The War Of Nightmares part 1 - Vigilus Wastelands

Points: 1000.

Mission: Reconnaissance Mission.

Secondary Objectives: No Prisoners, Psychic Interrogation and Shock Tactics.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Despoil Dominions, Engage On All Fronts and No Prisoners.

With Abaddon finally taking to the battle field, the Imperial forces swiftly mobilized to halt his attacks. The various space marine chapters available split into three detachments under the command of Marneus Calgar. The Rift Wardens, under Arthurus, crossed the wastelands to the Halos Redoubt. In the wastelands, things started to go wrong. Sandstorms swept up across the deserts and the various chapters became separated and many vehicles became bogged down in the sand.

The Rift Wardens reached their position before dawn. After consolidating their position, the chapter pushed forward to engage the lead Black Legion vanguard. It was reported back to Calgar that surprise had been achieved. However, despite achieving surprise, Arthurus ordered his chapter to wait until other chapters were position before launching a full assault. He even ordered his stormtalons to fall back and await the order.

By the time Arthurus allowed the attack to continue, all hope of surprise was lost. As his tanks began their preparatory assault, Arthurus ordered his forces to attack the Black Legion along the left flank, although these were  now fully alert to the Imperial positions and manning a series of makeshift defences. By the time the main battle had started, over eight chapters had entered the engagement at this time.

Despite their missed opportunities, the fresh reinforcements, and entrenched Black Legions, by late in the day, the Rift Wardens were on the verge of a breakthrough. The chapter captured two lines of trenches but with no reinforcements to exploit this success they could do nothing but hold their gains. The Black Legion forces counter-attacked led by Abaddon himself, forcing the Rift Wardens to fall back in the evening. 

By the end of the first day the chapter had sustained a great number of casualties. The Rift Wardens were forced to fall back to a rendezvous position several miles back. 

Void War - The Core

Points: 1000.

Mission: Display Of Spiritual Might.

Secondary Objectives: Bring It Down, Oaths Of Moment and Warp Ritual.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Lay Claim, No Prisoners and Retrieve Battlefield Data..

A week after the Rift Wardens first attacked the Leagues asteroid defenses they finally reached their initial objectives. The Leagues heavy weapons were still very operational and inflicted many casualties among the advancing space marines. Any tanks and incoming aircraft were subjected to continued artillery fire from the League forces, which left the Rift Wardens to bolster around their recent gains. The Rift Wardens' attacks changed from large operations on broad fronts, to narrow focused attacks with more limited objectives.

The Rift Wardens did succeed in capturing a single forward fire base from the Leagues. After a bombardment from the fleet, the chapter attacked another two fire bases and these too fell to the Imperial forces. Arthurus ordered a pause in the attack, to consolidate the captured ground and await a further bombardment from the fleet. Two days later, the Rift Wardens attacked the next fortress line of the enemy but were met by mass artillery fire from the League land crawlers, which effectively ended the space marine advance.

Wrath of the Aeldari - Kaelac's Bane

Points: 3000.

Mission: Field of Glory.

Secondary Objectives: Bring It Down, No Prisoners and Shock Tactics.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: No Prisoners, Raise The Banners High and Scry Futures.

Before the latest offensive, Arthurus had expected the Iyanden artillery tanks would be suppressed by counter-battery fire but this failed. The chapter master of the Rift Wardens set up specialist artillery forces to counter the prism cannons arrayed against them. This failed due to swiftly mounting space marine casualties. Arthurus' captains requested more units to contain the enemy arriving from the webway but Arthurus refused, because those forces were needed elsewhere across Vigilus. A pause in the Rift Warden attack led to the Aeldari receiving more and more wraithguard reinforcements.

The forces of Iyanden marched forward into the Rift Warden lines, led by wraithguard and supported by a powerful wraithknight. The space marines present put up a heroic defence and although they did inflict many casualties and destroyed a number of wraith units, they were unable to halt the Aeldari advance out of the icy wastes into the deserts of Vigilus. Arthurus ordered his battle brothers back and communicated to the Imperial command that Kaelac's Bane was most assuridly lost to the Imperium at this time.

Real Space Raiders - Vigilus Wastelands

Points: 2000.

Mission: Death And Zeal.

Secondary Objectives: Codex Warfare, No Prisoners and Warp Ritual.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Assassination, Engage On All Fronts and No Prisoners.

Drukhari raiders began to pour out of the icy wastes of Kaelec's Bane, assaulting the various combatant's across Vigilus. When they descended upon a patrol of Rift Wardens battle quickly ensued.

The Rift Wardens reacted quickly and charged into the oncoming Drukhari, gaining some little ground. Recent sandstorms and the arrival of further Drukhari reinforcements made the situation very difficult for the space marines. The Rift Wardens were lacking any heavy weapons and their ability to handle the raiders and aircraft was severely lacking. Almost immediately the space marines took unexpectedly high losses.

For two days the enemy launched lighting fast attacks upon the space marines, seizing as many as they could and fading back into the desert. The chapter fought a running battle as they sought to reach Imperial lines before being picked off by the alien slavers. When they reached range of the hive city defences, the Drukhari peeled off and vanished back into the desert. Many space marines had been lost to injury or capture.

