The Sleptis Campaign - WH40k GSRP

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"They Come in Waves-!"
- Last Words of Captain Donnithan Doe​

The planet of Sleptis VII was a planet drowned in madness. On the border between the Imperium of Man and the Tau Empire, this planet sat under the leadership of Aun'El Vash'ya Hova'nesh, an Ethereal that has overseen the planet for many years now. Under his leadership, the planet has prospered and been a symbol of Unity amongst the Empire, the reason for this is that because the planet was once a Human colony belonging to the Imperium. During certain events, the Tau managed to acquire the planet from the Imperium and integrated the population into the Tau Empire.

Under the command of Aun'El Vash'ya Hova'nesh lays the mind who keeps the planet safe from reprisal, an excellent warrior of the Fire Caste, Shas'O Mu'gulath Tor'gri. While relatively new as a leader, they have managed the planet's forces in preparation for a strike into the Imperial's borders. Gathering a large force, Sleptis VII was the forward base of the Tau Empire.

The Tau Cadre that Tor'gri commands are the Mu'gulath Sept. Mu'gulath is from the Third sphere of expansion and is usually tasked with the conquest of new worlds, the swamps in which cover the planet allow the Sept to do their job particularly. Under normal circumstances, they follow the Greater Good as well as the average citizen of the Tau Empire. Nothing was currently going on within their home territory which allowed them to prepare for the coming conquests from Sleptis.

The primary philosophy of Shas'O Mu'gulath Tor'gri is that of Kauyon, the Patient Hunter. The cadre prefers to remain on the move and strike rapidly and cause as much confusion as possible. In a fit of irony, the Cadre that was leading the charge was highly xenophobic and there are no auxiliaries. Tor'gri himself can be considered highly evaluative, which is one of the reasons that he was chosen in preparation for the coming battles

But the Imperium of Man was not so clueless to matters. The Imperium would gather an expedition in preparations for the assault on the planet. The regiment was made up of the noble elites, the best of the best of the dead world in which they come from. The group was primarily made up of light infantry and they specialized in close combat. Due to the nature of their regiment, they have been bestowed with technology by the Tech-Priests of Mars which allowed them to rapidly close ranks with the enemy forces and strike hard in close quarters. The 501st Deathworld Nocturn Regiment under the command of Warmaster Maarie Danver De Banzi fought for their homeworld to prove that they deserve a spot amongst the best.

In this endeavor, they are not alone, friends of the regiment in preparation for the attack arrived and pledged their aid. Members of the Imperial Navy that have been befriended long ago on the battlefield against the Orks. Though, along with their allies and friends came their enemies. Due to their actions, they ran afoul of the Officio Assassinorum who now stalks them, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike back for the slight that was given. Preparations made, the 501st would land planetside bringing the war to the planet. Two sides clashing in combat. The Tau would not be prepared for the assault itself, but due to the planet being a forward base, it was a far more even fight than the Imperium would have wanted. But the worse had yet to come.

As if summoned by the conflict, the Green Tide crashed into the fray. What at first appeared to be Freebootaz was soon found out to be a proper Ork Klan. The armor they wore was Red, and their leader, a Mekboy named Grohrbluzak, relished the slaughter that came with their survival. Their origins were… less well known, though it could be gleaned from the loot they brought forth to fight and kill that they had recently… "Krumped loads o' spiky 'umies." The Klan itself would follow one belief, if they had to choose between Gork or Mork, they didn't care. They fought and fought and fought until whatever it was they were fighting was dead.

What was most damning for the fighters planetside, was the fact that the Orks were plenty in number, they weren't damning outright, but it was going to be a hard fight. They outnumbered both Tau and Imperial forces planetside. Though, thankfully it appeared they were average ork sized instead of larger overall. Another miracle appeared that they were infighting, or rather another Ork Warband had stumbled across the planet and was currently fighting the "Mekka Boyz Klan". What soon became apparent after several months of hard fighting, the Orks had more mekboyz than anything else in their arsenal. Said arsenal was quite small in the grand scheme of things, and rather than putting it to good use they preferred to pile it up at the camps. Relishing in the suffering of the planet, a darker evil would soon arrive.

