Campaign Overview - Battles 1 -3

After the initial successful planetfall by the Orks, they quickly overran the northern half of the planet. The only resistance left in the 3 planets of the system was due to an heroic effort of Imperial Guard forces lead by the local garrison of Ultramarine 8th reserve Company.

Calgar promptly sent a relief force which he personally lead and brought the entire 4th Company with him. Calgar initially gave command to a respective Librarian.

Calgars initial plans to launch a counter attack utterly failed with the Orks destroying the counter attacking force, forcing the Ultramarines to play by Ferotous cunnin' plan.

Ferotous took the battle to the front lines and whilst he won a tactical victory, he was seriously wounded in a challenge between the two leaders in single combat. Calgar in his attempt to salvage the defenses, left Ferotous, who was rescued by his lucky mascot and banna waver Thesaurus MA.

To prepare for his next encounter with Calgar, Theasaurus has done extensive cyborknetic work on Ferotous. A few centimeters under his skin Ferotous now has enfused with his flesh scrap metal that makes his skin as tough as Mega Armour and had to replace a large chunk of his jaw with a metal one. Ferotous has been made considerably tougher by this surgery.

Calgar then took the battle to Ferotous. Knowing this was a Ork leader he had bested before, he vowed to finish the job and leave the Orks leaderless. He lead a ambush attack on Ferotous who escaped with his life - however the Orks paid a heavy cost in terms of deaths.
The Waaagh! was in trouble. Ferotous had been shown wanting twice at the hands of Calgar, and the other orks had noticed. Ferotous had to leave the front line and restore order in his Waaagh! This meant Ferotous was not able to lead his armies personally and had to allow the attack to be led by Komminzar UnTrogg and Admiral Grabba, Bosses of the Blood Axes.

In terms of the game, the scores are 2-1 to the Orks in overall victories. We both have one campaign card. The Orks get to pick the next mission.

Assassination - Edd's Thoughts

Firstly, we were playing on Simon’s turf for the first time. This seemingly small change erupted into near disaster as I forgot that:
a) It was my turn to play a mission card 
b) Thanks to the success of the Orks in the previous mission I could not use any heavy slots.

I had to re-do my list with the models that I had with me. Thankfully Simon let me play the Land Raider in an Elite slot, so with a re-giggled list I was only 30 points or so down.

Mission wise, I remembered that I had the Assassination card, and by luck I had my Librarian in the small carry box – allowing me to field the mandatory 2 HQ choices. Calgar was going to show the Librarian how it should be done as we chased down the Warboss.

Diagonal deployment meant the marines organised themselves on one side of a road facing into the ruins of a city. Tellion and his scouts had a small ruin to bunker down in with their camo cloaks, and everything else prepared for the Ork onslaught. 

In previous battles, the orks had come at us fast and in numbers, so we were looking to gun them down with full size tactical squads as they approached, and then use some organized movement shenanigans to try to prevent heavy losses in close combat.

With the Land Raider using an Elite slot, Calgar and his bodyguard could not deploy inside it. Instead they readied themselves next to it, anticipating an embarkation. 

Only, the orks didn’t come.

Instead they skulked through the ruins on the opposite side of the road. So we shot at them, and we called down an orbital bombardment. 

We shot at their shadowsfor two turns, neutering a few threats and suffering nothing in return.

By turn three things started to heat up. Rexus, the Landraider was destroyed – it had been a primary target for the Orks, and we started to see Orks in larger numbers emerging from the ruins. Thankfully they failed an important charge range roll (through terrain), and with the tactical doctrine blaring in the ears of the marines, our overwatch fire was looking good.

The stormtalon’s late arrival was a blessing. It came in just as the Land Raider was destroyed, and provided a replacement distraction target for the Orks.

Calgar meanwhile proceeded to show the Librarian how to engage the enemy properly. In tandem with a Land Speed Storm providing Cerberus launcher cover (blinding the Orks), he charged and destroyed a load of them. The group then moved into the ruins, and the following turn Calgar separated to tear apart an immobilized Wagon (Incidentally, the resulting explosion killed Calgar’s standard bearer – meh). 

So, in a swathe of bolter fire and blue, Calgar was sweeping enemies aside. We’d had to change our planned approach due to a number of things, but by turn 5 we were up by three kill points. This was largely, I feel, down the Orks piecemeal commitment to the fight; they seemed to keep a large part of their army out of the way, allowing us to attack the smaller biker units. 

When Blooditooth finally did make a proper appearance, his prowess was evident. He took out an entire tactical squad on his own!

But it was too little, too late for the Orks – by then we were able to concentrate fire on the poor warboss. Tellion cought him well and took two of his three wounds.

Calgar, confident enough to stride around on his own now, tried a nine-inch charge. Oh how he and I would have loved to have made that charge! It wasn’t to be though. Game ended well for the marines. We learned some lessons though, and on another day the Orks could easily have torn us a new asshole, and taught us how to breathe through it.

The war thunders on...

