Crusade of Vengeance - First Blood! - The Return to Kemlik

Background: The planet, Kemlik was ravaged by war. Only the timely intervention of the Grey Knights prevented it's complete destruction. The planetary governor and his family are slain and the planet lies open for the taking. The survivors of the planet eke out a living from the shattered factories and ruined cities. It seems the Sons of Keraz are not finished with Kemlik yet. Rumours of demagogues and enforcers rounding up simpler minds are rife. Local arbiters are overwhelmed. Chief Judge Hekon has requested aid. It seems Kemlik is in danger of returning to all out war. The Legion will answer! Kemlik will not fall.

The hum of electrical equipment irritated Kaine, he was impatient, sitting on the bridge of a starship did not suit him. He desired combat and war. Answers were needed! He surveyed the holographic map of 84th district. The arbiters in this area had been pushed back to their precinct fortess. What had started as a riot had turned into a battle. 
'Sir' interrupted a crewman, 'We are receiving a vidcom from Chief Hekon'
'On screen' growled Kaine. An injured, dirty man appeared on the screen, his once gleaming gold armour was burnt and marked by las blasts and shrapnel. ' My lord' he panted, 'We are surrounded, they are too strong. Here, I'm sending you images from our pict feed, we need assistance!'
Images flashed across the screen in quick succession, hangings, slaughter, chaos markings on walls, death, mass graves, street fighting, an arbiters head on a spike'
'STOP!' Bellowed Kaine. An image froze on the screen in front of him. Cultists standing around a mass grave, in the background a large figure clad in black and gold armour. A member of the Black Legion! Traitorous scum!  Kaine stood up, his towering form accentuated by the baleful glow of the viewscreen. 'Hold fast Hekon, we are coming!'

1500 point game - Big Guns Never Tire - 5 objectives - Vanguard Strike

The Town - The red circles indicate where the objectives were placed.

The Black Scorpions arrive in Force, rescuing the beleagured Arbites Chief Hekon.

Gorius the Everliving oversees the battle from the roof of the ruins

A diagonal setup saw the Scorpions deploy onto the precinct with predators, land speeders and rhinos. The precinct would not fall and order would be restorted! The Black Legion and Sons of Keraz deployed on some ruins.


The first turn saw the Scorpions moving out, securing 3 objectives already. The Predators in this game would count as scoring due to 'Big guns never tire

The Lord Enforcer takes casualties!

The Scorpions press the attack, Sargeant  Lucius secures the ruins at the top left. taking objective nr 4!

The Rhino near the fountain is blown up, the Rubric marines spill out.

The Tacticals try to take another objective but are beaten back!

Summary: The battle resulted in a victory for the Scorpion Legion. 3 Objectives taken vs 1 for the Sons of Keraz. All in all a relatively strong victory for the Scorpions. The precinct was taken quickly, as were 3 other objectives. The Scorpions managed to hold their objectives whilst pummeling the Traitor lines. This allowed the Scorpions to hold on and start pushing back later in the game.

The 4th objective would see lots of carnage. 3 Spawn, 10 guardsmen, 1 chimera and a banewolf battled agains a tactical squad and a death company with a chaplain. The result? The traitors lost everthing and the Scorpions lost the Death company and 5 tacticals. The tacticals withdrew leaving only the chaplain to contest. As the game drew to a close and night fell, Gorius and his remaining forces withdrew!.

Chief Hekon peered out of the shattered precinct. The broken bodies of the traitors lay strewn about the ruined town. The Predators were still firing away into the darkness. Each blast of the autocannons shook the building, bright streaks of tracer fire leapt from the barrels, lighting up the town in eerie shadows. Hekon stood in awe. He shook with both utter terror and boomin pride. He saw daemons, traitors and those dreaded fallen marines he's heard stories of as a child, Yet he had also stood side by side with the Imperiums greatest warriors. A hulking chaplain strode over to him. Hekon straightened his back, brushed some dirt and grime of his tarnished uniform and saluted the Chaplain proudly. 'My lord! You saved us!'
'You saved yourself Arbiter. Now we must press the attack, where are these warp spawned scum operating from?' 
Hekon marched purposefully back into the precinct with the Chaplain, he would gladly share all he knew about these so called Sons of Keraz!'

Experience gained: A tactical squad lead by a brave sergeant annhiliated  the Lord Enforcer (commissar) and his squad with effective fire and then fended off a squad of bloodletters all whilst moving through ruins. This squad earned the ability to declare themselves 'Relentless' once per game.

The Squad led by Gorius was almost wiped out. Only Gorius and an icon bearer remained. However, 4 full turns of 3 predators firing at them could not remove them from their objective. All in all they shrugged off approximately 40 wounds. I.e Mattias just would not fail his armour saves. This unit earned the ability to declare 'feel no pain' once per game.

The next game will be the Scorpions pressing through the city towards The Sons of Keraz' headquarters.