Falling drop pods announce the arrival of Imperial troops on the sept world of Dal’yth.

“My lord, the astropathic choir reports a lengthy message from the Crusade Fleet. The Crusade has set foot on one of Tau Empire’s core worlds, its attack led by the Astartes.”—Lex Karadi, astropathic attache to Admiral Hausu Dinola, senior commander of naval operations in the Corvus Cluster

 * * *

Excerpt of the official report of the Damocles Gulf Crusade, submitted to the High Lords of Terra, 1 981 747.M41

Initial Ground Assault 

Astartes troops landed and began destroying key sensor and anti-aircraft facilities surrounding the Imperial landing zone.

“. . . the attack on Dal’yth was well planned by the Crusade’s senior command. The initial landing, code-named Sector Zero, targeted the eastern seaboard of the planet’s largest continent, a relatively flat and undeveloped area protected from enemy attack to the north by mountains and to the east by the sea.

The first phase of the assault began on 6 698 745.M41 and focused on the destruction of nearby anti-air installations and a network of sensors that, if destroyed, would limit the ability of the Tau to monitor Imperial activity in the landing zone.

This attack was assigned to the various Astartes Chapters accompanying the Crusade. Using drop pods to give them the greatest chance of surviving anti-air fire, elements of  the Iron Hands, Scythes of the Emperor, White Scars, and Ultramarines were the first to assault the  arid surface of Dal’yth.

Despite strong resistance, the Astartes were successful in destroying the senor arrays and some anti-air facilities.

The first significant counterattack by the xenos came in the form of aircraft: fighters and bombers of sizes ranging from the relatively small Razorshark fighter to the massive Manta Missile Destroyer, a voidcraft with firepower capable of threatening a Titan.

Tau aircraft attempted to stop the Astartes assault and perhaps make an Imperial landing impossible, but Imperial aircraft challenged the xenos as much as possible. In the end, the Astartes succeeded at their mission–and the Crusade Command Council ordered a full deployment to the planet.

Landing Zone secured

As the Astartes were attacking the xeno sensor arrays, it was no surprise that \Tau aircraft focused on the Space Marines. This was fortuitous, as the Crusade Command Council voted to be aggressive and ordered the landing of larger troop transports and gigantic landers of the Adeptus Mechanicus that were used to bring the mighty machines of the Titanicus to the surface.

Within hours, the landing zone was ringed with Hydra anti-air batteries, and an ever-increasing number of Imperial Guard troops that secured the site from counterattack.

By the second day of the invasion, Imperial troops were ordered to advance on a nearby Tau City, Gel’bryn, while other troops worked to expand the Imperial beachhead and keep the xeno artillery out of range of the ongoing landing of troops.

For all their success, the Crusade’s ground forces took note of . . . .

+ END +

The GM: The above is background for the upcoming first tabletop battle of the new Dal’yth Campaign.

For years I’ve been waiting for 745. M41 to arrive, so I could fight the Damocles Gulf Crusade. Earlier this year,  I managed a few games on Namatos, but the realities of “real life” delayed my ability to go deeper into the Crusade as it advanced. (See Namatos Campaign under Categories, at right, to see how that part of the Crusade is going.)

But I’m determined to get some fighting done on Dal’yth before Hive Fleet Behemoth arrives. In a few days, I’ll post the first tabletop battle, which will find the 310th Cadian Regiment on the advance alongside the Brimlock Dragoons, Rakarshan Rifles, and the Faeburn Vanquishers.

Much appreciation to Wargame 40K Wiki, Lexicanum, and the Black Library novel, Savage Scars, for the background of the first days of the fighting on Dal’yth. And, of course, mucho kudos and deep respect for the intellectual property of Games Workshop.

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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.