Assassination - Target Bluddietoof

Following the Battle for Hulthinsar, the war was in the favour of the Greenskins. They had convincingly killed the Ultramarines on planetfall and after Ferotous had not been killed at Hulthinsar both battles had been victories for the Horde.

Calgar knew that the Ork Warboss needed to be killed and set upon a mission to kill ‘Doktor’ Ferotous Bluddietoof. Telion had recovered from his wounds and had been assigned by Calgar to report and track Bluddietoof.

Telion reported that the ork warboss was on the move in a highly mobile force. Calgar, with no heavy support, utilised his thunderhawk gunship to deploy an infantry heavy force to seperate Ferotous from his horde and use this opportunity to kill the warboss and cut the heart out of the WAAAGH!

Calgar met up with Telion and waited for Ferotous to appear. The mission was simple – Kill Ferotous Bluddietoof – Once and for all!

Calgar and his Ultramarines lay in wait on the cities edge.

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Ferotous (on the bike at the front) and his Speed Freak's Bike army leaving the Ork base.

The 'Doktor' was on the move again. He was at head of the army with his Bikerz. He was moving from the ork stronghold through a city that was already destroyed. Ferotous was rather tired having had to fight a number of challenges to his leadership following his loss of the challenge with the Ultramarines Boss. Anyone who even mentioned Calgars name was swiftly dealt with via Power Klaw.

With his new Bionic eye, Ferotous could see some of those blue beakies were lying in wait in the city. The Biker army prepared out to battle. As soon as the battle lines were drawn up, Ferotous could see Calgar himself.

For the first time in his entire life Ferotous had a shiver on the back of his neck. Was this fear? He didn't even feel this when he was ready to square up to Ghazghkull back in Auctorian. 

Ferotous had to make sure Calgar did not finish the job... He had to survive this onslaught...

Sabotage - Calgar's Journal

+++++Taken from Marneus Augustus Calgar's Journal+++++

It is the eve following the most recent large scale battle with the Greenskin. I had arrived to admonish the marines for their failure on the outskirts of the hive city in the previous battle.

I was surprised at how quickly the assault came. The power plant was between the defensive line and the woodland that the Orks came pouring out of.

The power generator, which we moved to a defensible position, hidden in an old graveyard well within the perimeter, was stormed by meganobz in a pair of trucks.

My battle brothers were caught flat-footed. Telion opened up with the quad gun, but was overwhelmed and rendered unconscious by marauding Orks with flamers. We managed to secure him and he is recovering. I'm glad. The perminant loss of Telion would have been tragic. I'm sure his insight into the battle will prove useful. 

The 4 Tactical squads unloaded their holy bolters, but succumbed to ravening Ork charges. The generator was captured and destroyed even as thirty Ork boyz crashed through the windows of the power plant. With the power generator down, the Orks were free to blow the place up-and they did just that! They did not care for their own losses. At least 30 Ork Boys were within the building as it blew.

Air support arrived, but it was eventually gunned down using the quad gun that the Orks had stolen from Telion. For all we know of the Orks, they often prove resourceful.

It was at this time I allowed the righteous anger of the Emperor to control me. The Primary mission we had failed. I knew I had to rip the heart out of this monster. I lead my tactical squad into battle against a group of meganobz. We ripped them apart ripped apart.

Through the smog of the burning plant, with deffcopters whirring overhead, I spotted this infamous warlord Bluddietooth. He thought the battle was done and was heading away from the fight. Rage consumed me; I boarded the land raider and gave chase, catching the enemy warlord in the ancient ruins of a cathedral. We fought at the top of the failing structure and fought there.

I showed this Xenos a lesson in righteous fury. I connected my left Gauntlet with his jaw, sending him down 3 stories off the Catheral. Whilst I wanted to secure the body, I couldn't leave my battle brothers in the centre alone.

Our scouts have still not secured the body, which has caused me much concern.  Rumour has it that his Ork has extensive Cybernetic implants and there were skuffed footprints. I can only assume he has survived somehow. I must be wary battling this monster.

After the challenge, I turned my attention to rescuing a beleaguered razorback and we managed to halt the tide of Greenskin.

The Orks had been fought off, but the cost in life and resources had been great. With the power and shield generator down, acquiring replacement Heavy support will be difficult. I will have to plan accordingly. I was impressed with the Land Raider - it fought with the same determination that Brother Rexus had shown in the first battle.

Unfortunately Brother Rexus died in the first encounter, but I am glad we have Honoured him last battle. His spirit remains interred with this Land Raider shall be my personal transport for this campaign. We shall make them pay heavily, Brother Rexus.

This war is bigger in scale than the first war. I now know the war for black reach will be a bloody and terrible.

Sabotage - Komminzar Un'Trogg Kunnin' Plan

After stopping the Ultramarines taking a foothold behind the Ork lines on Black Reach, the Ultramarines had to deploy fully in the Imperial held sector of the planet.

This gave Ferotous and his generals time to prepare their next assault.