Remnants of a noble house, one that was more than 5,000 years old to be more exact, would set their sights on the planet. They would take their twisted toll on the orders of a scion of the founders of the Kabal, Irerizora of the Thousand Screams. What drove them here was not the usual plans however, it could be said that normally the Scion of the House was curious about the wider galaxy. They sought to learn about it through the sick, sadistic vices they unleashed on whatever populations they came across. Instead of outright slaughter or torture, however, they would force those they captured and put them into what amounted to be little more than zoos.

Though normally the closest thing to perfection they can get to, the scion had a dark secret. The Kabal has had dealings with another power that would earn it the wrath of the rest of their race if this was revealed. Such a thing was quite hidden and would ruin the Kabal should it be known. This dark deal however allowed them the flourish in their art. The art of Poison, which has had its delivery system perfected over the ages by the Kabal's own Weapon-Forge, and though they mastered poison they held onto a different image to their wider audience. When one thought of the Kabal of the Forsworn Skull, they thought of Mandrake herders. But why would these monsters appear on Sleptis VII? What summoned them to fight so hard for a planet they would normally ignore?

It was theirs of course. They had finally deigned to reclaim the planet for the Kabal and take all that was on it as their property. The fighting would continue, each faction entrenching themselves on the planet, striking and bleeding the others at any opportunity, the fighting would soon become a stalemate, and with a stalemate, came the tiebreaker.

Born in the oppressive and degenerate clutches of Chaos, these worshippers were born in a damned world one overtaken by horrors beyond imagining. Sent on a mission by their sole God, Khorne, they seek to fight and do battle in his name. They have fought great battles in his name, and as such have been able to gain his favor multiple times. His favor has given them, first, it came with their physical features, horns marred their foreheads forever revealing which god they serve. Next came several weapons, all baptized in his name. The first was a Blade known as Wrathmourn, enchanted to allow its wielder to match the strength of their foe, at the cost of the wielder's blood. The next weapon given unto them was another blade, a single cut could drive their target into a blood frenzy, such was the fury of the Bloodbrand.

Under the call of Chaos Lord Elygon the Reaver they came from their despoiled temple. In this temple there once were Xeno Gods, but no longer, for in their place stood Khorne and his followers. The temple was baptized by the damnation of an entire species sacrificed in the great Bloodletting. This act earned them their fourth and final blessing. The Maul of Hellmight, only those chosen and favored by their god may spill blood with it. For they have earned the right to command all who stand below them. Each member of the Warband could say that they come from a long lineage of heretics, and it is known that they do not recruit from the masses, only those who are of them may serve alongside them, for impurity brings weakness.

In battle it is decided they believe in their leader, and as such their tactic is a massed rush upon the enemy lines with close-range weapons rather than chance a single flesh wound upon their overlords. The masses of cultists will form vast lines to protect their leader, killing the chafe around enemy commanders, and allowing for only the truly worthy to face their champions. Given a vision from Khorne, they come to bring slaughter and ruin to their foes. The Heretics of Devastation have come to wage an unholy war.

Spoiler: Starting Map

 

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The Sounds of War​

Rahak Zaul sat at what had once been the manager's office at the Iruldroj Grand Opera and idly twirled a knife through the air, a habit he'd picked up ages ago to keep his hands occupied when his servants delivered their reports, and there was certainly nothing wrong with keeping himself visibly armed among those who thought they had access to him alone. He could tell there was little loot to be found, because the Drukhari overseeing the sack had sent a terrified slave to give their report for them. It was hardly surprising. The Orks' long occupation had reduced the operahouse to a mockery of what the Mon-keigh deemed stately, riddling the frescos with gunfire and chopping the head off every statue in the entrance hall. Doubtless they'd left few things of value intact, and Orks never made good slaves. Like an angry ant, they were always trying to bite but were too stupid to make it count for anything.

