Last week Jamie went along to the second day of Attrition Gaming’s Heresy Boyfriends event, teaming up with Matt (@hereticalarchitect on Insta) and his awesome Ultramarine tank company. It only seemed right to pair his list with a mechanised Solar Auxila force! It was such a fun event, read on to see the two games went down…
When Decius Hispanus, commander of the Ultramarines 316th armoured company ‘The Wardens of Iax’ sent out a call for aid to nearby loyalist units, Horatio Octavian II of the 1212th Piscaen Cohort answered. He diverted his flagship and the embarked 22nd Assault Group to aid in the defence of Artritia.
Comprising the 22nd Mechanised Battalion along with elements of the 121st Engineers and the 17th Armoured Tercio, the 22nd Assault Group was designated a fast, capable and experienced line force that was more than suitable of independent operations.
Arriving in system, it was clear that Attritia was falling to a traitor assault and Horatio was shocked at reports of both Lorgar and Alpharius in the warzone. What could be so great a prize that two demigods were here?
Operation Righteous Lightning
Liaising on arrival, the loyalist commanders made their plan. Named ‘Operation Righteous Lightning’, Hispanus and Horatio decided to deploy a massive armoured thrust in a wide front across the Terarxian Plain. This force would drive a wedge into the traitor lines and crush the Aurelian Host beneath their armoured tracks before Solar Auxilia infantry deployed to hold ground against the traitor counterattack.
Whilst the loyalist force initially made a lot of ground, they became bogged down after firepower from the Word Bearers land raiders drove the force together and narrowed the front of the assault. The loyalist position was made worse when, seemingly out of nowhere Raven Guard units appeared and opened up with guns and grenades. Whilst the bulk of the legion had remained loyal, these assaulting astartes bore the same signs of corruption as the Word Bearers and we’re therefore declared an enemy.
[Explanatory addenda penned by Corps Logisticae adept-tertius: this force has now been identified as the Ashen Talons, a unit of Terrans assigned to the Word Bearers since the early days of the crusade. Originally thought lost at some point during The Great Crusade, it is clear now that instead they fell down the same dark path as the Word Bearers.]
This assault by an unexpected enemy caused confusion amongst the loyalists, with Captain Hispanus himself being injured by a Raven Guard sniper. This confusion allowed the Word Bearers to get amongst the loyalist force, at which point marines more monster than man disembarked and tore into the Solar Auxilia.
Although the loyalists fought valiantly in the face of such horrors, the arrival of Lorgar on the battlefield proved decisive, with the loyalists unable to penetrate the traitor armour and Lorgar using the power of the warp to massacre the Solar Auxilia infantry.
With Hispanus injured, Horatio took command of the situation and ordered a retreat from the battlefield. Operation Righteous Lightning had failed.
The defence of Bastel
Falling back, the 1212th and the Wardens of Iax attempted to re-group amongst the ruined fortress of Bastel. However as they pulled up, proximity runes flashed and the smell of ozone filled the air. Before the loyalists could do anything, a large forge of Alpha Legion terminators appeared and drop pods thundered down over the horizon.
Although the loyalists reacted quickly to this new threat, they were unable to get the distance required to put their guns to effect nor were they able to knock out any key traitor units. Before they could do anything else, the Alpha Legion and Word Bearers were amongst them.
Huge mutated monsters disembarked and the Solar Auxilia infantry once again faced these horrors in combat. Though they were able to kill a number of them, the auxiliaries were slaughtered to a man.
Meanwhile the Alpha Legion terminators engaged the Ultramarine vehicles and made short work of them with their chainfists.
Captain Hispanus and Horatio Octavian II realised that this position was hopeless and, with 17th Armoured Tercio forming a rearguard, the rest of the loyalists fled to the 1212th landing area. The 17th gave their lives dearly and made enough time for the rest of the loyalists to get off off world. With the limited time, only the Solar Auxilia crews made it, but they made sure to scupper their tanks as they left so they could not be used by the enemy.
Aftermath
Following the retreat, the 22nd Assault Group re-grouped with the rest of the 1212th Piscaen Cohort and the 216th Expeditionary Fleet in the Xyphos sub-sector (which had subsequently become embroiled in massive-scale warfare). Given the massive losses it had suffered (both in terms of men and equipment) the 22nd Assault Group was declared combat ineffective by the Corps Logisticae, and the surviving men re-assigned to other tercios in the 1212th.
The 316th Armoured Company accompanied the Solar Auxilia to Xyphos, intent on using the Forge World of Hephaiston to re-supply. Seeing the dire situation in the sub-sector, they decided against attempting to re-join the legion. Instead they would strike out against the Traitors in Xyphos and secure the region for the Loyalists.
Mutant Snake Eyes 