I just realized something, is Legcutta a reference to SB's Da Great Green Fist quest? Cause I swear there was a Warlord with the same name in that now defunct quest.
Blood, Sweat, and Tears (WH40k Design Bureau)
- Thread starter DaLintyGuy
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
I just realized something, is Legcutta a reference to SB's Da Great Green Fist quest? Cause I swear there was a Warlord with the same name in that now defunct quest.
Not intentionally, although I have read that quest so I can't discount it having some influence.
Mainly it was a reference to hamstringing an opponent.
- Location
- England
This is either Homna or Lativa. But we'll... we'll live. Probably.
Legcutta is taking the Sword off of the Khornates nearest you through personal intervention.
- Location
- England
...wait that's actually almost okay news, we're not fighting there.
Yeah it'll suck down the line but right now it's not a problem, this is good news compared to what we thought was happening!
Happerry
Bat out of Hell
- Location
- Kanto
Well, he did need a new flagship after we stole and then dissembled his old one, right?
Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
It shall be just as pleasing to blow up this one too!
Wrong Ork Warboss.
Also Legcutta has a better flagship than Jawbreaka did because of his better ability to steal things mostly intact.
Bailafax's culture continues to develop, now divided between the Feudal originating Lowlanders and the mountain Holds of the original inhabiants. Ranchers and farmers with their beasts of burden, in contrast to the manufacturers who fly through the skies (in counter-rotating helicopters and tilt-rotor aircraft because VTOL).
...Oh and I gave you the kill on Jawbreaka because he wasn't experienced enough to know that fewer ships doesn't mean a weaker force. And you had some bombers and torpedoes to send after ships trying to escape.
...Oh and I gave you the kill on Jawbreaka because he wasn't experienced enough to know that fewer ships doesn't mean a weaker force. And you had some bombers and torpedoes to send after ships trying to escape.
- Location
- Kansas
When will it end... when will the orks STOP stealing more IN ship. WE HAD ONE. HAD. Those damn orks and their stupid kommandos. Their not even stealthy! They paint themselve purple and then call it a day!
Just as we send our first crappy frigate out, Legcutta gets his hand on an Impeial Frigate! Damnit, the IN is basically the damn depot for unscrupolous, lazy, and idiotic xenos to pick up our own damn ships! Next you'll tell me that they stole most of the damn IN detachment in the sector!
Damn orks, cant build a tank worth two nuts off a Chrimera
*waggles hand*
Well, there was a reason that the IN washed their hands of Lativa. And Legcutta specializes in infiltration, something most Orks don't.
Though... If there was an Ork force capable of overrunning the Navy and there are still holdouts in the North and the South is somewhat unaffected, that raises some questions, don't it?
Happerry
Bat out of Hell
- Location
- Kanto
I'll admit I wondered about similar thoughts myself, given that what local forces we've seen and are aware of... well, they're enough to be scary to us, but they shouldn't be enough to overrun a proper Imperial Battlefleet. And given most of them seen to have arisen in response to the sector collapsing, not before, it's a ponder that leads to wondering what did bring this sector down and where is it...
- Location
- Kansas
The only answer I can think of is that Abaddon launched another Black Crusade and the Imperial Navy is off to fight him.
Again.
You'd think he'd get the memo when Horous got clapped out of existence...
Meh, we will know soon enough. Really, I wanna see how Indomitable fairs in a fight.
Given it is her first fight I should probably write in some more description to her part of the gunnery duel...
Potential Map, Turn Four
Map with ownership as of the beginning of turn 4.
A radial gradiant represents an alliance.
A linear gradiant means that the place is contested.
Please do note that while the image is labeled as a map, it is merely something I made as a visual aid to see who is doing what, and where. It is not supposed to be geographically accurate.
A radial gradiant represents an alliance.
A linear gradiant means that the place is contested.
Please do note that while the image is labeled as a map, it is merely something I made as a visual aid to see who is doing what, and where. It is not supposed to be geographically accurate.
@DaLintyGuy Can we while designing parts add a cost of A in addition to M to get better results in exchange for using our limited artisan production?
Something like the Eagle class fighter 4M, 2A, Fighter 4, Long Range
Using a hand build electronics suite the Eagle class fighter is better what we can mass produce but numbers are limited by the production of our best tech priest.
Something like the Eagle class fighter 4M, 2A, Fighter 4, Long Range
Using a hand build electronics suite the Eagle class fighter is better what we can mass produce but numbers are limited by the production of our best tech priest.
You can specify doing that, yes.
Turn Four Strategy Phase Results: Homnan Support, Khornate Hive World, Shrine World Lativa, Bailafax
Plan Scavenging, Diplomacy, and the Cavalry
It was agreed upon by the Admiralty that offensive action was needed. To secure allies from the encroaching foes around them and to destroy threats before they could be seized upon by another to strengthen it. To lay claim to liberated lands and the people and industry it bore.
The newest additions to the Crusade proudly flew their colors. The Indomitable, name ship of her class and the heaviest vessel the Crusade had built to date. The Light of Dawn and Light of Hope, representing the popular support of the faithful and their hopes for the future.
Humanity would not be found wanting.
