Cadians advance through a courtyard, wary of enemy troops yet unseen.

The common guardsmen doesn’t need to know why a battle is being fought. He needs only know what’s expected of him. He fights. He dies. He is the cannon fodder that ensures the Imperium’s survival.”—Colonel Klaus Vorndrath, 143th Death Korps Regiment, circa 453.M40

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Continued from Part 1 . . .

A maze of streets

A voxcaster kneels beside the company commander and reports that a recon drone has spotted Fire Warriors advancing up the village alleys in front of the advancing guardsmen.

Eustace gives no orders. Of course there are enemy troops in the village. And platoon commanders know what to do: Kill the enemy. Take the town.

Although the village is small, its maze of streets and alleys makes it difficult to track the position of friend or foe—and that challenges the captain’s ability to maneuver his troops. The constant rain of missiles and thickening smoke only adds to the confusion.

Ahead, Eustace sees his psyker contingent blown to shreds, and he curses. He doesn’t have enough men to face strong xeno resistance. The psykers were his best asset in the coming fight.

He points to a building that he believes will serve as a useful observation post. “Let’s head that way,” he tells the voxcaster. “From the roof I might actually see something useful.”

Two Crisis Suits

The roar of a xeno burst cannon sounds ahead, and Lt. Holt sees two men torn apart only 10 meters away. Other guardsmen scramble to cover and begin shooting in the direction of the objective.

“Two Crisis Suits!” someone yells. “On the roof.”

Damn, Holt thinks. The xenos already have reached the building he wants. And with elite troops.

“Get that heavy bolter set up!” he yells. He turns and signals the sergeant of 3rd Squad. He points at an alley and signals to outflank the enemy position.

The sergeant nods and starts yelling orders. Holt can’t hear him. A heavy ordinance round shrieks as it crosses the battlefield. Even at a distance, the follow-up explosion drowns out the sound of gunfire and the explosions of falling missiles.

The sound of the Tau Hammerhead’s railgun firing was frightening, but the weapon had no real impact on the battle. Submunition rounds killed a few men, but most Imperial guardsmen were too savvy to wander into the tank’s line of sight.

A clear goal

The 2nd Platoon hits a solid wall of enemy fire. Its 1st Squad crosses a main street and forces its way into a building. There’s a courtyard beyond, and that will allow the guardsmen to outflank the target building.

But 1st Squad finds that Fire Warriors already have seized the courtyard, and guardsmen are forced to shatter the rear windows and trade fire with their xeno opponents.

Sgt. Daran Malcak assesses the tactical situation. It’s not good. There’s one squad of xenos in front of him and, to his left, he can see another squad forming a firing line on a nearby rooftop.

He has no idea where the rest of the platoon, or its commander, are to be found. He can only hope they’re nearby.

Farther south, Commissar Kairov leads his ogryns across an empty street and uses a covered walkway to move stealthily toward the target building. He can see 1st Platoon to his front, firing at xenos on the roof of the objective. Behind him, he can hear 2nd Platoon firing at the enemy.

Now it’s clear: Kairov is the only friendly unit currently unengaged. He  needs to keep pushing forward to the objective.

Tau Fire Warriors deployed in this building proved impossible to kill with small-arms fire, but when the veteran squad and its Chimera rolled forward, the transport’s heavy flamer quickly convinced the xenos to abandon the building. This allowed the rest of 1st Platoon to advance.

Target in sight

To the south, guardsmen are firing at the Crisis Suits on the roof. But the xeno battle suits seem to ignore the threat. In fact, the xenos’ burst cannons continue their deadly fire, their powerful plasma beams penetrating any cover the guardsmen are using. The human body count begins to rise.

Lt. Holt rests his hopes on the veteran squad. A vox report lets him know the Chimera has advanced around the courtyard and discovered a squad of Fire Warriors that have taken up a strong defensive position in a building across the street.

The heavy bolter of 1st Squad already has peppered the building to no avail. That’s a problem. The platoon cannot advance until this defensive position is taken.

But the Chimera’s arrival changes the tactical situation. It rolls up to within 10 meters of the Tau-held building, the xenos’ plasma fire only scarring the transport’s thick front armor.

What the xenos don’t realize is the Chimera is armed with a heavy flamer.

Suddenly the Tau position is engulfed in flame. Some xenos burst out of the front door in flames. If they are screaming, no one can hear above the constant gunfire.

Other xenos explode out the back door and flee. They have no response to the flames except retreat.

That’s the cue for the veteran squad to dismount from the transport’s back hatch. These elite guardsmen are soon chasing the retreating Fire Warriors down an alley.

The village’s narrow streets—along with the Hammerhead’s railgun dominating the villages single north-south road—forced the company’s single Lemon Russ tank to attempt to circle the village to the north. The battle was over before it was able to contribute anything substantive to the fighting.

Time to attack

Commissar Kairov and his ogryns reach the corner of an intersection. Across the street is the building that’s being contested. He hears a tank’s cannon roar, but he has no idea what enemy it confronts.

A micro-vox link in his ear updates the commissar to the tactical situation. The 1st Platoon is locked in a firefight to the south, and 2nd Platoon is engaged with enemy troops to his north. The 2nd Platoon’s commander is dead, and the company’s sole tank is engaged with a Broadside battlesuit to the north.

The news isn’t great. But that’s not important right now. The objective is all that matters.

Kairov turns to face the ogryns under his command.

“You are loyal subjects of the God-Emperor,” he yells, looking intensely into the eyes of each abhuman in turn. “Today you will do your Emperor proud. Around the corner is our objective. It is the tall building across the street. We will storm this building and seize it for the Imperium.”

The ogryns roar in agreement. Kairov turns and raises his bolt pistol. “Forward for the— ”

As Commissar Kairov prepares to assault 3rd Company’s objective, he is surprised by two Tau Crisis Suits that drop from above. As soon as they land, the xenos open fire at the commissar and his ogryns at point blank range.

Xeno counterattack

Captain Eustace crouches behind the low wall that surrounds a building’s roof. The building is at the town intersection, and he he is less than 20 meters from the objective.

A Hammerhead tank is advancing down the street. Behind it, scores of Fire Warriors are advancing in its cover. Time is running out for 3rd Company.

To his delight, Kairov is below him. He’s has three ogryns in tow, and a handful of guardsmen appear out of an alley to join the commissar. It looks as if they are ready to rush the target.

He is about to order his command squad to run downstairs and join the attack when he’s interrupted by the roar of jet thrusters. Looking up, he sees two Crisis Suits dropping down from the roof. They land only meters in front of Kairov.

The commissar and his men open fire immediately, but their las rounds simply bounce off the xenos’ battle plate. Then the Crisis Suits open up with their burst cannons. Plasma beams hiss in the air as they strike home. Two ogryns fall, and most of the guardsmen literally explode as thousand-degree plasma vaporizes flesh and boils blood.

Click here to read the conclusion  of this battle report.

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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.