The 43rd Armored Company, supported by Tallarn, attack the Tau position to their front.

“Soldiers of the Fire Caste! Kroot and Vespid allies! Today, we stand as a bulwark against the selfish, the soulless, and the mad! Today, we must drive back our enemies from our city and from our world! Today, more than ever before, we fight for the Greater Good! And we will triumph!”
— Aun’el Shi’Ores, ethereal

 * * *

Imperial Voxcast (6 701 746.M41)—As Imperial troops fight to break out of their landing zone on Dal’yth, much success has been reported by the White Scars, Black Templars, and other Astartes chapters.

Imperial Guard troops, however, have had a tougher time dealing with the alien tactics and weapons of the perfidious Tau.

The Tau defenses consisted of two fortified positions, with a sizable gap between them. Not wishing to be caught in a crossfire of the two positions, Imperial commanders opted to destroy the southern position and then move north to outflank the Tau in the hills. (Click on map to enlarge.)

A noteworthy example of this challenge is a bloody battle recently fought by the Cadian 310th Regiment.

Only days after the Crusade ground forces had consolidated their landing zone on Dal’yth, the 310th launched a two-prong attack on the xenos to their front. Their objective: To push xeno troops beyond artillery range of the landing zone, which for days had seen artillery barrages destroying orbit-to-ground troop haulers and causing unnecessary casualties.

The attack consisted of the 310th, with support from the 117th Tallarn Regiment and the 43rd Armored Company of the Faeburn Vanquishers. The 310th’s colonel, Willem Vance, was brevetted overall commander of this force.

The troops advanced at dawn, meeting little resistance at first, but that changed when the troops reached the hilly area where xeno troops had set up a strong defensive line.

Although outnumbered, the Tau position in the south greatly benefited from available terrain.

Tenacious defense

This was not a surprise to Colonel Vance, who had scrupulously studied available intelligence provided by reconnaissance patrols and aerial drones. And he already had determined that his main attack against the xenos would be directed to the south of the hills and spearheaded by the 43rd Armored.

“The goal was to break through to the south with an overwhelming armored force and then encircle the north hills, forcing the xenos to withdraw or be surrounded,” Vance said during a later debriefing on the battle.

The initial advance did not, however proceed as Vance anticipated. In the south, a handful of Tau Hammerhead tanks were deployed “top down,” maneuvered behind sand dunes so their lower front armor was protected by a thick barrier of sand. This greatly increased the survivability of the xeno tanks.

Meanwhile, the Hammerheads were supported by Fire Warriors entrenched in a small abandoned village.

“Although improvised, these defenses negated much of the 43rd Armor’s advantage in numbers, and the xenos’ tenacious defense stalled our attack,” Vance reported.

Having feigned a withdrawal, the Tau launch their ambush against the advancing Cadians to the north. Beset by Fire Warriors to their front, gun drones to their flank, and Crisis Suits dropping to their rear, the Imperials were slaughtered.

Imperial troops ambushed

To the north, the Tau feigned a withdrawal from the hills, encouraging a Cadian battalion with orders to probe the enemy position an. if possible,  draw the the xenos’ attention from the fighting to the south. The sight of the Tau’s apparent retreat encouraged the battalion commander to order his troops into the hills.

But the withdrawal was a trap.

“The xenos withdrew until the Cadians had committed themselves,” reported General Wendell Gauge, commander of all ground forces on Dal’yth. “Once the Cadians entered the hills, the Tau turned and counterattacked. Squadrons of gun drones, Fire Warriors, Devilfish armored transports, and long-range fire support from a Riptide slammed into the advancing guardsmen.”

The subsequent fighting was extremely vicious, with neither side offering quarter, he added.

“The Cadians held their ground, but they were hard-pressed, as they’d advanced without adequate armored support.”

The Cadian line finally was broken when a Tau commander, encased in a never-before-seen but well-armed battle suit, dropped behind the guardsmen with a contingent of Crisis Suits.

“Trapped between superior forces to their front and well-armed enemy troops to their rear, there was no escape,” Gauge reported. “Only a handful of guardsmen, and shamefully the battalion commander, managed to escape, and they were summarily executed for cowardice in the face of the enemy.”

Click here to read the conclusion of the battle.

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