The township of Hulthunsar was proving to be a thorn in the Ork invasion. This was a heavily defended town. It had a huge logistical importance to the area. A huge imperial shield generator was stuck in-between the no-mans land between the Ork hordes and the kill zone created by the Ultramarine defence. The important part was the power supply for this generator was still held by the Ultramarines - allowing the shield to function.

The Blood axe boss Komminzar Un'Trogg, leader of the Kommando's on Black Reach had a bold plan. It was tactically sound, even the great Calgar could have seen the level of strategy involved.

The plan had 2 parts. Un'Trogg would let a trusted Nob lead a unit of Kommandos, whilst Admiral Grabba (who was in charge of the air forces and stormboyz) would support the unit by using a mobile force of Deffkoptas, planes and stormboyz. Between the Kommandos and the air support they would destroy the Power generator.

Ferotous thought the plan was far too simple. He decided he would use his resources preparing a huge number of Boyz rather than the specialist troops the Blood Axe bosses suggested. He decided to spearhead a Horde of Boyz and Nobs through the killzone and a small number of Deffkoptas and Kommandos to do the sneaky bits. If the Blood Axes failed, he would just use brute force and crush the Blue Beakies with Orky strength!

Whilst Un'Trogg and Grabba protested saying that more Kommandos and air support would be more useful than throwing ork boyz into the meat grinder, Ferotous would not relent. They knew not to press the issue too far. Afterall the Horde of orks boyz coming from the front would prove a useful distraction to allow them to get the job done.

Ferotous and his generals prepared for battle.

+++++

Calgar was irate at the utter failure of the planetfall mission. He decided he needed to ensure that the next major battle and bolstered the defences outside Hulthunsar. Whilst he did not have the numbers to risk advancing to the Shield generator, he order the defences to be strengthened. Even the huge numbers of the ork horde would struggle to get through the gun line.

As long as the shield remained, he could count on its protection it gave the local area against the Orks long range missiles.

Telion informed Calgar that the Orks were near and preparing a huge assault on the position. Calgar prepared his Gauntlets and made way to battle. Apparently the Ork Warlord himself was to lead the battle. He had a personal mission to end the enemy warlord and halt the WAAAGH! in its tracks.

His forces were ready.

Planetfall - Ultramarine Debrief

Attacked the outskirts of hive city Corspex with the aim of drawing out Ork Forces, providing an opportunity for civilians to escape the ravaging onslaught within the city.

+++++++++++++

Result: Tactical Failure

+++++++++++++

The Orks were able to secure several tactical positions, rendering future liberation of the city nigh-impossible.
Unacceptable losses sustained.

+++++++++++++
Death Toll:
Librarian Accurious (dishonoured: ashes passed to the wind. His gene seed found wanting)

Tactical Squad Burus
Marine Burus
Marine Verticus
Marine Achilles
Marine Serrex
Marine Corvus

Tactical Squad Fenris
Sgt Fenris
Marine Heveticus
Marine Darius
Marine Ospirix
Marine Fexus

Tactical Squad Ramus
Sgt Ramus
Marine Gerax
Marine Lucius
Marine Venusius
Marine Elesius

Devastator Squad Mortraxius
Sgt Mortraxius
Marine Altus
Marine Rexus (Honoured. Remains interred with a Land Raider which will henceforth bear his sacred name. He stood alone in the face of overwhelming enemies, and not once did his mind turn to flight).
Marine Garrion
Marine Torvex

Tactical Squad Aras
Marine Amandus
Marine Signarius

Tactical Squad Herux
Sgt Herux
Marine Dorsus
Marine Caspius

Scout Hospus
Scout Temario
Scout Exitis

Vindicator "Fist of Mccragge"

Land Speeder Storm "Mortis"

Land Raider "Slayer"

+++++++++++++

Demotions:
For failing most terribly in service of The Emperor, most specifically in use of the Holy Bolter, and most specifically in failure to secure for The Emperor an important objective.

(Demoted to Scout)
Sgt Aras
Marine Fortuis
Marine Morkex
Marine Spendix
Marine Xexus

+++++++++++++
Summary:
Let it be written that the path of this war has been made more treacherous owing to the foul failure of this Librarian. For three battles Hence, a psyker will not lead our forces.

+++++++++++++

For the Emperor.

+++++++++++++

Marneus Augustus Calgar and the 4th Chapter

Edd Quick is playing the part of Ultramarines and will shortly add something here about himself and his love of the Ultramarines....

Marneus Calgar and the response to the second war for Black Reach.

Marneus Calgar had garrisoned and used Black Reach as a planet to garrison part of his Reserve 8th Company on. Despite over a hundred years passing, Black Reach still has pockets of Orks that have yet to be totally destroyed due to the parasitic nature of the Orks.

Black Reach had considerable defences since the first war, and had a garrison of approximately 5 million Imperial Guard with their support vehicles.

Despite the limited 8th company and the Imperial Guard forces, the Green tide could not be stopped.

Upon hearing the news Calgar, knowing Black Reach was a key defensive system that needed to be kept secure in order to keep Macragge safe, lead his 4th company to rescue the system.