Battle of Fortwall - Dirkden Hivesprawl

Points: 1000.

Mission: Centre Ground.

Secondary Objectives: Assassinate, Engage On All Fronts and Oaths of Moment.

The battle of Fortwell was a major initial battle against the Genestealer Cults in their stronghold of Dirkden Hivesprawl. It took place in the Fortwall district which, if retaken, would allow Imperial forces the opportunity to stage a retake of the hive city. After the Rift Wardens successfully fought through the hybrid defenders, they were able to fortify Fortwall district and weaken the cult forces in the area. The battle was a victory for the Rift Wardens, but with heavy casualties on both sides.

Into the Plague City - Mortwald

 

Points: 1000.

Mission: Anomalous Readings.

Secondary Objectives: Oaths of Moment, Shock Tactics, and Slay The Warlord.

In an attempt to defeat the Death Guard forces currently encamped in the Mortwald hive city, captain Lorgraine lead a company of Rift Wardens into the city and the enemy positions. The Death Guard had the possession of high ground and some artillery. Rather than joining his forces with the surviving planetary defence forces, Lorgraine ordered two thirds of his forces to accompany them, while he led a smaller force to envelop the Death Guard along their right flank. Although the Death Guard detected their presence, Typhus decided to deal with this threat himself and took a couple plague marine squads to counter Lorgraine's manoeuvre. 

The battle began with artillery engagement as a basilisk detachment in the wastelands opened fire on the Death Guard positions. Plague mortars attempted to return fire but were way too inaccurate in the close city confines to adequately target either the oncoming space marines nor the basilisk detachments. The Imperial artillery had a significant effect on the battle, causing a great many casualties among the enemy.

As the Rift Wardens and their PDF allies reached the Death Guard lines, a skirmish commenced between the two forces. Typhus confident in his abilities ignored the main battle in favour of engaging captain Lorgraine. It was a costly mistake.

The battle continued late into the night and it was as dawn began to rise over the wastelands, Lorgraine called in his reinforcements. Typhus was so intent on his flank that he failed to dispatch orders to his commanders on the main line and despite inflicting heavy causalities on the Astra Militarum forces, the Death Guard were left disorganised and forced to retreat deeper into the hive. Lorgraine engaged Typhus in an impressive melee but he was felled by the Traveller, and had to be dragged to the apothecary before the effects of Nurgle's Rot could take hold. In retaliation Typhus was grievously wounded by a dreadnought and forced to retreat himself.

With this battle, the Astra Militarum were able to set up defences while the Rift Wardens prepared to hunt down the plague forces hold up within Mortwald's core.

Initial Assault - Dharrovar

 

Points: 1250.

Mission: Homebrew.

Before the Imperial forces could safely travel through the Nachmund Gauntlet to bolster Vigilus, they had to reclaim the Knight World of Dharrover, which had fallen into the hands of a traitorous Knight lord. The troops garrisoned there had no knowledge of this but had to be fought if Dharrover was to be secured.

The Rift Wardens were one of several chapters dispatched to launch a surprise attack on the defenders. The plan was for the Rift Wardens to assault the garrison defending the planet's void shields, while other chapters penetrated the shield generators to destroy them.

Under heavy anti-air fire, the Rift Wardens strike force attacked the defensive lines of a Cadian garriosn protecting the outer walls of the shield generator. Although they numbered only 400 men and women, and armed with antiquated supplies, the Cadians were able to repel the space marine assault twice before they were able to breach the defensive gates. The Rift Wardens then spread through the fortifications engaging the guardsmen in close ranged firefights and brutal assault.

Despite the successful early attack, the Rift Wardens assault was blunted by prolonged artillery strikes, followed by infantry counter-assaults. Armed with some mechanized elements and heavy weapon emplacements, the Cadian forces inflicted heavy casualties upon the space marines. After nine repeated attempts, the Rift Wardens were forced to retreat. While they had taken casualties and forced to pull back from the battle, their brothers in the Ultramarines and Sons of Orar chapters were successful in destroying the planetary shield generators allowing the main Imperial force to make significant landings.