2nd Naval Squadron + 1st Torpedo Squadron + 1st Calavar Infantry Army + 6th Crusade Infantry Army: Homna String Defense League
-Aggressive Engagement, supporting ground forces
Even before the orders were sent out the officers of the Second Naval Squadron were lobbying for the opportunity to avenge the loss of the only full ship loss of the Crusade so far. Against the Khornates being attacked by the Orks to assassinate the Carmine Glory or even just to join the planned attack on the primary Khornate recruiting ground. When the Admiralty dispassionately ordered the Second North they grumbled about it but accepted that the Orks were unlikely to merely accept a defeat.
And the Second had the most powerful warship in the Crusade attached to it.
For nearly a year the warships of the Second Naval Squadron performed escort duty for the transports supplying the forces on the surface of Sandic, chasing off Ork and Traitor opportunists and watching the largest force of Human soldiery seen in living history claw against the Orks that had infested the world.
Until recently Sandic had been an unremarkable Civilized World of nearly a billion souls. Self sufficient in most regards it had relied on local tramp freighters to ship luxuries to and from it's neighbors. It's Tithes had been punctually paid with manufactured goods and preserved food with which to support the crews of the Navy ships present in the Subsector. When the Orks had come the populace had joined with their neighbors to resist them, providing vehicles, aerial fighters, and whatever else it could.
Now that Human armies had returned in force after the population had been enslaved, the ground war had devolved into a slugging match as the outnumbered Human soldiery pushed against the uncoordinated hordes of unwashed Ork barbarians. Tens of millions of aliens were butchered and burned as the front lines rolled forward and hundreds of millions of Human workers were liberated. Most of the work was done by the well equipped Dark Star forces in a somewhat ironic turnaround of the preceding void battle as disciplined gunlines of Guard style infantry supported by Russ and even Baneblade variants outpaced the comparatively primitive Calavan and Bagalog forces. Of course, the Dark Star's also brought more forces to the theater total, amounting to ten Army level formations compared to the Bagalog's four and Calavar's paltry two.
As the cull proceeded with no appearance from the defeated Jawbreaka it began to be accepted that the Ork Warboss was in fact willingly to cut his losses and not throw good money after bad.
And then the Orks arrived.
[Combat Initiated
Friendly Forces:
1x Indomitable-class Heavy Frigate
2x Armed Merchants
1x Escort Carrier
1x Resolute-class Corvette
2x Castigation-class Torpedo Corvettes
2x Hatchet-class Corvettes
Enemy Forces:
8x Ork Attakk Ships
2x 'Ard 'Ead Corvettes
3x Flyboy Ships
1x Armor Krackin' Mek-Werk]
Jawbreaka scratched his chin below and behind the mighty metal gob that was his trademark with one muscled fist as he peered at the mystifying and squiggly symbols that were written down on the paper in front of him as lookouts spotted Human ships present in the system and sent messenger squiqdeons with their best rendition of the enemy ships, commonly predicting their fate rather than the current status. After a few minutes of studying the reports he shrugged and turned to his Mek.
"Ah, wot da zog. Jus' give 'em da taste o' dakka."
The stubby barrel towed along with the Ork mob of ships was jettisoned from it's two bearers and ponderously oriented towards the gathered Human flotilla ahead. Arcs of electricity flared from the sides as boilers were stoked by miserable gretchin and reactors roared to life to feed the capacitors that lined the barrel. A fat, stocky projectile was loaded into the breech and the overseer gave a thumbs up to the control cubicle where a single large button was situated.
Explosions rocked the oversized kannon as capacitors combusted with the after effects of their discharge but the projectile was already away, dozens of plasma bombs plated together by whatever was at hand. It spun off course, missing the center of the Human formation and finally detonating off of the aft of the Voidwright in a splash of starlight. A wave of plasma flowed over the stern of the venerable Calavan ship, melting the engine bell and knocking the vessel entire slightly away from it's fellows.
Shields across the nearest ships flickered as they repelled the diluted wave of plasma, and the flotilla replied in kind with a volley of Torpedoes accompanied by the complement of the Due Excise in a grand display of ordnance to contest the massive artillery cannon the Orks had put forward.
Yet the Orks had another card to play as a cloud of specks resolved from the noise of the Orkish ships, hooting and cackling as their stapled together craft rattled from the force of their own engines. Gunfire was exchanged between the two elements of fighters, coherent light glittering amid the clouds of spent propellant from Ork guns, before three of the Indignant Torpedoes emerged from the developing furball. The Ork vessels lit up with gunfire as the three munitions arrowed inwards and managed to tear one of the weapons apart with a lucky hit before the anti-ship missiles gutted two of the ramshackle Ork warships in blazing pyrotechnical displays.
The remaining Starhawks that made it through the fighter duel swept down on the Ork "carriers" (truly just Attack Ships with flight decks bolted on) and sent their attached missiles into the open flight decks to fill them with nuclear fire.
With the opening tactics of the two sides expended it fell to the warships to finish things in a gunnery duel. Strength against strength to decide the fate of the world.
The collection of mobile flotsam the Orks called spaceships crashed like a wave against the solid wall of Human gunnery. A reckless charge of greenskins howling with glee against a proper foe that had already proven their strength.
