The Third Wave

Chapter 3



Despite suffering severe casualties, the Imperial investiture of Jegara began to solidify. The Warp instability that had caused so much damage to the initial wave had all but dissipated, and both Imperial Guard and Navy units were at last able to concentrate and fight from a position of strength rather than hurl themselves desperately into the fray. Imperial efforts were further aided by internecine fighting between the various Xenos forces.



Reaper Squadron Epsilon's heroic stand against the Daemons and Necrons infesting the central city at last paid off, as the Xenos attacks against its lines finally faltered. Although it had suffered heavy losses, the valiant Guard formation had held its lines long enough for reinforcements to arrive and relieve them, most a full Great Company of Space Wolves whose Strike Cruiser had been delayed in the Warp.



More good news was to be had on the opposite flank. Having learned from their prior haste, the Crimson Templar and the Guard units under their command stopped a combined Ork and Tau force in its tracks, gaining critical time and space to plan their next move. One aspect of the battle was worrying, however. Prior to the commencement of operations, there appears to have been a substantial firefight between the Crimson Templar and members of the Dark Angels. The reason for this intra-Imperial violence remains unclear, but it was brought to an end only when High Marshal Thograr bested the Dark Angel commander, Sammael, in personal combat.



In another stroke of luck for the Imperium's cause, the Aile'fin Eldar's attempt to cordon off a daemonically infested hab block from their route to the Palace of Peace went disastrously wrong in the face of a Slaaneshi counterattack. Eldar prescience proved no match for daemonic illusion; only the presence of Farseer Mua'din prevented the Eldar force from being completely enthralled and destroyed by their Great Enemy.



In the coming days, Imperial commanders would be able to bring ever greater amounts of troops and material to bear...



Kill! Them! ALL!

- closing words of High Marshal Thograr's pre-battle address to the Crimson Templar and their Guard auxiliaries



Presence of a Fallen within the Crimson Templar confirmed. Identity still unknown.

-intercepted Dark Angel squad transmission



Run away, little Eldar. Let your soul season a while longer before offering it up to Me. Your underlings can keep us company in the meantime.

- Pasiphae, to Farseer Mua'din

Second Shots

As the battle for Jegara entered its second phase, the conflict became even more desperate. A battered Imperial fleet was finally able concentrate around Ogrys V and use the wreckage of its space facilities as a staging point, but with fighting confined to such a small area, it could provide little fire support. Aerial cover was also limited, as Xenos forces on the ground still maintained significant AA and intercept capability. Even more worryingly, Eldar, Necron, and Orkish vessels still patrolled the outer system, and kept up a relentless series of harassing attacks and blockade runs to support their own ground forces. Reports of a "ghost ship" tentatively identified as a decommissioned Grand Cruiser, as well as an abnormally high and unexplained loss of picket forces, indicate that a Daemon possessed Chaos vessel may also have been present. This is the most likely explanation for the attack on the Salamander Strike Cruiser Breath of Agni, which was left crippled and drifting on the edges of the system after it was forced from the Warp and fired upon by a ship that then vanished. The only unvarnished good news for the Imperium was the unheralded arrival of a Battle Company of Dark Angels, whose Strike Cruiser arrived just in time to repel an Eldar blockade run.



On the ground, the situation threatened to spiral completely out of control for all sides. Reinforced by the arrival of the rest of the fleet, Reaper Squadron began to severely harass the Tau supply lines. Squadron records are silent on the matter, but tactical analysis indicates that this action was to have been made in concert with the Swiftwind Eldar, who were intercepted prior to their engagement by a Dark Angels vanguard force. Reaper Squadron's efforts against the Tau might have been successful despite the failure of their allies, if not for the last minute diversion of forces in a futile defensive action against a surprise Daemon attack. Little was accomplished by any of the dueling forces, as their plans were laid waste by bad luck. Even the Orks were not immune, suffering severe damage to a newly constructed Stompa in the process of repelling a Daemon raid. A subsequent successful raid into Necron held territory for extra shooty gubbinz was also rendered pointless when the Orkish survivors had to stop their looting and fight a localized civil war to determine the new Warboss.



Zog this - they ain't getting back up no more! Where's the fun in that?

