighting in the system, Admiral Lightning soon found himself facing the toughest fighting of the campaign.

+ End Entry +

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

Click here to return to Part 2 of this campaign report.

TheGM: Wow. It’s over. The first article about the battle for Al’gel II was written in 735.M41 (August 31, 2015), and here it is, nine years later, that the planet falls to the Tau.

Although some of the “history” of this planet involved tabletop battles, The Gaffer’s orks usually were wielded on Hegira, so much of this campaign is purely fictional —a “history” written from my imagination.

But what does that matter? The campaign can’t be limited to one planet forever. And I’m lobbying for The Gaffer turn his orkish attention against th e Tau—or leave some of his orks at my house, so I can do some solo tabletop battles to determine what happens in the rest of the Al’gel System.

And never fear. The narrative story will move forward. Although the two inner-most planets have fallen to the Tau, the outer planets will be no cake walk. Indeed, Admiral Lightning is going to get some fighting in soon. We’ll get the Gaffer’s ork navy on the table, so those Freebooterz can  start making life difficult for the Tau.

Can’t wait!

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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.