And yet. It was not enough.
The Indomitable and Bagalog ships formed the bow of the Human force, possessing the armor needed to weather the tide of Orkish shells and the gunnery to pick targets from the oncoming force and crush them. The Calavan Heavy Frigate unlimbered it's guns, superfiring turrets bristling from the hull as the active portion of Indomitable's sensor grid came alive at the command of the bridge crew. Likely an abundance of caution, waiting until the enemy was almost in range to begin forming tracks, but it was never good to get complacent. The greatcoat wearing captain (promoted out of one of the Armed Merchants for recognition of service) ordered the first volley with a wide wave of his thick cigar. The great guns that lined the ship's decks fired in sequence, propelling heavy penetrators in a small cloud of shells that glowed brightly in the auspex repeaters on the bridge to give follow up volleys increased accuracy.
Multiple hits from the volley penetrated the shoddy armor of the target ramming corvette, spearing into the guts of the ramshackle vessel down the spine and releasing the forces caged by it's poorly built reactors and fuel as a great smear of light. The second was bracketed by the Bagalog warships and crippled as shells punctured the sides of the ship and killed thousands of the potential boarders inside.
Holding fire for fear of hitting friendly vessels the Spear of Fury and Hope's Reach pushed away from the Due Excise to put their gun batteries to use. Their armored hulls were capable of at least resisting Ork gunnery, unlike the Escort Carrier they were protecting, as they cooperatively engaged Ork ships speeding through the freewheeling engagement zone.
Ragged contrails crisscrossed the naval battle as the surviving Human fighters and bombers hunted down the last of their opposites and lent what support they could to the yields being thrown by the proper warships.
The Voidwright shuddered as barrages tore into her internals, unable to attempt to flee or evade and so attracting the opportunistic predators that had set upon the formation. Her return fire proved inadequate to deter her attackers and so, even as the Aegis Immortal sought to relieve her, she slowly went dark.
She did not go alone. The flagship of the Orkish horde tumbled away from the fight trailing arcs of smoke and flame as fuel vented from tanks and mixed with atmosphere. These expanding flame front eventually reached the ready ammunition and poorly secured magazines.
"Me only regret. Iz. Explodin'!" Jawbreaka laughed as his ship destroyed itself around him.
None of the Ork fleet was allowed to escape, as damage taken during the fleet battle slowed them for follow up bomber or torpedo strikes to cripple or destroy them for actual warships to ensure the kill.
The soldiers on the planet below would be safe from the threat from above, and the cull would proceed apace.
[Operation Result: VICTORY
Enemy Losses
8x Ork Attakk Ships
2x 'Ard 'Ead Corvettes
3x Flyboy Ships
1x Armor Krackin' Mek-Werk
Warboss Jawbreaka
~25 Warbands
Friendly Losses:
Voidwright AMM Crippled (9M in repairs)
Light to Moderate damage across the flotilla (12M in repairs)
4M in strike craft losses and 8M in Torpedoes expended
1M in Army losses
~2 Dark Star Armies]
[Operational goals require additional ground force allocation for independent offensive action against Ork held worlds in order to match Dark Star investment in the same field.]
1st Naval Squadron + 2nd Torpedo Squadron + 1st Support Squadron + 1st Calavar Armored Army + 5th Bailafax Infantry Army + 2nd Calavar Infantry Army: Khornate Cult (40LY)
-Invade/liberate the Hive World
The first offensive against the Traitors to the West was seen off with great fanfare. Made up of the first and most famous formation of warships plus the new torpedo craft that were representative of the righteousness of the Crusade it was perhaps the most evocative detachment of warships yet. Added to these storied elements were the Survivors of Bailafax, the Army that had held off an abstractly large number of bloodthirsty madmen in protection of their families, and the First Armored, the most fearsome ground formation of the Crusade; carried in the hold of the Crusader's Conquest and accompanied by the city destroying might of the Wages of Sin.
Truly, there was little that could resist such a grouping of firepower.
When the Crusade force dewarped in the target system (old charts said that the Hive had once been called Uniary) it was almost a let down. A double handful of transports were present, loading new soldiery from the planet below into old civilian hulls and new Incleon produced minimalist craft, and guarded by a pair of Armed Merchants. No warships, nothing that required the forces deployed.
The Khornate ships fled rather than accept battle, knowing that they could do nothing and likely having orders to preserve their hulls for the battles raging to the East around their powerbase. A pair of loading docks that had been converted to serve as light batteries were bludgeoned to scrap without fanfare, leaving the Crusade warships to take up position in orbit in order to prevent escapes or reinforcements and begin landing procedures.
Anything that could be identified as part of the cults to Khorne was annihilated with starfire from orbit in advance of the actual landings. Great camps of soldiery gathered for the muster and milling in confusion at the sudden absence of their transports were atomized before they could disperse again and sites of "worship" were likewise purged.
Deployment plans were rapidly drawn up by the ground force commanders and put into action. Five Hives were declared areas of interest and slated for immediate reclamation via the use of overwhelming armored force backed by the Bailafax soldiers that had experience against this foe.
