The Battle of Teluu Salt Flats - Vigilus Wastelands

 Points: 3000.

The Battle of Teluu Salt Flats was a minor engagement during the Vigilus crusade, after a marauding war band of World Eaters attacked a Rift Warden garrison on the edge if the aforementioned salt flats. The site has been occupied by the space marines since shortly after their arrival on the planet. Following a series of local Ork raids, the space marine chapter decided to make this a strategic defensive sight.

A World Eater war band attacked the patrolling outriders on the edge of the salt flats, while Kharn the Betrayer led a force directly into the heart of the out post. As these attacks took place, on the far side of the salt flats, the servants of the Blood God deployed two companies to attack Imperial bridgeheads between the hive cities. The space marines were overwhelmed and slaughtered, and because of this defeat, the World Eaters were in a position to attack other Imperial forces unopposed.

First Battle Of Mortwald - Vigilus Wastelands

Points: 2000.

Deployment and Mission: Dawn Of War / Minefields.

Primary Objective: Vital Ground.

Detachment: Anvil Siege Force.

Opponent's Detachment: Berzerker Warband.

The First Battle of Mortwald was fought over three days in the wastelands north of Mortwald Hivesprawl. The battle saw forces of the World Eaters advance to fill a gap in the Chaos lines that had formed north of Mortwald during the Imperial offensive there. This advance towards Mortwald was checked by the Rift Wardens short of the World Eater's objective, a spur of badlands overlooking the hive, and were subsequently counter-attacked by elements of the Rift Wardens led by Captain Lorgraine. These attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties, as the World Eaters blunted the Rift Wardens advance, which stabilized the Chaos lines. 

The fighting then largely moved south as the Imperial forces sought to consolidate their positions around the hive, preventing the traitor forces within the hive from being reinforced by the World Eaters.

Battle of Morvaal District - Mortwald

Points: 2000.

Deployment and Mission: Crucible Of Battle / Chilling Rain.

Primary Objective: Purge The Foe.

Detachment: Gladius Task Force.

Opponents Detachment: Berzerker Warband.

The battle of the Morvaal district was an attack during the defence of Mortwald by the Rift Wardens, where the chapter sought to dislodge a World Eaters force led by Lord Invocatus from the district. The main Rift Warden attack was postponed to combine with attacks by the Cadian 4445th regiment and several small detachments from other space marine forces in the hive.

The attack was to close up the enemy defences between three different sub-districts. The combined attack from the north was also intended to deprive the World Eaters from reinforcements, before the 4445th attacked.

The three targeted sub-districts were captured and many casualties inflicted on the World Eaters. The Cadian 4445th made slow progress however, due to collapsed hab-blocks and ruined structures blocking the streets on their planned route. The Rift Wardens moved north to allow the Cadians more room to deploy their forces but the great quantity of daemonic war engines limited the guardsmens advance. The Rift Wardens under the command of captain Lorgraine advanced deep into enemy territory and left the World Eaters in severe difficulties, particularly when it appeared that Invocatus had been slain.

Blood In The Streets - Mortwald

Points: 2000.

Deployment and Mission: Search And Destroy / Chosen Battlefield.

Primary Objective: Vital Ground.

Detachment:  Gladius Task Force.

Opponents Detachment: Berzerker Warband.

While the Rift Wardens engaged the Knights of House Vextrix to the south of the hivesprawl, the chapter was also forced to content with rampaging warbands of chaos marines. This particular force became a focus for the attention of the World Eaters and their master, Angron. As a critical element in the defence of Mortwald, captain Andred ordered that the streets be held at all costs. Three attempts were made but each was broken up by helbrutes or swept away under an onslaught of chain axes. Despite all attempts, the district was captured by the World Eaters and their activity began to decline for reasons unknown. Desolator squads was used to concentrate heavy missile fire against the approaches where the World Eaters were expected to come from. This bombardment was methodical and relentless. One such highway recieved such a concentration of fire that the Astra Militarum soldiers thereafter named it "Dead Man's Road". The Rift Wardens then brought up tanks and artillery in preparation for another counter-attack. 

