 |
 |
|
Assault on Bestia Porta
...Last Transmission from Imperial Listening post on Bestia Porta
Emperor's Reach had become a planet of great importance to the Imperium. In the 117 years since
it was retaken in the name of the Emperor, it had been heavily industrialised, delivering arms,
munitions and troops throughout the Trident Sector. Once on the forefront of war, a buffer now
existed between the planet and Xenos space.
Deep in its soils, Emperor's Reach nurtured a sinister seed. Over the space of more than a century,
the Patriarch had lain dormant, waiting to redeem the failings of the Hive Fleet and bring disorder.
His slumber was disturbed by mining operations on the planet and he stowed away on in a cargo
shipment delivering raw materials to . The seven day journey to Bestia Porta was riddled with
horror for the crew, and when they arrived, each of them harboured a dark embryo.
On landing at Bestia Porta, the crew and the Patriarch dispersed amongst the populace, targeting
the industrial base of the planet. Civil turmoil is common on frontier worlds of the Imperium and as
different sects emerged, seeming to be at each others' throats the Arbites took little notice. As they
began to weaken, the Patriarch spread his seed wider and wider, infiltrating the military and taking
key political positions.
As the PDF were eventually mobilised to suppress the uprisings, it was already too late. The
Patriarch's influence had spread like a plague and the armed forces of Bestia Porta began to fall
apart as scores of troops joined the uprisings. The turmoil had not gone unnoticed by the Imperial
forces in the Trident Sector, and the Ultramarines dispatched a large force to pacify the uprising.
The Space Marines deployed in great numbers and purged the heretics and soon discovered the
nature of the rebellion. Imperial listening posts began to detect a hive fleet on the approach and
quickly fell silent. Consolidating their position, the Ultramarines prepared the remaining defences of
the planet.
As the wave after wave of hive ships drew into orbit, the defence lasers were overrun and the
Tyranids made planet fall. Battles raged across the surface of the planet, and the Great Devourer
slowly pushed the Ultramarines back. The experience of the Chapter in combating Tyranids drove
the Ultramarines to lead a spearhead into the heart of the Tyranid forces, with the aim of disrupting
the synaptic control of the Hive Mind over its broods.
The Game
The 4000 point game was the first 40K event hosted in Leeds.
The players were Simon Gray (Tyranids) vs. Mark Berkley and
Andrew Townley (Space Marines).
On deployment, it struck home how
much of an undertaking this was
going to be, as the Tyranid force filled
it's deployment zone with no room to
spare, and the Marine army on the
opposite side was an intimidating
sight to behold.
The game began with the Ultramarine Land Speeders moving to combat
the 3 Lictors hidden across the battlefield while the rest of the army set up
on overwatch to pick off at the oncoming Tyranid horde. With a bit of bad
luck from Andrew's rolls of the dice, the fire from the Land Speeders only managed to take out one
Lictor. The Tyranids began their attack, advancing with three
of the four Carnifexes, leaving one prepared to fire at the
Land Speeders. The masses of Hormagaunts on the right
flank advanced, closing in on the Ultramarine lines with
great speed. As the marines let loose their fire power on the
Tyranids, scores of Hormagaunts fell and lascannon blasts
were directed at the Carnifexes, however they were unable
to get through the tough hides of the creatures (with their
toughness boosted to 9). The 'Nids unleashed their own
volley of fire power, bringing down the Land Speeder
squadron on the left flank and damaging a Land Raider.
The Ultramarines, still adopting a “Hold the Line”
strategy for the game, manoeuvred the remaining
Land Speeders to assault the Tyranid warriors on
the right flank, killing two of them, while a further
volley from the main battle line brought down
most of the Hormagaunts, leaving the
Genestealers exposed for the next turn. The
Razorback moved to cut off the Tyranid advance
through the centre while more firepower was
directed at the Carnifexes on the left flank, but
again to no avail. In retaliation, the Tyranids
continued to advance, taking the central building
ready to burst out of it on the next turn with a
Carnifex and a Lictor engaging the Razorback in
close combat, and a Lictor on the right flank attacked the nearby Predator, failing to do significant
damage but limiting it to slow speed for the rest of the game. The Razorback succumbed to the
might of the Carnifex and Lictor as it's fuel tanks were ruptured, engulfing the vehicle in a fireball
which caught and killed parts of the nearby Ultramarine squads, including some Terminators.
Another Carnifex connected with a Predator and tore through its armour as though it was paper.
The Hive Tyrant armed with a Venom Cannon continued on its Land Speeder killing spree and took
out the remaining speeders on the right flank.
The game was becoming a interesting tale of two
halves, the left flank was going far worse for the
Ultramarines, but they were pushing back the Tyranid
assault. This continued in turn 3, the Genestealers
were reduced to a single model, and the leading
Warrior squad was eradicated, leaving the remaining
Warriors and the Hive Tyrant on the right flank out of
charge range until turn 4. The now reduced fire power
on the Ultramarine left flank tried to take out the
repositioned Hormagaunt squad moving to disrupt the
fir base but failed, leaving them with sufficient models
to still pose a threat. The Carnifexes continued to
wreak havoc, with one moving on to engage a Land
Raider which it destroyed, while another engaged the marine front line alongside the few remaining
Hormagaunts. The Genestealers burst through one of the doors in the central building, racing
towards and tearing apart some of the survivors from the razorback explosion. The Lictor on the
right moved on to attack one of the marine squads, hoping to cause enough of a nuisance to buy
the few remaining troops on that flank some time. Realizing that the battle was now at a pivotal
point, the Gargoyle units descended to attack the marine centre and back line, causing critical
damage to the Ultramarines. The Biovores, who had been somewhat ineffective earlier in the game
came up trumps, destroying the remaining Land Raider.
The final turn saw the marines struggling to mass
their fire power anywhere on the battlefield, were
unable to push back the rampaging Tyranids, and
even the right flank began to crumble. The left flank
offered little resistance save for a last stand charge
from the Ultramarines Captain on one of the
Carnifexes, managing where many lascannons had
failed and causing a wound to one of the creatures.
The Warriors on the right flank made contact with the
marine battle line, assisting the Lictor in taking down
the last members of one of the squads, while the Hive
Tyrant claimed the Predator as its prey...
The Result Tyranids 33 – 15 Ultramarines
Story Ending
The Ultramarine forces let loose their last round, it had not been enough. In the largest attack from
the Tyranids seen in the Trident sector, Bestia Porta fell silent, as all life was stripped from the
planet. The Hive Mind had learned from it's enemies and had begun the process of evolving to
consume the enemies that stood against it...
 |