The Malcador Defenders of the Calavan First Armored were uniquely suited to their role of breakthrough units in the confines of the Hive. A pair of Defenders fit relatively well in the majority of roads within the blocks that made up the interior, could cause devastating damage to hardpoints with their Demolisher cannons, and made mincemeat out of the poorly equipped cultists that attempted to halt the Loyalists. The offworld enforcers and "recruiters" were too few in number to stop the advance and had understandably not invested in antitank equipment regardless.
With the addition of the Bailafax Survivors and their knowledge of how the enemy operated and reacted it became a simple slaughter.
In the depths of the hive and up in the spires were bands of haggard and gaunt survivors. Under siege for decades from the degenerate madmen that had once been their countrymen they took the appearance of better armed soldiers as either a trap or a new attack. It took some time for the new reality to sink in and allow them to accept the aid of the Crusade force and when they did it was still and standoff-ish and cautious thanks rather than the celebrations that characterized the Bailafax relief.
More ships arrived late in the season, after the first Hive had been fully secured and expeditions dropped onto new targets across the sulfurous salt flats. The new Khornate craft were scarred and pitted from long periods of heavy use and minor combat without drydocks. Identified as the mobile, fleet based Khornate cult further West the cloud of howling civilian craft sent to board the ships seen above their destination and target were nearly annihilated by the combined force of Furies, Starhawks, and Harbingers born by the Crusade fleet even as the enemy ships were crushed by gunnery from the Sharp Retort, Blade of Justice, Spear of Fury, and Hope's Reach.
[Operational Result: Victory, Purges Ongoing
Enemy Losses:
Assorted transports
~10 Army groups of cultists
Friendly Losses:
2M of Army losses
1M of small craft repairs/losses]
[One Hive fully taken. Reactivation of defunct manufacturing in progress. Four others contested. Additional ground Armies requested to prevent possible defeats in detail and accelerate the schedule.]
3rd Naval Squadron + 1st Auxiliary Squadron + 7th Crusade Guard Infantry Army + 8th Crusade Guard Infantry Army: Shrine World Lativa
-Make contact, be the cavalry
Lativa, the world bearing the name of the Subsector in homage of being the first world founded there after the Long Night nearly wiped away Human civilization, bore the designation of Shrine World. It was a world of holiness and history that embodied the Human spirit, of perseverance in the face of adversity and the new age of supremacy that Imperial authority brought. Another title it bore was Civilized for it was not quite populated enough to warrant the title of Hive World.
In recent years it's mythos had been tested in depth as nearly constant Ork incursions came from the broken Subsector around it.
The arrival of the Crusade force was not met by a great force. A bare handful of even more patchwork than usual Ork hulls were torn apart by strike craft before the main body of the fleet could even finish their insertions into planetary orbit.
Meeting with the Canoness-Preceptor of the Lativan Preceptory garnered potentially important pieces of information, even as the Crusade Armies culled particularly stubborn Ork holdouts on Lativa. The fall of the Subsector had been orchestrated by an Ork Warboss picking up the pieces of multiple broken WAAAGH!!s in the Sector past Lativa's borders. This Warboss had been the target of an Astarte task force when they had heard that the Navy was pulling out of the region. The Warboss has been assumed to have been killed but had already rampaged over most of the core of the Subsector by that point.
The fate of the Astartes was unknown to the Adepta Sororitas members.
With oaths of friendship declared between the Crusade and the Lativan Preceptory of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, and secondary greetings and fellowship with the non-Militant Orders on Lativa, the Crusade returned to the stars. Developing Ork ships were picked out for destruction whenever they were found, for Orks stuck on their worlds were not immediate threats to the Crusade or Lativa. This strategy also had the bonus to helping find leadership figures among the alien masses for any greenskin with the might to force their lessers to begin assembly of a starfaring hull was one that was in the midst of forming a WAAAGH!! Of their own.
Strangely, sometimes the Crusade warships would arrive to find fragments of hulls spiraling down the gravity well of the host world. Not just the random junk of a Ork ship or captured Space Hulk, but even once a Looted Escort of some description as the greenskins warred in it's shadow. Analysts agreed that the damage done was unlikely to have been a rival Ork faction as the damage was angular and precise.
[Operation Result: Success
4M in assorted costs]
[Additional ground forces needed to begin liberating worlds with any speed or hope of success.]
3rd Patrol Squadron + Ashen Legion + 3rd Calavar Infantry Army
-Patrol and anti-piracy
Rebuilding would ever be a long and tedious process yet Bailafax had at last been given the opportunity. Her citizens walked in the shadows of the mighty defenses given to safeguard them as they settled into the new routine.
The members of the Ashen Legion took tentative steps towards the peace that had been denied them, transitioning to something more akin to a reserve force than an active army. Guns were hung up and previous trades drawn upon. While blacksmiths toiled at their forges to relearn their craft, bakers learned how to use the materials of their new home, and a dozen other trades were practiced; the culture of their homes were revived. Previously feudal soldiers held tournaments teaching the use of the blade to any who asked and honed their skills against each other in flashy or straightforward ways. Animals were brought in for mounts, from the precious few Raks (reptilian hexapods that commonly bore four men with lances or spears) brought on the exodus to the more ubiquitous equinoids.
