The Prison for Gods! - Their finest hour!

The planet was bleak and dead yet simultaneously alive with an electric hum. Hairs stood on end, an oppressive, headache inducing static filled the air. This would be the day of days. The vast forces in the sector converging upon the final battlefield. The portal to unfathomable energies awaited. 

The Necrons, there to collect what is rightfully theirs. The Slaaneshi Dark Eldar there to pillage the treasures within. The Eldar there to deny their ancient enemy yet another weapon against the living. The two imperial guard forces there for personal glory and the simple joy of vanquishing the enemy on battlefield. The Black Scorpions? Their fortunes had been guided by the Emperor himself. Victory on all fronts. Cylander Azeron himself would see to it that this day would be like the rest. Only victory would suffice! The Necrons had reneged on their promise of warp-stabilising techonology, they had used the Scorpions as a battering ram to their own ends. Azeron knew that the Necrons couldn't be allowed to open the gate...He gathered his finest warriors and made for the Dark Pyramid.


So, the epic conclusion to a 7 month campaign had finally come. The Duat, the prison for gods, a Necrons repository for arcane weapons, devices and most scarily of all, imprisoned c'tan. We were all allowed to choose a role, Duty or Destruction or Personal Glory. 

I chose duty!. The necrons and dark eldar had betrayed me in the campaign and it was time for payback. Also, no self-respected space marine would allow the Necrons to gain access to ancient tech. 

The battle itself was crazy. A chaotic affair that was fun and frustrating. Baneblades, Keepers of Secrets and all manner of horrors were present. The highlights were:

An imperial guard player, the notorious thomas' (krieg) shadowsword blew up the power conduit causing the planet to implode. Each turn every unit would take a stg10 ap2 hit.

The Keeper of Secrets being the first to enter the Portal, It gained all sorts of crazy powers. Before it could return from the Necron netherworld, A brave space marine entered the portal. If I could roll 8+ on a 2d6 I could collapse the portal and seal off the Duat! I rolled 10. Brother Cyrus shall forever be remembered as the Hero of Solemnum. The bell tolls for this great hero.

The result? The Black Scorpions sealed off the gate, whilst the imperials blew up the planet. The cost was high, All that remained in my force was Azeron (dante) a sanguinary priest and a single Sanguinary Guard on top of the pyramid.


Campaignwise, the final victory coupled with having most tiles and most victories means the overall victory goes to the Black Scorpions, although the GM has been eerily silent on this matter :)

VICTORY!!!!

The planet below crumbled and sparked into oblivion. Azeron viewed the destruction from the shaking stormraven. The brave pilot would be commended for the daring rescue. The Necron portal had been sealed and the galaxy was a mite safer than before. Azeron's forces would now withdraw from the sector. Nolan, the forgeworld had largely been stripped of valuables. A vast salvage fleet now heading back to the Helion system, loaded with treasures. The Gospel of Fear, the Hulk was stabilised and also enroute. A prize for the ages! Millions of imperial citizens had welcomed the Scorpions as saviours and would follow them back. Soldiers for the coming battles.

Azeron was proud. His forces had fought well and accomplished much. The coming years would be a test and they had acquired another vast sum of valuables for the coming dark days. Would it be enough? 

Azeron's thoughts turned to Brother Cyrus. He had entered the portal, chasing after that foul she-daemon. His bravery and sacrifice would ring out through the ages, a feat to be remembered. What came of him thought Azeron. The Necron netherworld would not follow the laws of physics. Could he have survived? Was he locked in an eternal battle with that beast? Would he emerge again? 

His thoughts were interrupted by the comms crackling into life. It was Legion Master Kaine. Azeron and his forces were ordered to return to Helion immediately. The Scorpions entry in the Faustian conflict and their actions have had dire consequences. Puritanical Imperials were beginning their petitions against the Legion. 7 Chapter masters would preside over the Faustain Trial...Azeron was confident their innocence would be proven. The charges levelled against the legion were farcical and foolish. If they were found guilty? He pitied the forces that dare move against the Black Scorpions.

The Forest of Blood - Prison for Gods - Space Marines vs Tyranids

The forest was once loud with noise. Creatures of all kinds calling and whining. Little things skittering and darting to and fro. It was silent now. Nothing moved. Even the plants seemed to be still. The dreaded Tyranids had moved into the dark forest in the southern reaches of Nest. All life was petrified with fear and had run. The Scorpions moved into the dank, damp woods, a whole battle company, surged in. The Tyranids presence was the gravest of threats and would be dealth with soon enough.

 Black Scorpions vs Tyranids. 2000pts. Maelstrom

The Dreaded Eivind brought along a flyrant, an endless swarm and a trygon prime, tyrannofex, mawloc and the deathleaper. An extra lictor was there along with a tyranid drop pod thingy.

