Fort Imperialis - Talos

Power Level: 60.

Mission: Narrow The Search.

Agendas: Cull The Horde, Kingslayer and Witch Hunter.

Opponent's Agendas: Hunt and Slay, Kingslayer, Reaper and Tyranid Attack.

The Tyranid horde advanced across the surface of Talos slaughtering their way through the Astra Militarum defenders and converging upon the Imperial command and control centre, Fort Imperialis. When the attack came, the horde advanced from the south, smashing through the outer defences. The encircling bio-organisms then surged forward and through the breach the shield wall despite intense artillery and heavy weapons fire. That night, reinforcement came with a company sized detachment of Rift Wardens. The space marines concentrated their fire into the breach, slowing but not halting the Tyranid assault. Observing that the numbers of bio-organisms had faltered, the Rift Wardens took the opportunity to enter the fray and for a short time inflicted heavy casualties. The arrival of larger organisms stopped the space marines from sealing the breach. Forced to pull back, the Rift Wardens were then unable to hold back the growing tide of alien killers. In the early hours, the shield wall had been breached in multiple places. Fort Imperialis had fallen.

Assault the Tomb - Pariah Nexus

Points: 1000.

Mission: Divide and Conquer.

Secondary Objectives: Bring It Down, Lines of Demarcation and Oaths of Moment.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Attrition, Engage On All Fronts and Raise The Banners High.

Ordos Xenos operatives had located a Necron tomb on Zann that could be the command and control centre for the enemy forces. This tomb became a priority target for the Imperial forces present. The Necrons had fortified their tomb with a number of pylon cannons which provided good all round defence. The site was defended by thousands of Necron warriors, destroyers and several aircraft. Aginst this the Astra Militarum attacked with support from the Rift Wardens chapter. The Militarum launched the main offensive with the space marines covering a separate attack sector. Within minutes of the attack launching, Necron refinforcements arrived from deep underground to bolster the already impressive defence.

The Rift Wardens attacked across the plain under heavy fire from the Necron artillery and aircraft. The space marines successfully breached the Necron forward lines but suffered heavy losses as the enemy poured potent gauss weaponry down into their positions with great accuracy. The chapter lost nearly two hundred battle brothers in the assault alone. Despite committing themselves to the offensive, the Rift Wardens failed to break the Necron defence. Further reinforcements arose from the tomb specifically to halt the space marine attack. Eventually the chapter was ordered to disengage from the enemy and send southward to participate in the fighting in support of the Astra Militarum. The Imperial forces then created a strong artillery and tank assault to pummel the enemy and cause significant casualties.

Despite orders to support the Astra Militarum assault, captain Gwaine instead gathered his best battle brothers and pushed forward alone. Over night he led his battle brothers under increased enemy fire, and successfully attacked the tomb complex itself. By morning however, they had failed repeatedly to breach the tomb complex and was forced to retreat alongside the remaining Imperial forces. Strangely, however, the Necrons elected not to pursue the enemy. In three days of fighting, the Imperial forces had lost over half a million guardsmen, vehicles and vital supplies. The Rift Wardens lost 300 brothers - a significant number of casualties. The chapter retreated in disgrace while Arthurus re-evaluated the Rift Wardens usefulness in the current campaign.

Battle of Macragge's Gate - Paragon Secundus

Points: 1500.

Mission: Open War deck.

Enemy reinforcements have arrived in the form of the 3rd company Sons of Orar. While the Ultramarines regrouped and resupplied, their successor chapter took to the field to buy them time. The Rift Wardens under Chapter Master Arthurus engaged them in an attempt to drive them back. The battle took place at the fortress known as Macragge's Gate.

Sons of Orar captain Jaimus made the fortress his first objective for his artillery and to block the Rift Wardens from escaping. On the morning of the battle, the Sons of Orar opened fire with massed heavy weapons while their battle brothers sought to bring down any Rift Wardens marines who appeared in the open. The outer defences were captured quickly and the Sons of Orar had found their opening.

Day two of the battle was shrouded in a thick fog of war from the amount of heavy weapon impacts and crumbling rockcrete dust in the air. The Rift Wardens sought to overwhelm their foe in a sudden close combat assault but the Sons of Orar were prepared and counter-attacked. The fortress fell within three and a half hours.

The Red Gate Opens - Vigilus Wastelands

Points: 1000.

Mission: Ransack.

Secondary Objectives: Engage On All Fronts, Slay The Warlord and Thin Their Ranks.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Engage On All Fronts, Raise The Banners High and Slay The Warlord.

Out in the wastelands a warp gate opened and poured forth an impossible number of Khornate daemons and traitor marines of the World Eaters legion. The Rift Wardens were one space marine chapter dispatched by high command to stem the tide of the Ruinous Powers.

This battle raged for for two days. Preparations for the battle included surrounding the expected arrival point with four regiments of the Armageddon Steel Legion and two space marine chapters - the Rift Wardens and the Salamanders. The regiments were put under joint command, creating a unified front. Artillery pieces followed the advancing units, which played the role of infantry support platforms. Attempts were made to block the enemy communications but this proved ineffective. As the enemy poured forth onto the ashen wastes of Vigilus, the makeshift fortifications were overrun and captured, with swaths of territory falling into the hands of the World Eaters. By the early hours of the second day, almost half the Imperial regiments had been slaughtered. Morale was at a critical level.

The Rift Wardens and Salamanders were then forced to provide a rear guard defence as the Imperial lines crumbled and fell back in tatters. Nothing could now stop the armies of the Blood God from spreading across the surface of Vigilus.