The Tau have fought fiercely to defend the world of Dal’yth Prime from the Imperial might of the Damocles Gulf Crusade.

IMPERIAL VOXCAST ( 6 073 746.M41)—The latest dispatches from the Damocles Gulf Crusade report that Imperial ground forces have reached the outskirts of the Tau city of Gel’bren—but xeno resistance is fierce and the battle for the city remains ongoing.

A spokesman for the Imperial Navy reminded the citizenry that this latest information is months old.

“The newest dispatches  left the Crusade late last year (745.M41), so the outcome of this battle is unknown to us,” Captain Jamol Wythe, public liaison officer for the Imperial Navy, warned in a press conference today.

“We fully expect to hear a satisfactory end to this battle in future dispatches, but citizens should realize additional information may not arrive for weeks or even months.”

Since the last report on the crusade, dispatches state, Imperial forces have continued their advance on Gel’bryn, hindered by annoying xeno ambushes and cowardly hit-and-run attacks.

Although the Imperial advance has been steady, fighting has been somewhat costly in casualties, Wythe added.

“The titans of Legio Thanataris have been bombarded by missile attacks from large Manta gunships, the Imperial Guard has faced Kroot auxiliary troops in close-combat conditions, and the Adeptus Astartes have been tested by elite Tau troops equipped with advanced battle suits.”

The advance also has been hampered byTau aerial attacks, naval authorities said.

“The Tau have been particularly aggressive in contesting the skies over the battlefield, and Imperial Navy aircraft and Imperial Guard gunships have been unable to achieve aerial dominance,” Wythe said.

Once Imperial troops reached the city’s outskirts, Wythe said, Imperial troops were confronted with difficult obstacles: For one, an ocean bay that along part of the city’s northeastern border and proved difficult for troops to cross under enemy fire.

“Another problem has been that the xenos are determined to defend their homeland with fanatical determination,” he added.

A Tau Hammerhead tank fires at approaching Imperial troops.

“As Imperial troops entered the city, they found themselves fighting from building to building in bloody urban warfare, as the Tau were unwilling to surrender a single meter of ground without a fight.”

Imperial casualties grew so alarmingly that General Wendall Gauge, commander-in-chief of Imperial ground forces, ordered a temporary halt to further attacks.

“General Gauge chose to to stop and reassess the xenos’ defensive strategies and develop a new attack plan that will allow his forces to take the city with minimal losses—in other words, a decisive attack that will lead to a quick and utter defeat of the enemy.”

Details of this attack—and its success or failure—are not yet known, he emphasized.

Imperial officers find themselves facing a determined, tactically flexible opponent in the Tau.

“The recently arriving dispatches were sent before this new attack was launched,” Wythe explained. “Still, we have every reason to expect our Imperial forces, supported by Astartes and titans, will defeat the xenos. ”

“But it will be weeks, if not months, before new dispatches cross the vast Damocles Gulf and bring us news. Until, we must have faith in the Emperor’s will.”

TheGM: I don’t think it’s too much of a “spoiler” to say that the final battles of the Damocles Gulf Crusade are coming. 

I thought I’d share this strategic background of the crusade, as I’m worried that focusing too much on individual battle reports aren’t putting the campaign in proper context. 

We now know the next battle will have something to do with the grand attack on the city. My only wish was that the 5th Company of the Knights of Altair Space Marine Chapter had defeated the Tau on Namatos, so my Knights could have gone to Dal’yth prime and played a more prominent role in the fighting.

Ah, well. The battles dictate the narrative, not the other way around.

Click here to see more of the wonderful artwork of “ArtofRussell.”

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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.