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.