When captain Lorgraine arrived, he cancelled the planned counter-attack, choosing to focus on a defensive posture, holding the line against the enemy. Under Angron's lordship, the World Eaters launched numerous attacks. Expecting the loyalists to increase their fire, the World Eaters refused to let up on the punishing assault. The Rift Warden defenders were soon cut down and their skulls raised in honour to the Blood God. Lorgaine and Andred led their survivours out of the district, and sought to regroup with the rest of the chapter.

Operation Judgement: Aftermath - Vigilus Wastelands

 

Points: 1000.

Deployment and Mission: Sweeping Engagement / Chilling Rain.

Primary Objective: Supply Drop.

Detachment:  Gladius Task Force.

Opponents Detachment: Berzerker Warband.

This battle was an operation to secure the Imperial right flank, while the Rift Wardens advanced to capture certain vital positions. After the main battle, the offensive evolved to the capture of fortified outposts, hills and other terrain that offered observation for desolation squads, jumping-off points for more attacks and other tactical advantages. The mutually costly fighting eventually secured the Imperial flank and marked the arrival of terminator squads from orbit. Although the space marines secured the targets and drove the servants of the Blood God back into the wastes, it was costly in terms of lives lost for the space marines.

Operation Judgement - Vigilus Wastelands

Points: 2000.

Mission: Secure Missing Artefacts.

Secondary Objectives: Well Prisoners, Raise The Banners High and Warp Ritual.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Assassination, Pile The Skulls and The Blood God's Due.

Operation Judgement was an Imperial effort to halt the World Eater advance upon the Vigilus hive sprawls. Initially both sides were hampered by vast sand storms which raged across the wastelands, forcing even the servants of the Blood God to hunker down. As soon as the storms died down the Astra Militarum initiated a vast ten hour artillery bombardment upon the advancing enemy marines. The main concentration of fire was on the right flank. Daemon engines returned fire but the World Eaters had suffered severe casualties.  

The bombardment let up as the morning passed into afternoon. This was a ruse to tempt the berzerkers forward into an open kill zone in front of the Imperial lines. Imperial navy aircraft overflew the battlefield and reported the locations of the enemy lines. Guardsmen advanced ahead to cut down the World Eaters with flamers and heavy weapons. Although initially successful the berzerkers soon began to overrun them and continued their advance.

After two days of fighting, the Imperial defenders had moved forward and they captured several vital locations. Two companies of berzerkers which held those locations were defeated thanks to assaults by the Rift Wardens. By this time, the World Eaters had entered into a frenzy and any military cohesion faded. Even so, the enemy forces repulsed several space marine attacks but each effort was defeated by the Imperial forces.

Fighting continued until the Rift Wardens outflanked the World Eaters although they suffered many casualties. Although their attack was blunted, the World Eaters managed to hold onto their gains. Rift Wardens attacks continued for two days and the World Eaters were eventually pushed back into the wastelands. Arthurus arrived from orbit at this time and led his battle brothers forward. He had received orders from Marneus Calgar to ensure that the enemy didn't reach the hive cities to bolster those forces already within the city walls.

After five days the Astra Militarum regiments were ordered to advance from their defences and marched forward as a vast line of bodies. Due to the rough terrain some regiments advanced ahead without support on their flank. The guardsmen rushed the World Eater positions with support of various space marine chapters. The Imperium killed hundreds of the enemy and even outflanked a few of their defences. It was at this point that Kharn the Betrayer entered the fray with a large force of Eight-Bound. Some guardsmen took cover in a ravine only to find their location under friendly artillery fire. Some guardsmen were forced forward into the enemy lines to avoid being accidently killed by their own tanks.

