Dog Fight on Norvich II.
Lord Shamplain led a 600 strong detachment of the 17th Heavy Tactical Support Brigade in fighting to try and dislodge Chaos forces attempting to seize the Norvich system. He led five gauss equipped immortals and his second, a cryptek, commanded a tesla armed immortal squad of similar size.
He held a key objective in the centre with his squad whilst the rest of his troops flanked out on the left. His Cryptek’s squad was supported by a tomb spyder on the extreme left with a detachment of scarabs and more centrally there were three wraiths and the Annihilation Barge NNV Steel Pulse.
The chaos force was sheltering behind an aegis defence line with a laser cannon battery towering in the centre. Large numbers of cultists held the objective that we had earlier managed to sabotage with some top cryptek chicanery. A unit of plague marines held their right flank occupying a small shed, apart from that the enemy resources seemed quite scant and all but Shamplain’s squad advanced.
There was an early setback for our spyder, wounded birthing the first of its scarabs but we advanced rapidly the large enemy cultist unit taking casualties from the exploding objective which they moved away from to engage our advance. Meanwhile the enemy laser cannon engaged the Steel Pulse, knocking out its Tesla destructor. The enemy chose to remain quite static early doors despite our clear focus on their right.
Our wraiths now assaulted the plague marines, already depleted by a particle beamer hit from the spyder and the scarabs moved up to follow in. Our assaults were hampered by enemy grenades but the contest was to prove well matched. One wraith fell early but then an enemy helldrake appeared, flashing over the tomb spyder destroying it in an unsporting vector strike; first blood to chaos.
The enemy leader began using psychic powers against our wraiths and scarabs, hampering their efforts as they got into assault, meanwhile our forward immortals eliminated a few cultists before they joined the melee on the enemy right flank where the two squads were entangled in our whip coils.
The Steel Pulse knocked out the laser cannon which had been poor for the enemy and Shamplain’s squad attacked the helldrake but without skyfire failed to score any damage. The entire squad was then obliterated by the flaming reply. Fortunately Shamplain recovered but he was unable to play any further part given his position a long way from the action.
With the melee continuing, both sides were taking losses and our scarabs were destroyed plus a wraith, however, the cultists eventually broke and fled, leaving two plague marines and our last wraith engaged. Our wraith also managed to avoid a final psychic attack.
The Steel Pulse continued firing on the enemy leader but could not break through his psychic enhancements. The Cryptek and immortals were then destroyed by the helldrake as it wheeled back from its attack on our deployment zone but the Steel Pulse’s damaged shields held. The battle ended with no objectives controlled by either side, the enemy had lost two of five units and 60% of a third.
We had lost three of six units committed with losses of around 80% on two more and damage to the Steel Pulse though it was operational again within hours. Enemy losses were estimated at two thirds with two powerful units intact. Our surviving strength was 170, a casualty rate of over 70%. Our position gave us linebreaker, but the enemy had taken first blood when their helldrake eventually arrived from reserve, a draw then.
16.3.13
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