Nob Spinebreaka, last surviving Ard Boy, surveying Necron wreckage.



They are here. The others will not bar our way.

- transmission from Dark Angels ground forces to the Strike Cruiser Lion's Jaws



All units advance! This is still Imperial Ground, and we are the Emperor's Hammer! Show no mercy!

- Captain Ijarna, Reaper Squadron Epsilon, open transmission just prior to an assault on Tau lines



The forces of the Great Enemy still surround the Spear, but they cannot unlock its power. Still, their hold on this world is strong, and they have made common cause with our oldest foes. Our situation is grave, but not all the pieces are yet on the board...

-transmission intercepted by Strike Cruiser Breath of Agni, presumable to Eldar vessels in the outer system.

The Tervigon...

So there seems to be a lot of angst hitting the blogosphere now that everyone's had a chance to look at the new Tervigon kit and realize just how big it is and how hard it will be to layer cover around it. Whatever one thinks about the actual kit, from a competitive play perspective, this is another kick in the teeth to a codex that has already taken too many.

It's time to let it go, people. Layering cover was always imprecise at best, and most of us have seen the limits of that style of army in any event. Tyranid armies have gotten ever more gimmicky and contorted trying to keep up with later releases, and while losing one of those gimmicks hurts, it wasn't going to save us anyway. Yes it hurts, but this doesn't really change the playing field we had to work with.

And finally, while I get that everyone put a lot of time and effort into conversions... did you seriously not think that these wouldn't be on a Trygon sized base considering the profiles relative to our 4 Wound MCs?

The Opening Volley

Chapter 1, cont'd

It remains unclear whether the scattering of the Imperial relief fleet was the result of Daemonic power being brought to bear, Xenos technology, or simple bad luck, but the results were disastrous. Two separate Imperial Guard armies and a Battle Company's worth of Red Templar were the only ground formations able to make planetfall, and only in limited numbers. Dozens of small fleet engagements were being fought throughout the Ogrys system, preventing all but the quick and lucky from reaching the planet. Even more worrying was the absence of vessels from the Salamanders, Dark Angels, and Blood Angels, all of whom had promised support and whose forces were nowhere to be seen.

On the ground, the situation deteriorated further. Imperial landing craft came under sustained attack from Necron AA and aerial forces. Establishing a beachhead was almost impossible until Eldar counterbattery fire silenced the Necron positions. Imperial forces attempted to mass around the partially leveled hive city of Jegara, which held the Invaders' ironically named Fortress Monastery, the "Palace of Peace," at its center, but were unable to secure the shattered metropolis. On one flank an uneasy coalition of Tau and Orks were alternately looting and fortifying positions, while the city center was overrun by Daemons and soulless Necron war machines.

Here the Imperium made its first mistake. An advance force of Red Templar chose to stand its ground in the face of a Necron scouting attack rather than support the struggling Imperial Guard landing zone near their position. The Marines fought bravely, but were cut down. Meanwhile, their Guard allies were attacked by Orkish marauders and suffered heavy losses before they were able to disengage under cover or rapidly set-up artillery positions. The second Guard contingent, Reaper Squadron Epsilon, found themselves in a strange situation; cut off from their allies, they brokered an uneasy truce with Eldar ground forces near their drop site. The Eldar began clearing a path through the center of the city, only to be stymied by a Tau Cadre. The Guard, still distrustful of their new "allies" sought to fortify positions and gather supplies from the ruins. This proved more dangerous than anticipated; numerous packs of roving Daemons were reported, and one recon column was completely destroyed.

Although the Imperium now had a presence on the ravaged planet, it was a tenuous one at best...


Gun batteries overrun. Second Orkish assault wave imminent. We can hold them here, but not for long. Wait 90 seconds, then fire on my coordinates!

- last transmission of 2nd Lt. Walther Kruptman, 261st Death Corps of Krieg, on special assignment to Ogrys System Relief Task Force

All too easy.
-Graffiti carved into the armor of the Emperor's Champion of the Red Templars upon its recovery two days after the 5th Crusade Column's annihilation. 

Their grav tanks were fast and nimble, even more so than our own Hammerheads and Devilfish. Not fast or nimble enough to dodge a rail shot, though. Now if only we knew why they were here...