While the lowlands turned to ranching the new mounts of the Ashen Legion, the original Bailafax populace continued to dig into what was now their mountain homes. With the expertise and material support of their neighbors the mountain Holds turned from preparation to the business of making businesses. Metal ores were pulled from belowground and worked to provide primitive but effective enough vehicles; counter-rotating gyrowings came to be preferred over fixed wing craft for the ability to land anywhere in the mountains, with tilt rotor craft taking the place of fixed engines for long distance travel.
New rails were laid for the reception of the produce of the lowlands. Mounds of fungus harvested by the Feudal refugees were brought into the new processing yards to have the pharma extracted and biomass turned into nutrient paste under the watchful eyes of masked guards.
There were occasional raids from the Traitors to the West though those were sharply contested by the Third Patrol Squadron when they were available. When they were not it resulted in limited grand larceny rather than invasions as the cultists knew exactly what would result should they wait for the Crusade forces to arrive.
[GM Note: You have no idea how sad I am that the neither the First Naval or Second Torpedo Squadron were sent to the Shrine World. Bailafax continues to become more Ossum. Also this might be a tad bit rushed as I have Important RL Bidness to do in a little bit so be sure to tell me if I derped and put in something that shouldn't be there.]
[You may notice a theme among these combat results. It was not intentional that this coincides with the ground rework, but rather that twenty million baseline Humans aren't really a good match for fighting a hundred (or two) million Orks, even across an entire world rather than all at once.]
It was agreed upon by the Admiralty that offensive action was needed. To secure allies from the encroaching foes around them and to destroy threats before they could be seized upon by another to strengthen it. To lay claim to liberated lands and the people and industry it bore.
The newest additions to the Crusade proudly flew their colors. The Indomitable, name ship of her class and the heaviest vessel the Crusade had built to date. The Light of Dawn and Light of Hope, representing the popular support of the faithful and their hopes for the future.
Humanity would not be found wanting.
2nd Naval Squadron + 1st Torpedo Squadron + 1st Calavar Infantry Army + 6th Crusade Infantry Army: Homna String Defense League
-Aggressive Engagement, supporting ground forces
Even before the orders were sent out the officers of the Second Naval Squadron were lobbying for the opportunity to avenge the loss of the only full ship loss of the Crusade so far. Against the Khornates being attacked by the Orks to assassinate the Carmine Glory or even just to join the planned attack on the primary Khornate recruiting ground. When the Admiralty dispassionately ordered the Second North they grumbled about it but accepted that the Orks were unlikely to merely accept a defeat.
And the Second had the most powerful warship in the Crusade attached to it.
For nearly a year the warships of the Second Naval Squadron performed escort duty for the transports supplying the forces on the surface of Sandic, chasing off Ork and Traitor opportunists and watching the largest force of Human soldiery seen in living history claw against the Orks that had infested the world.
Until recently Sandic had been an unremarkable Civilized World of nearly a billion souls. Self sufficient in most regards it had relied on local tramp freighters to ship luxuries to and from it's neighbors. It's Tithes had been punctually paid with manufactured goods and preserved food with which to support the crews of the Navy ships present in the Subsector. When the Orks had come the populace had joined with their neighbors to resist them, providing vehicles, aerial fighters, and whatever else it could.
Now that Human armies had returned in force after the population had been enslaved, the ground war had devolved into a slugging match as the outnumbered Human soldiery pushed against the uncoordinated hordes of unwashed Ork barbarians. Tens of millions of aliens were butchered and burned as the front lines rolled forward and hundreds of millions of Human workers were liberated. Most of the work was done by the well equipped Dark Star forces in a somewhat ironic turnaround of the preceding void battle as disciplined gunlines of Guard style infantry supported by Russ and even Baneblade variants outpaced the comparatively primitive Calavan and Bagalog forces. Of course, the Dark Star's also brought more forces to the theater total, amounting to ten Army level formations compared to the Bagalog's four and Calavar's paltry two.
As the cull proceeded with no appearance from the defeated Jawbreaka it began to be accepted that the Ork Warboss was in fact willingly to cut his losses and not throw good money after bad.
And then the Orks arrived.
[Combat Initiated
Friendly Forces:
1x Indomitable-class Heavy Frigate
2x Armed Merchants
1x Escort Carrier
1x Resolute-class Corvette
2x Castigation-class Torpedo Corvettes
2x Hatchet-class Corvettes
Enemy Forces:
8x Ork Attakk Ships
2x 'Ard 'Ead Corvettes
3x Flyboy Ships
1x Armor Krackin' Mek-Werk]
Jawbreaka scratched his chin below and behind the mighty metal gob that was his trademark with one muscled fist as he peered at the mystifying and squiggly symbols that were written down on the paper in front of him as lookouts spotted Human ships present in the system and sent messenger squiqdeons with their best rendition of the enemy ships, commonly predicting their fate rather than the current status. After a few minutes of studying the reports he shrugged and turned to his Mek.
"Ah, wot da zog. Jus' give 'em da taste o' dakka."