The bloodstained face of Wych Lord Ezkei interrupted the proceedings, appearing on the viewscreen set into the table between the Dracon and his slave."Your eminence, I report total success. My Raiders have flown like the solar wind Nariq and Kalkakinb, encountering scattered foes we dispatched with haste and pleasure. Only one of my forces encountered serious trouble, and even that was but a sideshow, a column of retreating Orks only notable because they turned and charged my Raiders when they saw they were being pursued. It was a poignant scene--"

Zaul interrupted the Wych Lord waxing lyrical by slamming his knife through the manager's fine wooden desk, "Spare me the poetry and lead with the intelligence next time. Orks do not retreat, Wych Lord, they advance to the next fight. Regroup your forces with mine. If they are not fighting here, there is but one place they can be."

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"I'z SEENZ it from atoppa dem hills!" The ork slammed his meaty fist into tank he'd rode up in. "There ent no knife-ears en dis town like there ent eny en the last two. Dis iz da worst scrappin' since I got LOST on mi ROK! If-- if WE'ZE gunna be marchin' backs and forffs like HUMIES," the Ork pointed his choppa at the boss, "Den WHY ent youz paintin' us BROWN en callin' us HUMIES!"

Boss Killspittah said nothing and split the fool from shoulder to hip with a slice of his chain-choppa. It was no loss. He prized cunnin' brutality, and this Ork had neither. Even that wasn't satisfying. He'd been right. The pointy-eared gits hadn't been in Bazin and Orgaragkez, except for some unlucky guards, and they didn't seem to be here either. If they'd left this island just to make him look like a namby-pamby git well-- well he'd krump 'em extra hard on the mainland!

But then a cheer went up from the boyz ahead, and Killspittah saw one of those pansies flying up above on one of their pansy flying machines, frantically dodging the gunfire from a thousand gleeful Orks. The Trukk drivers lept into action instantly, chasing the Raider all the way back to its unit with childlike glee

That wasn't the proper fight. No, the proper scrap was in Jordis! Maybe they'd been hiding in the buildings, or maybe it was a cunning trick and they'd gone invisible! It didn't matter. Killspittah hopped atop the tank and called out, "Da Pansies! Deyz all popped up en da TOWN! Let's duff 'em up!"

Suddenly, the army was alive again, and thundering down into Jordis. The hastily arrayed defenders barely got any shots off before the Green Tide was upon them. The Burna Boys got to work: terrified slave-soldiers, grotesques, and even unlucky Orks were lit alight as they turned the city into a hellish inferno. Killspittah was right in the middle of the action, chopping off heads, arms, legs, and twisted appendages which fit into none of those categories.

And then the defenders were vanishing, withdrawing seemingly as quickly as they had arrived. It was like someone had opened up a drain that the Eldar were all being sucked down into, and Killspittah was left shaking his fist at the sky and crying, "Come back ya Pansies! We ent krumped all youz yet!"

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The City of Jordis would fall soon after the Dracon gave up the fight. The Ork Burna Boys had done their jobs well, leaving Zaul's host with little room to maneuver in the burning streets. The battlefield was disadvantageous, and the cost to pursue total victory would have been too high. Still, he had lost little, the important forces escaping almost unscathed at the cost of some slaves and grotesques who covered his retreat, and he would soon find a much more worthwhile target. His army would again take the field hours later. Last time, Zaul had nearly let himself get drawn into a melee with the furious Orks. Not here.

Raiders screamed through the trees, harassing an Ork force they'd caught moving down to Yulkaraba, attacking and retreating every which way to prevent the Ork force from ever focusing their attention on a stand-up fight. He left them confused and disoriented. They followed his trail of breadcrumbs in circles until he could bring the full brunt of his army to bear against this much smaller force at the time of his choosing. In the ensuing battle, the Dracon inflicted massive casualties on the Orkish force before again withdrawing, this time taking up positions in Yulkaraba with most of his army still intact.

