“Look, men! The 178th Chem Dogs still stand their ground. If they can face the horrors before us, so can we!—Words of encouragement from Commissar Hydrich Kosch, 17th Dozarian PDF Regiment, during the traitor assault on Mygor (missing in action, presumed dead)

Continued from Part 1 . . .

True Heroism

The toughest defense unexpectedly came from the 178th Chem Dogs Regiment, a penal legion drawn from prisoners housed on the Penal World of Salvar.

What made their defense particularly impressive was their opponents: A vanguard of traitor Astartes in Terminator Armor and led by the most formidable foe among the Death Guard: the infamous Typhus.

A redoubt in front of the outer trench line slowed down this Death Guard attack, and the presence of a squadron of Armored Sentinels and a turret emplacement proved a distraction, but Typhus and his Terminators appeared almost invincible in the face of heavy weapons fire.

But while the first Imperial trench line was shot down before the traitors even reached it, the second line proved more formidable. The 178th’s officers ordered fire by volley, then allowed the soldiers to “fire at will.”

It is not known why, but it’s possible the 178th’s heavy rate of fire led the Death Guard to rush the trenches and pay less attention to shooting back. Whatever the case, the traitors reached the trenches while they were still well-manned.

The 178th’s final moments will be remembered by the Emperor. When the traitors finally reached the second trench line, the Chem Dogs gave a final volley into the faces of the Death Guard, then they met the traitors’ charge with bayonets.

There are few survivors to describe the hand-to-hand combat that followed. What is known is that the 178th held its part of the line longer than even the highly respected Cadian and Tallarn regiments on their flanks.

Outer Trenches Lost

Fighting continued for another week, with the attack column led by Typhus managing to break through another three lines of trenches—and reaching the outer edge of the city’s suburbs. Elsewhere, most of the first and second lines of trenches fell eventually, but the inner-most trenches were held.

In total, the Death Guard advanced 6.7 kilometers on a front of 26 kilometers at a cost of least 320,000 casualties. Imperial casualties were approximately 215,,000.

What apparently stopped the Death Guard from a complete breakthrough was the loss of their norm-human cultists and traitor Militarum troops, forcing the traitor Astartes to take more of a leading role in the attacks and leaving them more susceptible to being singled out by artillery and heavy weapons.

Still, the deeper the traitors penetrated the Imperial trench system, the more the fighting degenerated into a series of isolated, uncoordinated fights—all hindered by communication failures, shortages of supply, and poor weather. (Acidic rain fell during the last three days of fighting, turning the soil into a muddy quagmire.

By 6 475 745.M41, large-scale fighting ended, with both sides dedicating their efforts to resupplying, reinforcing, and. for the Imperial defenders, a major effort to build an entirely new trench line system that was out of reach of any renewed enemy offensive.

A lull in the action

As of 6 479 745.M41, the lull in fighting has allowed Imperial casualties to be removed to medical facilities inside the hive city, and reinforcements and an influx of supplies have allowed Imperial officers to withdraw battered front-line troops to the rear to regroup and rearm.

At least seven Imperial Guard regiments and 20 PDF regiments will need to be redeployed into converged units or officially disbanded, as these regiments have lost more than 70 percent of their original complement of men.

Sporadic small-unit fighting continues at Quadrant 3 of Sector 173-b of the original trench line. There, elements of the 322nd Cadian and 302nd Tallarn Regiments, with a handful of survivors from the 178th Chem Dogs, are struggling to fend off enemy probing missions.

[It should be noted that this is the area of the deepest enemy penetration, spearhead by Typhus himself. There is no intelligence as to the current location of this Death Guard leader.]

Aerial recon missions by drones have proven disappointing in their attempts to fly over the Death Guard positions. Clouds of “Rot Flies” swarm over enemy-held territory, and any aircraft entering this space are set upon by these warp-tainted creatures.

Thus we can only assume that the Death Guard is regrouping, bringing up new ammunition and reinforcements. Standing orders call for all units on the front line to be alert to an attack with no notice. Men are to sleep with loaded weapons, boots on, and company-level officers are expected to ensure that pickets are in place and alert.

+ END REPORT +

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Artwork at top of article was made using AI technology available on NightCafe.

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TheGM: What a tremendously fun battle this was. Admittedly, tactics weren’t much of an issue. It was simply a matter of sending 3,500 points (7th Edition) of Death Guard and crazed cultists and Poxwalkers across open ground to get shot at. And 3,000 points of Imperial Guard (with entrenchments) to roll a ton of dice to kill the enemy.

But it was an epic fight. One barrage of three Earthshaker cannons dropped atop 30 Death Guard warriors and only two fell.

(A statistically extreme number of 1’s were thrown when rolling “to wound” during this artillery strike, very relevant as the AP of the Earthshaker cannons did not allow the Death Guard to make armor saves. Clearly Nurgle was blessing his troops.)

There were notable acts of valor and violence: When the traitor siege dreadnought hit the trench line, the Imperial defenses literally vaporized. One band of cultists actually reached the trenches, and its charge led to a vicious bout of hand-to-hand combat.

And, of course, when the Death Guard charged what was left of the 178th Chem Dogs, this band of criminals and cut-throats met the enemy with bayonets drawn. Inspirational . . . if suicidal.

I love this hobby.

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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.