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.

Battle of the Taraca Ice Flats - Kaelac's Bane

Points: 2000.

Mission: Vital Intelligence.

Secondary Objectives: Data Intercept, Engage On All Fronts and Thin Their Ranks.

The battle of the Taraca Ice Flats was a skirmish between the Rift Wardens and a raiding party of Drukhari in the snow flats of Northern Vigilus. The Rift Wardens had ventured out to secure a series of vital monitoring stations by request of the Adeptus Mechanicus when they came under fire from a realspace raiding party who appeared suddenly undercover of a snowstorm. 

The Drukhari surrounded the space marines and slowly whittled down their numbers with accurate firepower before the gladiatorial combatants charged into their lines. Although the Rift Wardens slaughtered many of the foul xenos in heroic hand to hand combat, they were hopelessly outnumbered. The Drukhari killed many marines and dragged several back to their dark city in esoteric chains.

Uprising On Greyhaven - Pariah Nexus

 

Points: 1750.

Mission: Overrun.

Secondary Objectives: Engage On All Fronts, Overrun, and Thin Their Ranks.

The Imperial forces positioned on the edge of the Pariah warzone had claimed several worlds as staging areas. Greyhaven was one such world. Assisting the Astra Militarum forces here, were elements of the Rift Wardens under captain Galadhus.

Greyhaven was a unstable mountainous world sparsely covered in dense forest and jungle. The Imperials are most unfamiliar with this world and were forced to bunker up tightly in case of Necron attack. Greyhaven however, was the location of a small Necron tomb complex and within a week of the Imperial forces making planetfall, they found themselves under a sudden and frightful assault.

Captain Galadhus led the defence of the staging ground that his company were located at. They fought bravely but it soon became apparent they were greatly unnumbered and outmatched. Galadhus ordered a retreat and boarded their thunderhawks. Retreating to their battle barge in orbit, they bombarded the site with everything they had.

The Rift Wardens lost a number of battle brothers, vehicles and support elements. Galadhus himself suffered a life threatening injury but was swiftly healed by the apothecaries. Greyhaven would be liberated, he declared and began forming up a new strategy to deal with the Necron menace.

Victory to the Necrons.

Return to Armageddon - Armageddon

Points: 1750.

Mission: Battle Lines.

Secondary Objectives: Bring It Down, Thin Their Ranks and Vital Ground.

Following the appearance of the Cicatrix Maledictum, the world of Armageddon, still recovering from it's third war, was suddenly swamped with hordes of chaos daemons. The world was devastated as the Imperial defenders fought orks and daemons alike. With the aid of various space marine chapters, including the Rift Wardens, the Imperium has begun to turn the tide of battle.

The Rift Wardens had been operating under the command of a High Inquisitor of the Ordos Malleus, an infamous and heartless man named Butlerian. Before departing the system, Butlerian instructed captain Lorgraine to deal with a particular Cadian force lead by tank commander Pask. The inquisitor felt that this force had seen too much of the daemonic incursion and had most likely become corrupted. Better to see them burn than fall from the Emperor's Light. Vulkan He'Stan of the Salamanders chapter refused to follow this order, seeing the truth of the situation and warned that following Butlerian's orders would bring brother against brother. Lorgraine warned He'Stan that the Rift Wardens would do whatever was necessary, and if the Salamanders stood against them, they would suffer for it.

Vulkan and his battle brothers sided with the Cadians, lending their bolters to the defence of Pask's men. The Rift Wardens battled in the ruins of a fallen hive city for ten hours, fighting valiantly to achieve their aim but were unprepared for the sheer number of tanks and mortar teams deployed against them. Pask's command tank was destroyed but he himself was dragged unconscious but alive from the burning wreck. Lorgraine and Vulkan duelled in the ruins before both commanders were felled, and pulled from the conflict. With Lorgraine temporarily out of action, lieutenant Gaheris, a man of calmer mind, sued for peace and parley. With his council, Vulkan and Lorgraine both agreed to halt the conflict. Vulkan eventually convincing the Rift Wardens captain of the ill conceived nature of Butlerian's orders.