However, the Dark Eldar could also see that he'd overplayed his hand, expecting to sweep the Orks off the island before reinforcements arrived, but underestimating the strength of the ones already here. In the end, he had traded three cities for three-- taking the island's southwest corner but letting the Orks push the border east. Although he had inflicted far more casualties than he had taken, the hasty redeployment to stop the Orks' advance had left his new conquests with little in the way of garrison forces, and placed them in a precarious situation far away from his main army. The battle for this island, it seems, is far from over.

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(Thanks to @Another Amoeba for the Report!)​

 

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The Flank Exposed​

Sleptis. A Far off-world in a Far off Corner of the Galaxy. A Battlezone between a half dozen factions. A world condemned to the most common affliction of the 40th Millenium, stripped of any prosperity and bounty it once had, replaced with only War.

But to the Tau who reside there, of the Mu'galath Sept, Sleptis is still home. Though Vile Greenskins, despicable Throne-Worshippers, wretched Alderi, and the Damned Hordes of Chaos now pollute its soil, the Tau will defend their home, eliminating every threat, and fighting, if the need may be, to the last.

Marching out from their Holds, the Tau elected to focus the defense of their home against those they saw to be the greatest threat. Those who wear the Star Pendant of the Four Gods of Chaos. They who worship eldritch abominations of nightmares, who claim to all upon Demons They of the Warband called the Heretics of Devastation. To this end, the Tau would strike north, hoping to draw the forces of Chaos into a Trap and destroy them.

In a fit of Irony all too common in this Millenia of War, so did the servants of the Dark Gods.

In the Opening days of Battle, two Traitor Humans would march against one another. Both believed their cause was just. One was a Kreiger, convinced that he served his Emperor even as his equipment grew more laden with Heretical imagery, his name if one could even call it that, was A-11. The Other, a Gue'vesa by the name of Helgar Aaronius, an outcast amongst his own forces, but a loyal soldier of the Greater Good Nonetheless.

The First combat in this dance of Traps was just northeast of the Tau Lines. Advancing amidst the Forests, Commander Aaronius led his men in support of a larger field of war. Advancing near the front of his forces, the deathly silence of the woods was shattered as the shrill crack of a Renegade Autogun pierced the woods. Then another. And another. And then a dozen more. With the Cry of 'Contact'! Dashing up and down the lines of Fire Wars, and as the warriors of the Greater Good levied their arms to drive them back, the realization of an Ambush dawned on them.

The Fighting was fierce, the heretic zealots of the Old Gods - led by a Khornate Lieutenant named Khro'gaz, fought with the mad abandoned that such Bloodbound berserkers were known for. But Ultimately, between the Tau's superior numbers, firepower, and doctrine, the Chaotic Ambush was driven back, and with relatively limited casualties. All attempts to move beyond the initial point of contact were me with further assaults. But in spite of the limited casualties inflicted, the Heretics had totally stalled Helgar's force, and so the Tau retreated back across the line to the town of Iturcagiadrera, where they would attempt to dig in, and the second part of our tale would emerge.

Tau forces had retreated back just in time to halt a Chaos offensive of its own. In a reversal of the earlier skirmishes, it would be Tau Guns who cut down swathes of unprepared Heretics in the jungle, halting them as firmly as Khro'gaz had days earlier, but with a longer's butcher's bill. Heretics, irreverent of their own lives, kept launching futile assaults, venerating the gods both with murder and death, until another chaotic attack had them pull back to join. This one, led by the second Traitor human. The Kreiger is known as A-11.

Face hidden behind a mask, the renegade Commander had marched, leaving a wake of death and destruction. Entire towns were put to the sword to appease the Gods, men and women and children tortured into madness and buildings were set alight by the dozens. Down came the posters venerating Greater Good. Up when the Eight sided Star of Chaos. Desperate to stop the Carnage, Tau Forces deployed with iron hearts to halt the tide of dark corruption.