The Scorpions engaged with a full battle company in the form of a Gladius Strike force. Scouts would be the auxiliary force.

The Scorpions won the roll off and went first. Deploying spread out and ready to move. 

Turn 1

The Scorpions had little to shoot at except the horde of repeating gaunts. Opening fire took down a lone lictor for First Blood. Two Dreadnought pods came down and roasted some gaunts. I also scored Obj 2.

The tyranids surged forward. They took pot shots here and there and succeed in destroying a landspeeder Storm. A few hull points were removed off a rhino. They had popped smoke so survived the most of the shooting. Eivind scored Ascendency & Obj 6

Score: 2 - 2

Turn 2

Turn 2 was where things would get nasty. I declared tactical doctrine and emptied 3 rhinos. Grav bikes rushed on from reserve. The flying hive tyrant was in my midst. It needed to be dealt with.

Trooper Gerius held fast. The flying monstrosity was shreeking and howling. His orders came through clear and precises. Aim skyward! As one 30 marines let loose. The razor backs and nearby bastion also opened up. The mighty beast flew through a razor storm of fire. Several hits were scored as putrid ichor rained down upon the marines. A heavy bolter shot clipped its wing joint and it floundered! It tried to right itself but flapped helplessly and careened toward the ground. With a mighty thump the ruined beast skewerred itself on a rocky outcropping....dead!

The beast had been slain. A ton of fire managed to take 3 wounds off it and Eivind failed its grounding test. It slammed into the ground and died dead! Slay the Warlord & Assasinate & Big Game Hunter. I also scored objective 1

The beast was dead! It was basically in open space between the rhinos

The two dreads had been swamped by gaunts for 2 turns now.

The Tyranids were far from done. All their reserves came in. Rippers and beasts and flying gaunts and all sorts. A rhino was wrecked. about 10 marines from various squads were taken down. Some more scouts were killed too. A squad of Gargoyles wiped out my 5 man assault squad. I failed 5 out of 7 armour saves :-( As most units had come from reserve few were able to charge. A squad of gaunts charged the Captains squad near the Eldar wreck. They fended them off taking 2 casualties but causing 4.

 The Death Leaper engaged a devastator squad and killed two marines. Eivinds scored Hold the Line

Score: 3-6

Turn 3

Turn three is when the pain began. The grav drop pod came in next to the tyrannofex. The vast black horde of marines moved out tactically, each ready to engage their targets.

The lines opened up. A cacaphony of bolters and sheer silly amounts of dice rolls! At the end, the Tyrannofex died. It's final wound a shot from the Imperial Space Marine, wielding a disintegrator gun! The mighty creature turned grey and the crumbled into dust. The Mawloc also died a death with grav bikers and guns stripping off wounds. In close combat the death leaper killed the last marine. The dreads squashed more gaunts and things started to look grim as I scored Purity through bloodshed D3 and got 1. I drew King Slayer D3 and got 3.

The Tyranids continued. Another Rhino was wrecked. There wasn't much that wasn't engaged in close combat. A few more marines fell but nothing significant.

Eivind played on, the death leaper leaped in and slew the grav bikers with fearsome strength. He scored Objective 4 and 2 and linebreaker as we decided to call the game. The Tyranids has a few creatures left but nothing that could really score any points reliably and there were simply too many marines left to handle.

Final Score: 5-10  Victory to the Black Scorpions!

Conclusion

A great game. Eivind was plagued with terrible rolling. He rolled exceptionally well when shooting and striking with gaunts and gargoyles and rippers. The effect was mitigated well by power armour and feel no pain but he was killing marines here and there. When the dice rolls REALLY mattered, like rolling for recycling endless swarm units or grounding tests or 3+ hive tyrant saves or Warp lance shots... he rolled 1's and 2's. 

Eivind was a little surprised at the Black Horde (gladius) list. It's a nasty list because there's just so much stuff to take on. Being outnumbered against space marines is just wrong :-)

Thanks to him for a good game and we agreed a rematch is in order. As for the campaign, the Warlord of the Tyranids died, His Shard Key?... I rolled a big fat 1 to see if I found it. My incomptent men failed to search the body of the hive tyrant. Booo...

The forest was littered with filthy beasts and spent bolter shells. Gerius and held his lines and fought well. The victory was crucial, yet another sector of Nest under the control of the Scorpions. The mangled body of the Hive Tyrant lay in front of him. Gerius found himself staring at the corpse. He felt something in the back of his mind, a faint voice, a whisper, something was drawing him closer to the corpse. Something.... otherwordly. He was shaken from his trance by a shout from his sergeant. 'Mount up! We're moving out, there are more of these things and we're attacking sector 56 in two hours. Re-arm and reload! Gerius turned away... something told him he should have examined the body...