The stubby barrel towed along with the Ork mob of ships was jettisoned from it's two bearers and ponderously oriented towards the gathered Human flotilla ahead. Arcs of electricity flared from the sides as boilers were stoked by miserable gretchin and reactors roared to life to feed the capacitors that lined the barrel. A fat, stocky projectile was loaded into the breech and the overseer gave a thumbs up to the control cubicle where a single large button was situated.
Explosions rocked the oversized kannon as capacitors combusted with the after effects of their discharge but the projectile was already away, dozens of plasma bombs plated together by whatever was at hand. It spun off course, missing the center of the Human formation and finally detonating off of the aft of the Voidwright in a splash of starlight. A wave of plasma flowed over the stern of the venerable Calavan ship, melting the engine bell and knocking the vessel entire slightly away from it's fellows.
Shields across the nearest ships flickered as they repelled the diluted wave of plasma, and the flotilla replied in kind with a volley of Torpedoes accompanied by the complement of the Due Excise in a grand display of ordnance to contest the massive artillery cannon the Orks had put forward.
Yet the Orks had another card to play as a cloud of specks resolved from the noise of the Orkish ships, hooting and cackling as their stapled together craft rattled from the force of their own engines. Gunfire was exchanged between the two elements of fighters, coherent light glittering amid the clouds of spent propellant from Ork guns, before three of the Indignant Torpedoes emerged from the developing furball. The Ork vessels lit up with gunfire as the three munitions arrowed inwards and managed to tear one of the weapons apart with a lucky hit before the anti-ship missiles gutted two of the ramshackle Ork warships in blazing pyrotechnical displays.
The remaining Starhawks that made it through the fighter duel swept down on the Ork "carriers" (truly just Attack Ships with flight decks bolted on) and sent their attached missiles into the open flight decks to fill them with nuclear fire.
With the opening tactics of the two sides expended it fell to the warships to finish things in a gunnery duel. Strength against strength to decide the fate of the world.
The collection of mobile flotsam the Orks called spaceships crashed like a wave against the solid wall of Human gunnery. A reckless charge of greenskins howling with glee against a proper foe that had already proven their strength.
And yet. It was not enough.
The Indomitable and Bagalog ships formed the bow of the Human force, possessing the armor needed to weather the tide of Orkish shells and the gunnery to pick targets from the oncoming force and crush them. The Calavan Heavy Frigate unlimbered it's guns, superfiring turrets bristling from the hull as the active portion of Indomitable's sensor grid came alive at the command of the bridge crew. Likely an abundance of caution, waiting until the enemy was almost in range to begin forming tracks, but it was never good to get complacent. The greatcoat wearing captain (promoted out of one of the Armed Merchants for recognition of service) ordered the first volley with a wide wave of his thick cigar. The great guns that lined the ship's decks fired in sequence, propelling heavy penetrators in a small cloud of shells that glowed brightly in the auspex repeaters on the bridge to give follow up volleys increased accuracy.
Multiple hits from the volley penetrated the shoddy armor of the target ramming corvette, spearing into the guts of the ramshackle vessel down the spine and releasing the forces caged by it's poorly built reactors and fuel as a great smear of light. The second was bracketed by the Bagalog warships and crippled as shells punctured the sides of the ship and killed thousands of the potential boarders inside.
Holding fire for fear of hitting friendly vessels the Spear of Fury and Hope's Reach pushed away from the Due Excise to put their gun batteries to use. Their armored hulls were capable of at least resisting Ork gunnery, unlike the Escort Carrier they were protecting, as they cooperatively engaged Ork ships speeding through the freewheeling engagement zone.
Ragged contrails crisscrossed the naval battle as the surviving Human fighters and bombers hunted down the last of their opposites and lent what support they could to the yields being thrown by the proper warships.
The Voidwright shuddered as barrages tore into her internals, unable to attempt to flee or evade and so attracting the opportunistic predators that had set upon the formation. Her return fire proved inadequate to deter her attackers and so, even as the Aegis Immortal sought to relieve her, she slowly went dark.
She did not go alone. The flagship of the Orkish horde tumbled away from the fight trailing arcs of smoke and flame as fuel vented from tanks and mixed with atmosphere. These expanding flame front eventually reached the ready ammunition and poorly secured magazines.
"Me only regret. Iz. Explodin'!" Jawbreaka laughed as his ship destroyed itself around him.
None of the Ork fleet was allowed to escape, as damage taken during the fleet battle slowed them for follow up bomber or torpedo strikes to cripple or destroy them for actual warships to ensure the kill.
The soldiers on the planet below would be safe from the threat from above, and the cull would proceed apace.
[Operation Result: VICTORY
Enemy Losses
8x Ork Attakk Ships
2x 'Ard 'Ead Corvettes
3x Flyboy Ships
1x Armor Krackin' Mek-Werk
Warboss Jawbreaka
~25 Warbands
Friendly Losses:
Voidwright AMM Crippled (9M in repairs)
Light to Moderate damage across the flotilla (12M in repairs)
4M in strike craft losses and 8M in Torpedoes expended
1M in Army losses
~2 Dark Star Armies]
[Operational goals require additional ground force allocation for independent offensive action against Ork held worlds in order to match Dark Star investment in the same field.]