The Battle of Olholon eclipsed the previous fights by an order of magnitude. Artillery stained the fields and shattered the skies as the mighty Battlesuits of the Tau Empire slew Heretics by their dozens. Tau Fire Warriors, though unsuited for Melee Battle, engaged in bloody hand to hand with the servants of the Dead Gods, desperate to protect what remained of their home from the maddened Traitors from Krieg. Pathfinders engaged in house to house fighting, holding their ground as the city was brought down around them. Helgar and A-11 both personally partook in the harshest fighting but never seemed to be in the same place. In the end, the forces were locked in stalemate - Chaos unbroken but unable to advance deeper into Tau Territory - and both were left with a great amount of dead.

The War against the Chaos invasion of Sleptis, to protect the very soul of the world from the Dark Gods in the Warp, had only just begun.

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(Thanks to @Furrybacon For the report!)​

 

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WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH​

Across the galaxy, there are isolated Ork Worlds, interstellar Ork realms, massive Ork empires, and Ork hordes that roam the stars upon gigantic Space Hulks. Wherever humans have traveled in the galaxy, they have found Orks. It has been tens of thousands of standard years since humanity first encountered the Orks, and in that time Mankind has fought countless conflicts with these war-loving aliens.

Barbaric and savage, the Greenskins spread across the galaxy like viridian locusts. They plague the battlefields of the late 41st Millennium in great numbers, overrunning any who stand before them in a torrent of bloodshed and usually mindless violence.

Orks need battle just as humans need food and drink. Due to their warlike nature, they constantly fight amongst themselves or launch piratical raids upon nearby enemies. Such conflicts tend to be small-scale or localized. They never really develop beyond random outbursts of violence and looting.

However, Ork populations can reach a critical mass that leads to a full-scale planetary migration. This is known as a WAAAGH!, a crusade of pure aggression that crashes through star systems in an orgy of violence.

An Ork WAAAGH! is a war on an apocalyptic scale. Orks beyond counting swarm from one world to the next. Whole civilizations are exterminated and defenders' armies are laid to waste as the Orks plow ever onward in an unstoppable tide. On Sleptis, this could not be any truer. The Orks of Sleptis were preparing. Today, a bloodbath would occur and there would be no escape. The Ork Warboss would rally his Warband, splitting only a few off to go elsewhere, the results of these excursions would pale next to the raw, unending malice that was coming.

For the Imperials, it started in the morning. The border had been fortified heavily and from there backward there would be more and more defenses, all intended to delay and destroy the Orks that they knew were coming, they didn't have the whole picture, but they did have enough to see a fraction of what was coming for them through their Aerial recon of beyond the border. They don't stop digging in, even as the Orks approach, the front lines were intended to act as a buffer, to delay as long as possible, and so they did. The fighting lasted a week, but eventually, it ended.

The complete and utter rout of the Imperial Front Line. The loss of the first line was a bad sign, one that forced the Imperials to Adapt. They had not taken as many losses as they could have, but as the Guard moved towards Bolburg in a fighting retreat, the Orks would keep moving as a singular entity almost. The Guard would lose more and more defensive lines and equipment to the oncoming horde, and only when it became apparent of what was going on would the Guard fully retreat, forced to abandon several cities to the Orks in the hopes that the cities would buy time for them to recuperate against the threat.

The Orks took said bait, staying in the cities looting them of everything they could before moving on almost several weeks later. It was what the Imperial forces needed, along with a distraction in the south from allies drawing a portion of the encroaching tide, to fully prepare to face this threat.

The Astra Militarum is often referred to as the "Hammer of the Emperor" -- the sheer amount of force that the Imperial Guard can bring to bear on the enemy is devastating, but is not as direct or as precise as their Space Marine allies, who are described as the "Scalpel of the Emperor." The main tactic of the Imperial Guard is to overwhelm the enemy with their endless numbers, while at the same time hammer them into submission with devastating artillery and crush them with powerful main battle tanks. This was exactly caused by the Orks to thrives perhaps, the direct application of brute force meeting brute force only allowed them to shine all the brighter. Their bloodlust was insatiable and their enemies gave them ample opportunity to fight.