-Commander Flamereach, in the aftermath of his first inconclusive battle with Eldar.

."Shhh... I won't hurt you." It kept saying that over and over again.When it ripped open our Chimera. When it tore Jenk's face off. When it melted Farley and Kriven. When it speared Orlov... "Shhh... I won't hurt you..."

-from the after action report of Sgt. Arenas, Squad Bravo, one of only four survivors of Reconnaissance Column 5.

They are coming...

A new campaign and a new planet, as Four Horsemen Comics and Games hosts the Second Battle of Ogrys V... 


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Imperial Historia Strategicus

Security Level: Omega Gold

Date: 896.M41

Location: Ultima Segmentum, Dynathi Sector, Torrelli Sub-Sector, Ogrys System, Ogrys V

Author: Inquisitor Sevren Fordring, with eyewitness supplements

Subject: 2nd Battle for Ogrys V

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Chapter 1

The rubble on Ogrys V had scarcely cooled before the Imperium was presented with a second difficulty to overcome. As discussed in the previous chapter, the 1st Battle of Ogrys V ended disastrously for the Imperium when the Eldar Craftworld Alaitoc launched a surprise attack on the planet and proceeded to systematically devastate it and its defenders. Presumably this was in retaliation for the Idharae Massacre, carried out in 852.M41 by the Invaders Chapter of Space Marines, in which the Invaders utterly destroyed the Idharae Craftworld. Still understrength from the severe losses incurred in this action and with most of their Battle Companies deployed far from Ogrys V, the Invaders were forced to abandon their Chapter Planet along with most of their equipment, gene seed, and relics.

This presented the Imperium with a grave problem. For whatever reason, Craftworld Alaitoc conducted limited ground operations in its attack, deploying troops only to trap and slaughter groups of Invaders on the planet's surface. Orbital bombardment sufficed for other centers of opposition. Although civilian casualties were estimated at 2 out of 5 billion, much of the planet's infrastructure was left intact. Abandoning the planet was deemed unacceptable; putting aside the remaining 3 billion Imperial citizens, as a Chapter Planet, Ogrys V possessed vast stocks of weaponry and war material, as well as the Forge facilities to produce more. Even more worrying were the contents of the Fortress Monastery vaults: in their thousands of years of battle, the Invaders had claimed numerous Xenos and Chaos artifiacts as trophies of victory, and as a Marine Chapter relatively free from the constraints of the Inquisition, had collected much forbidden lore in its Librarium. Leaving the planet undefended would have been an invitation to disaster and heresy across the entire sector.

Unfortunately it took the Imperium nearly a year to cobble together a force sufficient to contain and defend Ogrys V. Even then all might have been well, had not the Imperial defenses of nearby St. Feorla's World buckled under a combined force of Xenos and Chaos attackers. Seeing easy prey in the ruins of Ogrys V, these warbands left that ravaged planet and arrived just in time to meet the relief fleet as it exited the Warp. The disjointed fleet actions and planetary landings set the tone for the rest of the campaign...

-Testimony of Lieutenant Rostov, helmsman of the Galleon class troop transport Faithful Traveler

I was on the bridge when we exited the Warp about an AU out from Ogrys V. We were out of formation, nearly half an AU behind the rest of our squadron, due to an unexpected Warp eddy about an hour before transitioning back to realspace. That's probably the only reason we survived. As I was putting in a heading for geostationary orbit, our sensors picked up weapon discharges near the rest of the squadron; the explosions registered on our screens a few seconds later. The entire squadron was blown apart, destroyer screen and all, before they could even raise their void shields. We only got a brief glimpse of the vessel that did it, a battleship-sized bronze crescent that had no match in our records. We thought we were dead for sure... but then we picked up three Eldar ships on an intercept course for whatever that thing was, and it started moving away from us. Captain Doenetz ordered me to start an evasive pattern and tried to hail the rest of the fleet; it was then that we realized it was like this all over. The entire fleet had come out of the Warp in small clusters across the system, and were fighting running battles against at least five separate forces. At that point, I thought the situation couldn't possibly get any worse. I was wrong...