Tiny Tangle
A minor skirmish in the Seterran zone as a seek and destroy patrol was sent to investigate reports of Tyrannid infiltration. One Triarch Praetorian led two wraiths and 4 immortals.
Operating independently the small group was surprised by infiltrating Tyrannid troops who appeared unexpectedly nearby on the right and assaulted disposing of two immortals at once, barely slowed by the difficult ground.
One of our wraiths and the Praetorian eluded the attack of the gene stealers and countered disposing of a number of the weaker enemy troops. The immortals got off a few shots too before they were caught and destroyed by the large numbers of fell creatures.
The praetorian and wraiths did not last much longer, destroyed after destroying nearly half of the enemy.
Dark Eldar Dashed
A more successful encounter by another skirmishing unit saw a squad of Deathmarks two hundred kilometres west encounter a Dark Eldar scout force. The enemy were well scattered and few in number and our deathmarks, supported by a lone warrior and two canoptek wraiths spread out in a firing line. As in the previous engagement the force strength was 198.
The enemy scattered across a wide front advanced on a broad front taking advantage of natural cover. They didn’t get far: Two were cut down by gauss and sniper fire before they could engage, the two on the right flank were destroyed by our assaulting wraiths.
The lone survivor of the dark Eldar left wounded a wraith with a shot before he too fell. Another fell to our accurate fire on the left and the wraiths arriving finished of the penultimate survivor. The last fled. No losses at all thanks to our policy of keeping the enemy at arms length apart from those lucky enough to meet our wraiths.
After The Appetisers…
The main event of the day saw Tau and Necorn forces cooperating to deny a Tyrannid thrust against a salient in the Dredgon Marshlands. Overlord Pragiah of Trarmus led a squad of Immortals, a squad of warriors and five wraiths. He himself commanded from the Barge NNV Crown Of Wisdom. His strength amounted to 747.
Tau allies fielded a similar sized force but they provided heavy support and battle suits to our troops and fast attack. The immortals deployed first on the left taking the left hand objective, the warriors on the right taking the objective there. The remaining two objectives were in the centre one on the far side of the battle ground the other on our side with the other two.
The Tau deployed their HQ in the centre. Tyrannids began deploying their monstrous creatures in the centre with a squad of troops vomited over intervening terrain by one of them to threaten our warrior squad, led by a cryptek.
Both sides opened fire and the planet did its bit too nearly damaging some enemy units with an unexpected acid geyser. Our warriors wiped out the attack threat in the centre and Tau battlesuits began deep striking freely on the left deep where they engaged the Tyrannid centre with disappointing effect.
Our command barge entered the fray securing the central objective but now strong Tyrannid forces appeared on our right flank and engaged the warriors. The warriors managed to hold out initially which was quite a surprise against the overwhelming power of the gene stealers but Tyrannid deep strikes in their centre were bringing fearsome opposition in and the much vaunted Tau firepower, nearly all of which had successfully appeared, seemed to be doing very little.
The warriors were wiped out meanwhile Tau Battlesuits were fleeing and falling against the monstrous opposition. Our wraiths appeared and destroyed the gene stealers along with Pragiah who had stepped from the wreckage of his barge destroyed by the gene stealers.
Meteor strikes then took our Pragiah and the wraiths had also been weakened and were destroyed trying to contest the right hand objective. Our immortals retreated from psychic attack from their position on the left and contested the central objective suffering extensive casualties from range and eventually hand to tentacle with the brain stealing monster that menace them. Contesting one objective and holding none whilst the enemy held their own and the right meant defeat as the action broke off.
Only three of our immortals escaped, the Tau were more intact though only a few damaged units remained. Our losses amounted to just over 93%. Cooperation with the Tau it seems is no answer to the power of the Tyrannid claw.
23.6.12
Home 