The Rift Wardens marines tried to contact the Militarum artillery commanders to alert them but communications were disrupted. Enemy fire soon stopped as Kharn bellowed a charge and led his forces forward once more. The Imperial forces were brutally slaughtered and forced to fall back, leaving the space marines to blunt the charge. 

After five days of heavy fighting, Operation Judgement had been partially successful but at the great cost of hundreds of thousands of guardsmen lives. A pyrrhic victory at best.

Battle of Karst Plateau - Vigilus Wastelands

 

Points: 2000.

Mission: Tear Down Their Icons.

Secondary Objectives: Bring It Down, No Prisoners and Raise The Banners High..

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Blood For The Blood God, Pile The Skulls and The Blood God's Due.

The Karst Plateau was the site of an exhausting series of hand to hand engagements involving the World Eaters and the Rift Wardens, with severe casualties on both sides. The battle began with the Rift Wardens pouring fire into the oncoming berzerkers but soon devolved into a terrifying melee. The Rift Wardens lost around two thirds of their effective strength and were forced to retreat due to a combination of successive World Eater attacks and the unexpected arrival of Angron from the Warp.

On the following day the World Eaters overran and captured several Astra Militarum fire bases on the outskirts of the plateau. The Rift Wardens briefly recaptured several of these but were unable to repel the number of incoming enemy forces. Elsewhere in the region, the World Eaters were decimating other Imperial fortifications, severely hampering the Imperial efforts as these would have had important strategic value in future battles for the wastelands.

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. 

Battle of Arnmort Gate - Mortwald

Points: 2000.

Mission: Homebrew.

When further elements of Abaddon's forces arrived from the rift and made planetfall, a contingent moved to bolster their traitor brethren at Mortwald. Upon arrival, their warlord divided his forces. One third was assigned to attack the Astra Militarum defences further south, while he himself led the rest to converge on the Rift Wardens postions at Arnmort Gate.

Chapter master Arthurus planned to counter the traitor advance with a series of planned withdrawls, intended to trade some territory for the time needed for reinforcements to arrive to give him a decisive numerical advantage. However, this strategy failed as the reinforcements fell under attack themselves from cultists hidden deep within the labyrinthine streets of Mortwald.

The battle for Arnmort Gate was short but decisive for the traitor marines, who claimed territory freely given but inflicted heavy casualties on the Rift Wardens while doing so.

The Walls Fell - Mortwald

Points: 1250.

Mission: Homebrew.

The Astra Militarum commander assigned to Mortwald followed a strategy of stalling the Chaos advance in a desperate attempt to hold out until reinforcements could arrive. He knew that Mortwald had been all but abandoned by the Imperial command but his devote and faith held out. After six months of fighting off wave after wave of heretic astartes, help finally came in the form of the Rift Wardens chapter. Within days of the space marine reinforcements arriving, Mortwald's trenchworks are besieged by a huge force of World Eaters led by the infamous Kharn the Betrayer. 

The World Eaters attack came in the early hours. Before dawn they had slaughtered their way through the outer trenchworks and were advancing into the Imperial defences. Wave after wave of Raptors assaulted the lines ahead of the main force, exposing holes for the main Berzerker squads to breach with ease/ As the sun rose, the World Eaters smashed through those defences and the Rift Wardens redeployed to stem the advance. 

Kharn's forces took it's position at the head of the assault, crossing the shattered walls into the habitat districts. There they slaughtered guardsmen and civilians alike. By midday the Imperial forces were in full retreat and the World Eaters pursued them, cutting them down and coating the streets red with blood. 

The Rift Wardens were able to halt the advance initially, even inflicting enough injury to Kharn that he was taken out of the fight. However, despite this, the number of World Eaters was too strong to fully stop with out significant help. The loyalist marines fell back, providing a rear guard for the fleeing guardsmen. 

The battle was ultimately a massive defeat for the Imperium. Mortwald was falling to the Chaos hordes and it would appear that there was little that the defenders could do to stop it.