Perhaps it was luck, perhaps it was the God-Emperor, or perhaps it was just an accident, it doesn't matter which, for the Ork Waaagh, as they marched towards Bolburg, to meet the full defensive might of the Imperial Guard, they begin to lose momentum. Everything they had to fight the Ork Threat was being used, and with an opening Salvo against the Ork Wave, would the Battle of Bolburg begin in earnest. This was where they met, the Green Tide's Warboss, and the Imperial Guard Lord General Clemintine. First, came the Gretchin and Squigs. In the hundreds of thousands, they came charging the Imperial Lines. Emboldened by the Imperial Guard's forced retreat earlier they charged with a cry.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH" they screamed.

The sound of Artillery met their cry with a resounding series of explosions going through their lines… Yet they continued their charge. Another Salvo met them, and the line of Gretchin and Squigs flinched. They screamed another warcry, not as powerful as before, this time heavy weapons met their charge with the cry of heavy weapons unloading pure undiluted firepower, or Dakka as the orks know it as, into their lines.

With this, the first line broke and began to retreat.

While suboptimal for the Warboss, the Gretchin did what he intended, for the Ork lines were as close as ever, and they showed their brutal glee in a resounding explosion of noise.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH" they roared and charged forward.

The Artillery opened fire once again, no longer firing in unison, but rather as soon as they reloaded. The heavy weapon teams opened fire, decimating the front lines and showing them who was in charge, who held the power in this relationship between Man and Fungus.

The fighting continued, the sheer level of carnage unleashed would give a halt to a normal army, but for the Orks, it was a sign to push onward, and push they did. Line after line of the Ork Waaagh would fall by bullet and shell, but they wouldn't stop coming.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH" they thundered as they began to close in on the front lines.

The only thing that saved the Imperials would be the fact that they would see the Ork army physically begin to slow as the fighting continued. It wouldn't be enough as the Ork forces eventually, after several days of non-stop fighting, finally reached the first line of Imperial forces and begin to attack, unleashing violence with their heart's content.

The fighting of the first line would see the Orks held back as the Tide met the Hammer. Masters of close Quarters combat, the Nocturn 501st would be able to fight and hold, filled with the fury of the Emperor they held, even as they died. The Ork Warboss however, in their position, would see the Green Tide losing. Even as they made their way into the enemy defensive lines and overtook the enemy forces and weapons, the Orks could be said to be losing, against all the odds.

So, he would call his boys to fall back, as they no longer held the ability to move forward as before. He would call his Waaagh to retreat, and in doing so blind the Imperials for a moment, as their eyes filled by righteous anger and joy. It was here he unleashed his final trick, an Armored Column that had managed to somewhat infiltrate the Imperial battlefield would strike, heavily damaging the Artillery before the Orks continued their retreat, taking with them the fruits of their labor. All the defenses they ran over were stripped of their weapons and with a terrible smirk, the Warboss would see a small portion of the Artillery stolen by his boys before the Imperials could stop them.

While it was a victory for the Guard at the end of the day, that sadly was true only on a technicality. A vicious sneer crossed the Warboss' face, and soon after the Waaagh would go to continue looting what they took, and begin recovering from the losses they suffered, while the Imperials were left with ruins and two cities between the Orks and the Heartland of the Imperial Presence on Sleptis.

 

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The Silence is Overwhelming is it Not?​

It was a battle of darkness, where one stood for the bloodshed and unending fury and glory of battle, the other stood for the dark decadence, the sin committed in the dark. The Dark Mark of Chaos, a corrupting influence so vile and intolerable that it must be purged. No risk must be taken to ensure it's existence spreads.