Battle of Mortem Abbey - Hyperia Hivesprawl

 

Points: 1500.

Mission: Forward Push.

Secondary Objectives: Assassination, Mental Interrogation and Thin Their Ranks.

The Battle of Mortem Abbey was a major engagement in the conflict for Hyperia Hivesprawl. It took place in the abbey of Saint Mortem between the Rift Wardens and the Order of the Bloody Rose.

A few days after the Rift Wardens were attacked by the Grey Knights, the Adepta Sororitas attempted to draw the space marines into a preselected kill zone with a campaign of selected misinformation. When the plan succeeded with the chapter lured into the ruined abbey, the Sisters deployed a force of a thousand battle sisters to entrap them within. The space marines suffered many casualties and injuries before they were able to force a point through the Sororitas lines and retreat.

Victory to the Sisters of Battle.

Into The Fire - Pariah Nexus

 

Points: 1500.

Mission: Scorched Earth.

Secondary Objectives: Engage on All Fronts, Raise the Banners High and Thin Their Ranks.

Warzone Pariah has become the current defining crusade of the 42nd Millennium as the Imperium struggles to defeat the evil machinations of the Silent King and his Necron armies. The Rift Wardens have come to offer their blades and their lives in defeating the soulness machines.

Within days of their arrival in the Pariah war zone, the Rift Wardens became the target of a sizeable Necron assault. The Necron leadership sought to encircle and crush the space marines between two advancing forces. One flank was delayed due to encountering an Astra Militarum battalion. The main force however relentlessly advanced into the Rift Wardens position. The space marines had prepared a defensive position having expected an enemy assault.

Captain Lorgraine was unaware of the Necron numbers in the area and believed the area to be lightly held. When his scouts failed to report in or return after a few hours, he realised that the enemy might be more numerous than expected. Lorgraine decided that a swift assault into the Necron lines might destabilize their forces initially.

In the early morning, the Rift Wardens charged the advancing Necron lines. Many necron warriors were slain but with their reanimation protocols, they did not stay down for long. The necrons outnumbered the Rift Wardens, but the overlord was aware of their strengths and expertly turned the tide of battle. Conjouring an aspect of the Nightbringer most certainly gave them the edge in the battle.

The Rift Wardens charge was stopped by the arrival of the Nightbringer and a squadron of tomb blades. Gauss fire strafed the marine lines. Many marines were killed and more wounded. Lieutenant Tristan sold his life, bravely engaging the C'tan in melee so that his brothers could retreat. His name was recorded in the chapter's hall of heroes.

Ultimately the chapter was forces to fall back and request thunderhawk evacuation.

Victory to the Necrons.

The Tide Turns - Dontoria Hivesprawl

Points: 500.

Mission: Incisive Attack.

Secondary Objectives: Assassinate, Domination and Thin Their Ranks.

In an attempt to entrap Imperial forces in the Gethesmane district of Dontoria Hivesprawl, Typhus - warlord of the Death Guard, attempted to lay a number of ambushes for guard forces in various fortifications. When this failed, Typhus raged in frustration, and ordered this his forces to instead march forth to assault Imperial forces directly.

At first, the Death Guard performed well and slaughtered many Imperial warriors. However, their luck soon ran out when they themselves were ambushed in return by the Rift Wardens. The space marines sought vengeance for their recent defeat and they poured all their hate into the servants of the plague god. Their vengeance was great and a good many plague marines fell to their assault, or were forced to flee. Typhus himself was sorely wounded and had to teleport back up to the Terminus Est high in orbit.

Victory to the Rift Wardens.