1st Naval Squadron + 2nd Torpedo Squadron + 1st Support Squadron + 1st Calavar Armored Army + 5th Bailafax Infantry Army + 2nd Calavar Infantry Army: Khornate Cult (40LY)
-Invade/liberate the Hive World
The first offensive against the Traitors to the West was seen off with great fanfare. Made up of the first and most famous formation of warships plus the new torpedo craft that were representative of the righteousness of the Crusade it was perhaps the most evocative detachment of warships yet. Added to these storied elements were the Survivors of Bailafax, the Army that had held off an abstractly large number of bloodthirsty madmen in protection of their families, and the First Armored, the most fearsome ground formation of the Crusade; carried in the hold of the Crusader's Conquest and accompanied by the city destroying might of the Wages of Sin.
Truly, there was little that could resist such a grouping of firepower.
When the Crusade force dewarped in the target system (old charts said that the Hive had once been called Uniary) it was almost a let down. A double handful of transports were present, loading new soldiery from the planet below into old civilian hulls and new Incleon produced minimalist craft, and guarded by a pair of Armed Merchants. No warships, nothing that required the forces deployed.
The Khornate ships fled rather than accept battle, knowing that they could do nothing and likely having orders to preserve their hulls for the battles raging to the East around their powerbase. A pair of loading docks that had been converted to serve as light batteries were bludgeoned to scrap without fanfare, leaving the Crusade warships to take up position in orbit in order to prevent escapes or reinforcements and begin landing procedures.
Anything that could be identified as part of the cults to Khorne was annihilated with starfire from orbit in advance of the actual landings. Great camps of soldiery gathered for the muster and milling in confusion at the sudden absence of their transports were atomized before they could disperse again and sites of "worship" were likewise purged.
Deployment plans were rapidly drawn up by the ground force commanders and put into action. Five Hives were declared areas of interest and slated for immediate reclamation via the use of overwhelming armored force backed by the Bailafax soldiers that had experience against this foe.
The Malcador Defenders of the Calavan First Armored were uniquely suited to their role of breakthrough units in the confines of the Hive. A pair of Defenders fit relatively well in the majority of roads within the blocks that made up the interior, could cause devastating damage to hardpoints with their Demolisher cannons, and made mincemeat out of the poorly equipped cultists that attempted to halt the Loyalists. The offworld enforcers and "recruiters" were too few in number to stop the advance and had understandably not invested in antitank equipment regardless.
With the addition of the Bailafax Survivors and their knowledge of how the enemy operated and reacted it became a simple slaughter.
In the depths of the hive and up in the spires were bands of haggard and gaunt survivors. Under siege for decades from the degenerate madmen that had once been their countrymen they took the appearance of better armed soldiers as either a trap or a new attack. It took some time for the new reality to sink in and allow them to accept the aid of the Crusade force and when they did it was still and standoff-ish and cautious thanks rather than the celebrations that characterized the Bailafax relief.
More ships arrived late in the season, after the first Hive had been fully secured and expeditions dropped onto new targets across the sulfurous salt flats. The new Khornate craft were scarred and pitted from long periods of heavy use and minor combat without drydocks. Identified as the mobile, fleet based Khornate cult further West the cloud of howling civilian craft sent to board the ships seen above their destination and target were nearly annihilated by the combined force of Furies, Starhawks, and Harbingers born by the Crusade fleet even as the enemy ships were crushed by gunnery from the Sharp Retort, Blade of Justice, Spear of Fury, and Hope's Reach.
[Operational Result: Victory, Purges Ongoing
Enemy Losses:
Assorted transports
~10 Army groups of cultists
Friendly Losses:
2M of Army losses
1M of small craft repairs/losses]
[One Hive fully taken. Reactivation of defunct manufacturing in progress. Four others contested. Additional ground Armies requested to prevent possible defeats in detail and accelerate the schedule.]
3rd Naval Squadron + 1st Auxiliary Squadron + 7th Crusade Guard Infantry Army + 8th Crusade Guard Infantry Army: Shrine World Lativa
-Make contact, be the cavalry
Lativa, the world bearing the name of the Subsector in homage of being the first world founded there after the Long Night nearly wiped away Human civilization, bore the designation of Shrine World. It was a world of holiness and history that embodied the Human spirit, of perseverance in the face of adversity and the new age of supremacy that Imperial authority brought. Another title it bore was Civilized for it was not quite populated enough to warrant the title of Hive World.
In recent years it's mythos had been tested in depth as nearly constant Ork incursions came from the broken Subsector around it.
The arrival of the Crusade force was not met by a great force. A bare handful of even more patchwork than usual Ork hulls were torn apart by strike craft before the main body of the fleet could even finish their insertions into planetary orbit.
Meeting with the Canoness-Preceptor of the Lativan Preceptory garnered potentially important pieces of information, even as the Crusade Armies culled particularly stubborn Ork holdouts on Lativa. The fall of the Subsector had been orchestrated by an Ork Warboss picking up the pieces of multiple broken WAAAGH!!s in the Sector past Lativa's borders. This Warboss had been the target of an Astarte task force when they had heard that the Navy was pulling out of the region. The Warboss has been assumed to have been killed but had already rampaged over most of the core of the Subsector by that point.
