Campaign for Tavian I: Beachhead, the Push Inland, and the Turning Point

 More coverage of the Tavian Campaign I ran back in January. Credits again to my buddy from Across The Pond for a being a great opponent. Hint: the war wasn't going well for the Imperial Guard.

            Beachhead

3-- Mission: Storm The Lines (Vigilus Defiant, pg134),

     Wrinkle: Battlezone: Artillery Suppression (Vigilus Defiant, pg164)

     Stance: Imperium defends, Chaos attacks

     Reward: the victor receives +50pts to use in the next mission

            Despite horrific casualties, Guard artillery batteries fallback to their alternate positions and continue to pound the assaulting heretics. Hakanor’s Reavers, identifying a set of holy shrines central to the Imperial defense, launch an all-out attack.

            The elite of the Warmaster slam into the Imperial lines like a sledgehammer. Despite fierce fighting, the Imperial lines buckle and give way. Valkyrie transports fly round the clock to deliver Guard forces from the long-reaching impis of Chaos Space Marines. Behind the lines, Raptor squads butcher artillery crews at their guns... The Chaos invasion force has their beachhead.

            The Push Inland

4-- Mission:  Grand Assault (Chapter Approved 2018, pg41)

     Wrinkle: Battlezone: Mortwald (Vigilus Defiant, pg165)

     Stance: Imperium defends, Chaos attacks

     Reward: the victor receives +D3 CP in the next mission

            The Fall of the Gravenfell Scarp- the massed divisions of the Tavian PDF are annihilated in a pitched battle. The few survivors shelter behind a thin line of black-armored drop troopers while the pursuing Chaos forces attempt to storm the Imperial barricades.

            Across the Scarp, Guard defenses fight to the last... And are overrun and wiped out. Only the 745^th Storm Troopers produce any signal successes, holding a sandbag bunker against the screaming hordes of the Black Legion’s cultists until forced to evacuate by the oncoming Chaos Space Marine battalions. 

 

             Turning Point

5-- Mission: Deadlock (BRB)

     Wrinkle: Battlezone: Field Of Nightmares (Vigilus Ablaze pg151)

     Reward: the victor is now on the attack for the remainder of the Tavian Campaign

            The scattered Imperial forces retreating from the Gravenfell Scarp rallied, and attempted to lead a counterstrike. Six battalions of Tavian PDF, three-hundred Templar knights, and a full company of Drop Troops assaulted the Chaos right flank. The slaughter was complete: a bare handful of Storm Troopers survived to escape through the steaming jungle, pursued across the sands by Chaos bike squads and a tidal wave of heretics, carrying the news that Abaddon the Despoiler walks the surface of Tavian Prime. 

Chalking these up, one win and two losses for the Guard. An absolute blast, but again: light on the pictures. I think this was the day we went axe-throwing. An incredibly fun time; I can't recommend it enough. There's something very cathartic about hurling a sharp piece of metal and hearing a meaty "thunk" of the blade hitting home. What was scary was my Scottish mate hurling his first ever axe and burying it in the bullseye. Skills can be passed down genetically. Got it.

-Six out.