Early in the battle, a Chaos Defiler fires its battle cannon at advancing loyalist Space Marines. Half a squad is killed, and survivors rush into nearby ruins to advance along a slower, yet safer path. Alas, this caution proves key to the battle’s outcome.

“The city of Mygor stands before us. Within its bastions, the worshipers of the False Emperor huddle in fear. But we shall end their dread.”

“We shall spread a dozen plagues amongst the heathen and, as they pray for deliverance, we shall show them the benevolence of the Plague God. He will ease their suffering, and they will join us in throwing off the yoke of the Imperium.”—Typhus, Herald of Nurgle

* * *

A fog of bilious green shrouds the Imperial ruins as the traitor warlord, Ghaz Tak, strides forward to the sound of explosions, cannon fire, and artillery shells shrieking overhead.

The tactical display of his helm reveals the prize: A wrecked Rhino transport lies ahead. It supposedly holds a data crystal with key information about the defenses of the besieged city of Mygor. No less than Typhus, the great champion of Nurgle himself, has ordered Ghaz Tak to retrieve it.

Gaz Tak is an aspiring champion. He seeks the gift of daemonhood. He will do Typhus’ bidding.

A blink of his eye activates his helm’s micro-vox, and he growls at the warhost under his command.

+ + Target is 100 meters forward. Coordinates X-29-38-1B. Increase your pace. Loyalist Astartes seek the prize. We will get their first. Casualties are irrelevant. The prize is everything. + +

The fortified hive city of Mygor (left center) is the keystone of the Imperial defenses. The Death Guard are determined to find a way to bring down the city.

* * *

Deployment

TheGM: This was a solo game between my loyalist Knights of Altair Space Marine Chapter and the Death Guard. I used 7th Edition rules and a scenario called “The Relic.”

This scenario called for a single objective in the center of the table. It was worth 3 victory points. One victory point also could be earned for being the first to destroy a unit, killing your opponent’s warlord, or having a unit in the enemy deployment zone at the end of the game.

As I deployed my Knights of Altair, I felt some dread. The 7th Edition rules allowed me to give the Death Guard the Mark of Nurgle, meaning their Toughness rose to 5. My loyalist Space Marines would find it a lot harder to kill the forces of Chaos.

Worse, as this battle revolved around a single objective, it easily could turn into a battle of attrition, which would heighten the advantage of Chaos’ superior Toughness.

The battle plan for both sides was simple: Seize the relic, move it back to their deployment zone, and hold it until game’s end.

This battle was fought on the world of Dozaria on 6 382 746.M41.

* * *

Forty meters to the east, the sorcerer Necrosius listened to Ghaz Tak’s orders with disdain but knew he shared with the warlord a hatred for the foul creature that walked ahead of him.

The daemon prince known as Mechinon. His dreadnought armor has long since disappeared under a crust of pestilence, , sores, boils, rotting flesh, and foul and warp-tainted growths.

A former siege dreadnought, known as Mechinon, led the vanguard of the attack. He stood 12 meters tall, a massively built amalgam of thick armor, diseased flesh, cancerous growths, and foul entrails. Truly, this monster enjoyed the full bounty of Nurgle’s blessings.

This was a creature who would put even Typhus himself on guard. Using Warp sight to study the dreadnought, Necrosius was nearly blinded by the power contained within its adamantium and ceramite shell.

The corrupted soul within the dreadnought was not that of a man—but of a daemon. A powerful one at that. A daemon prince.

No wonder, the sorcerer thought, Mechinon had so easily usurped Ghaz Tak’s command. Only minutes before his questionable ally gave the order to advance his forces, the dreadnought had appeared amongst them, his approach foreshadowed by the ground that shook beneath everyone’s feet.

The daemon prince was not much for words. He walked up to Ghaz Tak and bluntly stated: “You shall lead the left flank of the attack. I shall make directly for the objective.”

Infuriated, Ghaz Tak objected, pointing out that Typhus had given him the honor of leading the attack. Mechinon had simply pointed his massive Assault Cannon directly at the traitor Astarte’s head, the cannon’s machine spirit shrieking with delight as the weapon powered up.

“Obey.”

* * *

A Chaos Defiler, a heretical daemon engine, leads the Death Guard on the traitors’ left flank. It was this creature’s battle cannon that destroyed an entire Terminator squad in the early part of the battle.

Early Fighting

Both sides simply raced to the wrecked Rhino. To reach it first would be a significant advantage—and, as the Death Guard took the first move, the battle began with the Imperial forces on the back foot.

The loyalists’ chance of success was made worse by what spearheaded the Death Guard attack: the daemon prince Mechinon. It was not just his size that proved intimidating. There was an unholy aura surrounding him—a sense of dread that shook the confidence of the loyalists and even left Death Guard warriors with a feeling of unease.

It didn’t help that it never occurred to the loyalist commander (myself) to “Deep Strike” his Assault and Terminator Squads in the path of the Death Guard and block their advance. Duh! So obvious in hindsight. Instead, I was squeamish and tried to outflank the Chaos troops with these fast-moving forces, supported by a squadron of Land Speeders.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. You’d think, in a solo game, I would have taken the time to actually “think” about how to win the game.

Fortunately, for the Death Guard, thinking wasn’t necessary. They didn’t care how many men they lost. The goal was the was data crystals in the wreck.

So they ignored any long-range fire, swept up to the Relic, plopped Mechinon, with support from a Helbrute, in a place where they could block any Imperial counterattack. Meanwhile, a team of the more intelligent and responsible Chaos Space Marines searched the wreck, grabbed the data crystals, and ran for the Death Guard’s deployment zone.

* * *

The heavy weapons of a Land Speeder squadron were squandered when they were ordered to swing around the Death Guard’s flank. Alas, the battle ended so quickly that that the skimmers had almost no opportunity to influence the fighting.

Loyalist Astartes were racing toward him. Ghaz Tak studied his tactical displays as fighting broke out across the line. A six-legged Defiler scuttled to a stop and fired a battle cannon at a group of loyalists that appeared down the street. 

The shot was a direct hit, and Ghaz Tak saw the squad obliterated, one marine tossed 20 meters into the sky before slamming into some nearby ruins.

He heard reports of enemy Land Speeders and a Dreadnought on the far flank and listened to  the thunderous crack of lascannon being fired by a team of Death Guard Obliterators.

But his attention quickly was drawn to the sight of an Assault Squad falling from the sky to his left flank and the sonic  boom of a teleporting Terminator Squad appearing somewhere near the Defiler.

+ Firing line to the left. Loyalists are behind the ruins. Hold fire until you see them. +

The Defiler already was scuttling away from a side street. Obviously that was where the Terminators had arrived. Stormbolter fire sounded, loyalist bolt rounds striking the daemon engine. The Defiler ignored the impotent small-arms fire that struck its armor. Instead, it turned his battle cannon toward the loyalists and let loose a shot.

Ghaz Tak didn’t see the result, but the loyalist fire stopped. The aspiring champion assumed the Terminators were no longer a threat.

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.