As a team of Death Guard warriors searched the wrecked Rhino for the precious data crystals, Mechinon and a Helbrute distracted the loyalist Astartes by charging directly into the center of their line. Over the course of the barely 10-minute battle that followed, Mechinon suffered no injuries at all, while more than a dozen loyalists were brought low.

“What is a plague, but the cleansing flame in another form? Only the strong survive its passing. Only those fit to claim a kingdom from the ashes.”—Typhus, Herald of Nurgle

* * *

Continued from Part 1 . . .

Shameful hesitation

The loyalist Space Marines were remarkably hesitant. The Defiler’s battle cannon had forced the Space Marines advancing on the right flank to move into nearby ruins and advance under cover. Elsewhere, other Marines did the same. Even Captain Captain Alaric Galba led his Command Squad through the ruins.

All of this slowed down the loyalists all along the line, and the Death Guard exploited their caution. They raced at full speed toward their objective.

Eventually, Mechinon reached the Rhino holding the vital data crystasl. He simply walked past it, daring the loyalist Marines to challenge him. Meanwhile, a small team of specially selected Death Guard warriors reached the wrecked transport and began searching for the precious crystals.

Click on map for larger image.

The loylaist Marines took up positions in a firing line, facing Mechinon and opening fire. The loyalists killed a few Death Guard Warriors, but they only had a single meltagun to threaten Mechinon. The meltagun fired, but somehow the plasma bream missed.

More Death Guard advanced to Mechinon’s right, opening fire on the loyalist in the rubble. It was a fierce firefight, but given the Death’s Guard’s Warp-tainted Toughness, the loyalists lost more men than the traitor enemy.

A loyalist dreadnought advanced into range and fired at Mechinon with his meltagun, and it, too, missed. Grandfather Nurgle appeared to be favoring his daemon prince.

The daemon prince ignored the loyalist gunfire. Accompanied by a Helbrute, Mechinon charged the loyalists, firing his assault cannon  in tandem with the swing of his power fist. Hesitant for only a second, the loyalist Astartes countercharged but were easily overwhelmed. Marines after Marine was brought low.

* * *

The traitor plan was simple but effective. Their strongest troops raced forward and charged into the loyalist Space Marines, keeping them occupied as the data crystal was recovered for Chaos.

The sorcerer Necrosius scrambled up a high pile of rubble to oversee the fighting, and what he saw pleased him.

Mechinon had charged the loyalist Marines, engaging more than a dozen enemy warriors in close combat and drawing the attention of surrounding loyalists with the ferocious battle cries emitted from his vox-grill.

Looking down at the wreckage, the sorcerer saw a Death Guard warrior crawl  out from the Rhino’s interior, his vox transmission indicating he had the data crystal. Necrosius ordered him to hurry to him. The sorcerer would be responsible for its safety.

The acrid smell of witchcraft rose from the sorcerer’s right. A loyalist Librarian had unleashed Warp Lightning at a squad of Death Guard, killing half the squad. But another traitor squad avenged its breathrens’ deaths, their bolt fire striking the Librarian and knocking him off the ruins.

Alas, Necrosius thought, he could sense that the loyalist psyker still lived. Perhaps he would meet the Emperor’s lackey one day and finish him off. For now, his task was to get the data crystal to safety.

At that moment, the Death Guard warrior with the crystal reached the sorcerer and knelt before him. Necrosius took the prize. 

+ + Ghaz Tak. Fight or withdraw at your pleasure. I have the data crystal and am leaving the battlefield. + +

* * *

An Assault Squad “deep striked” behind enemy lines, hoping to attack the Death Guard in the rear. Alas, the squad maneuvered into position but failed to close their charge. Subsequently, it was the Death Guard’s elite “Plague Marines” that assaulted and destroyed the valiant loyalists.

Total Defeat

TheGM: Final score: Imperials received 1 lousy victory point for reaching the enemy deployment zone (on a flank move that did nothing). Meanwhile, the Death Guard earned 4 victory points: 3 for control of the objective, and 1 for First blood (wiping out the Terminator Squad).

I was a lousy Imperial general. The Death Guard had an obvious plan. Run forward. Grab the objective. Run away. Even I could recognize that was the thing to do.

For the Imperials, who would go second, that plan wouldn’t work. The best plan was to drop my Assault Squads and Terminators in front of the Chaos forces, slow them down, and buy the time to reach the prize themselves.

But did I do that? No. I charged forward mindlessly. The closest thing I had to a plan was to send my Assault Squads, some Terminators, and two Land Speaders to the flanks in a useless bid to snipe the enemy with gunfire.

That’s no way to win a battle.

And the loyalists didn’t come close to winning. Instead, a flank attack led by an Assault Squad and my Terminators was crushed: The Assault Squad failed its charge and was overwhelmed by a counterattack, and the Terminators were blown to bits by the Defiler’s battle cannon.

Meanwhile, my other flank attack did little but advance. In the center, my tactical squads hesitated and traded shots with the Death Guard while Necrosius ran off with the data crystal.

The sight of Mechinon and his neigh-unbeatable armor obviously intimidated me.

What the hell? I am ashamed of myself. If only I’d given it a bit more thought, the loyalists could have pulled out a victory. Instead, I literally rolled over and gave the prize to the Ruinous Powers.

For their victory, the Death Guard will have an advantage in the next battle. I’ll give them an extra 5% in troops and, if they win, they will use the sewers to sneak into the hive city of Mygor. That’ll royally screw over the Imperials.

Click here to read Part 1 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.