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.

Wrath of Be'lakor - Vigilus Wastelands

Points: 2000.

Mission: Death And Zeal.

Secondary Objectives: Abhor The Witch, No Prisoners and Shock Tactics.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: No Prisoners, Psychic Interrogation and Raise The Banners High.

The daemonic assault began in the early hours with a surprise bombardment as soul grinders materialised from the Warp. However, this bombardment largely fell short of it's target or failed to inflict many casualties as the Rift Wardens were heavily entrenched awaiting an oncoming Black Legion attack. The failed bombardment alerted the Rift Wardens to the coming attack withut disrupting their ability to oppose it. Shortly their after, Be'lakor and his legions manifested from the Warp and attacked.

Arthurus deployed his forces with a number of veterans in gravis armour, holding the left and right flanks. They deployed in a lose skirmish formation. One flank succeed in smashing into the daemon lines but were stopped and then forced to withdraw after suffering casualties from the daemon prince himself, As they fell back to their lines, they were outflanked and attacked by more daemons bursting forth into reality. With their flanks collapsing, Arthurus ordered a fighting withdrawl although they were hounded all the way back to the main Imperial lines.

Battle of KastleHall - Antares

Points: 2000.

Mission: Conversion.

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

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Behind Enemy Lines, Grind Them Down and Raise The Banners High.

The battle of KastleHall was the besieging of the Rift Wardens garrison at a small fortress south of the immense Antares Majoris hive sprawl. Over 600 of the space marines were garrisoned there. When the Custodes attacked in force with knightly allies they managed to breach the walls with ease and laid waste to many battle brothers. In the records of the Rift Wardens it goes down as the worst defeat of the chapter to date. 

Strangely, at the behest of the Emissaries Imperatus, all captured Rift Wardens were returned to the chapter unharmed but bearing the message that this world was no longer theirs. Arthurus railed at this warning understanding where it had come from but his drive and ego prevented him from accepting those worlds. The fighting continued.

Battle of Promethium Refinery 426 - Hesperous Prime

Points: 1000.

Mission: Surge Of Faith.

Secondary Objectives: Oaths Of Moment, Raise The Banners High and Shock Tactics.

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

The battle of Promethium Refinery 426 was a small engagement fought by between the Rift Wardens and the Dark Angels. The Rift Warden force was made up mainly of intercessors, aggressors and dreadnoughts. They had had some success against the Dark Angels in earlier engagements which was why they were dispatched to capture the refinery. The Dark Angels force was primarily Deathwing led by Azrael himself.

The primary reason for this battle was to capture the refinery as both chapters needed promethium to fuel their tanks. The Rift Wardens got their first and bolstered the defences around the site. They then fought off a series of small Dark Angel patrols. Eventually after a string of losses, the Deathwing were deployed by teleport assault into the Rift Warden defences, where after a brief firefight, the Dark Angels seized control of the refinery.

Battle of Desolation Valley - Talos

Power Level: 1000.

Mission: Rise Of The Machine Spirit.

Secondary Objectives: Bring It Down, Grind Them Down and Shock Tactics.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: No Prisoners, Raise The Banners High and Warp Ritual.

The Tyranids had overrun an Imperial landing zone designated Desolation Valley. The organisms did not initially advance on towards the Imperial lines, instead focusing on feeding upon the dead. When they did finally launch an assault on the Imperial lines with the support of mighty biovores - living artillery pieces. Due to the thick spore fog, the Tyranids were able to surprise the defenders. During the conflict they Tyranids were forced back but they continued to launch multiple assaults. The Rift Wardens were able to hold off the attack by pouring massed bolter fire into the oncoming bio-organisms but ammunition supplies were beginning to run low. By that evening, during a powerful thunderstorm, a final attack was made. Tyranid warriors breached the lines and engaged the Rift Wardens at close quarters. Both sides sustained heavy casualties. Eventually the Imperial losses became too high and they fell back once again.

The Speedwaagh! - Vigilus Wastelands

Points: 1000.

Mission: Ascension.

Secondary Objectives: Bring It Down, No Prisoners and Shock Tactics.

Opponent's Secondary Objectives: Get Da Good Bitz, Psychic Interrogation and Stomp 'Em Good.

Out in the wastelands a force of speed freaks mounted a reconnaissance raid into the lines of the Imperial defenders near to Dontoria Hivesprawl. A Rift Wardens patrol of 400 battle brothers attacked the oncoming buggies and bikes from three different positions. The marines inflicted significant casualties and forced the Orks to retreat slightly. 

The Rift Wardens followed up their ambush and attacked the Orks again. All night long, the Orks fought hard and fast, using their bikes and buggies to great advantage against the footslogging space marines. With speed and ferocity on their side, the tide of battle turned in the greenskins favour. 

The Ork warboss led a counter-attack as the sun rose. The Orks charged as fast as they could, blasting everything in front of them. The speedwaagh split into three points, slamming into the Rift Wardens. The space marines suffered many casualties and were forced to fall back to the Imperial lines with many cut down as they did so. The Orks hit the Imperial lines, punching a hole in the lines. Many stayed to fight the defending Astra Militarum, but more surged forth to reach the good fighting within the city walls.