The fate of the Astartes was unknown to the Adepta Sororitas members.
With oaths of friendship declared between the Crusade and the Lativan Preceptory of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, and secondary greetings and fellowship with the non-Militant Orders on Lativa, the Crusade returned to the stars. Developing Ork ships were picked out for destruction whenever they were found, for Orks stuck on their worlds were not immediate threats to the Crusade or Lativa. This strategy also had the bonus to helping find leadership figures among the alien masses for any greenskin with the might to force their lessers to begin assembly of a starfaring hull was one that was in the midst of forming a WAAAGH!! Of their own.
Strangely, sometimes the Crusade warships would arrive to find fragments of hulls spiraling down the gravity well of the host world. Not just the random junk of a Ork ship or captured Space Hulk, but even once a Looted Escort of some description as the greenskins warred in it's shadow. Analysts agreed that the damage done was unlikely to have been a rival Ork faction as the damage was angular and precise.
[Operation Result: Success
4M in assorted costs]
[Additional ground forces needed to begin liberating worlds with any speed or hope of success.]
3rd Patrol Squadron + Ashen Legion + 3rd Calavar Infantry Army
-Patrol and anti-piracy
Rebuilding would ever be a long and tedious process yet Bailafax had at last been given the opportunity. Her citizens walked in the shadows of the mighty defenses given to safeguard them as they settled into the new routine.
The members of the Ashen Legion took tentative steps towards the peace that had been denied them, transitioning to something more akin to a reserve force than an active army. Guns were hung up and previous trades drawn upon. While blacksmiths toiled at their forges to relearn their craft, bakers learned how to use the materials of their new home, and a dozen other trades were practiced; the culture of their homes were revived. Previously feudal soldiers held tournaments teaching the use of the blade to any who asked and honed their skills against each other in flashy or straightforward ways. Animals were brought in for mounts, from the precious few Raks (reptilian hexapods that commonly bore four men with lances or spears) brought on the exodus to the more ubiquitous equinoids.
While the lowlands turned to ranching the new mounts of the Ashen Legion, the original Bailafax populace continued to dig into what was now their mountain homes. With the expertise and material support of their neighbors the mountain Holds turned from preparation to the business of making businesses. Metal ores were pulled from belowground and worked to provide primitive but effective enough vehicles; counter-rotating gyrowings came to be preferred over fixed wing craft for the ability to land anywhere in the mountains, with tilt rotor craft taking the place of fixed engines for long distance travel.
New rails were laid for the reception of the produce of the lowlands. Mounds of fungus harvested by the Feudal refugees were brought into the new processing yards to have the pharma extracted and biomass turned into nutrient paste under the watchful eyes of masked guards.
There were occasional raids from the Traitors to the West though those were sharply contested by the Third Patrol Squadron when they were available. When they were not it resulted in limited grand larceny rather than invasions as the cultists knew exactly what would result should they wait for the Crusade forces to arrive.
[GM Note: You have no idea how sad I am that the neither the First Naval or Second Torpedo Squadron were sent to the Shrine World. Bailafax continues to become more Ossum. Also this might be a tad bit rushed as I have Important RL Bidness to do in a little bit so be sure to tell me if I derped and put in something that shouldn't be there.]
[You may notice a theme among these combat results. It was not intentional that this coincides with the ground rework, but rather that twenty million baseline Humans aren't really a good match for fighting a hundred (or two) million Orks, even across an entire world rather than all at once.]
- Location
- Kansas
Not a suprise. Hive worlds are a bitch to fight in, so we need the extra manpower... but we also have a commitment to the Defense League.
Looks like we have an answer to the IN leaving system, an ork Wagh! pushed em out. Makes sense, the Astartes would have obviously decapitated the Wagh!, though I bet our mysterious orkish enemy has something to do with the Astartes black out.
Bet it's eldar. Fits their MO of being mysterious space elves.
dgr11897
FBI surveillance Tank
- Location
- Behind you
I know it would never get voted for and would likely never work, but I am so tempted to make a write up for a space capable mech, possibly with a power sword or plasma weapons. And using our current build up of strike craft bonuses. As for what purpose they could serve, highly mobile response force, and cutting into enemy vessels with their power swords. Also being able to drop in from orbit onto difficult battles, reinforce them, then withdraw back to orbit to rearm before dropping into another battle.
- Location
- Kansas
Ensures our safety, but I will admit that we are basically screwed when we try to actually take a place intact. I'd advice we set up more armies, as well as modernizing them.
maximorph
I feel lively today
- Location
- Mount Vernon WA
To be fair, that's the issue with 40k. Armies can't do squat until space is controlled. Even Space Marines have issues controlling the ground if they lack sufficient assets in space.
dgr11897
FBI surveillance Tank
- Location
- Behind you
Should we maybe think up some units that can contribute both to ground and space combat then? Sure, probably less efficient, but it lets us focus/consolidate our actions, bonuses, and industry onto a smaller number of things. Meaning higher chance of success and more of said things
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