The dark mark of the Drukhari, a sign of the darkness that can take hold after eons and longer. The most graceful, elegant, righteous force can fall into this hole never to return should the wrong set of circumstances occur. It was here on Sleptis that both of these dark powers met and did battle. In the restart of the conflict both sides knew what had to be done, they knew that only one of them would be permitted to stand above their other and harvest the planet for their dark ends. It was here, on this forsaken rock that a war would be waged. One which may not have any consolation prize for anyone else.

The darkness standing above the planet, casting several dark shadows would in the opening moments of the war which had recently restarted on a planetary scale, would plot. The Decadent thought, Those of Chaos could not wait, they could not plan, they surely must be absolutely itching to enter the territory of the Kabal, to become apart of the finest pleasures and pains possible and allow the Kabal to rise in power. So they sat, waiting for the inevitable attack from the Khornate dogs that stand planetside. They took apart of the finest luxuries afforded to one of their stature and the waiting never ended. The ones of Chaos, more cautious than previously given credit, would not attack the enemy territory. No, they had to wait for the inevitable raid that would befall them once the Dark Eldar saw that they were not coming, of course, they would have to… throw some bait into the wild to let the servants of Khorne cut loose while providing… excellent information about their foe.

So both sides waited, Chaos would send raiders to try and lure the Dark Eldar into an attack of opportunity, or perhaps into the range of their… corrupting influence. All the while the Dark Eldar would respond to the raiders as if they were a probing attack, crushing them completely and utterly without a moment to even fight. So this status quo of watching the border, waiting for an attack that would never come would stay prevalent throughout the months. There was no action to be had between the Dark Forces of Chaos and the Twisted Desires of the Kabal. Not yet at least.

 

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Stand Firm. For the Greater Good.​

The Battle of Olholon eastwards, as bloody as it was, was a mere microcosm of the War between the Greater Good and the Greater Gods. On the westward flank of that battle, the True war began. And Lo, it was a War to behold. Across the dense Forests of the Northern Continent, across every hill and slope, through every ravine and across every stream. At every town and upon every trench, the War for the soul of the world of Sleptis only ramped up. The Dead only piled higher, the foxholes only multiplied, and the Battle showed no end except through death.

Hearts black and intentions darker, the Forces of Chaos had gathered a mighty mechanized column and fired it directly into the heart of the Tau Lines. Dark rituals, powered by the anguished blood of the innocent had empowered and emboldened their Heretics. Believing they had caught the attention of their vile, despicable gods, the Forces of chaos were granted boons, to assist in their assault. Two, to be specific. The first, the Blessing of the Dark Winds, providing the soldiery, and vehicles, of Chaos with vicious speed and haste - and causing their corrupted vehicles to seemingly cackle through their rumbling engines and many Tau Soldiers to be run down by both crazed man and despicable machine. The Second was known as the Dark Staring Eye of the Gods, cast a light on many - but not all - of the Tau Forces, routing them from their hidden holds and traps along the border. Reliant on their Technology and otherwise mundane methodology, the Tau Stealthsuits and Kroot Skrimishershad no defense against the whims of the malevolent and immaterial, but at least their discipline and doctrine did wonder to prevent the Tau's vanguard from suffering too greatly.


Dashing across the border with the might of Dark Winds hastening them along, the Champions Sathugore and Thagone were disappointed to seemingly move unopposed - recorded to have dammed the coward Tau with all their fury. But as if Summoned, the loudest cries of damnation were followed by the shriek of Tau Plasma; and the Forces of the Greater Good taking a stand against the Darkest Gods.

General Shas'el Mu'gulath Gree'vas has been elevated to the Command of the Tau Forces on Sleptis, and now places himself directly between the innocent masses the Empire claims to protect and the Vile Cultists of Heretics who sought to defile, and destroy them. The General had hoped to draw chaos forces into a trap, to encircle and to destroy them. Had these Heretics been conventional and mundane such a trap might have worked but empowered with the blessings of Dark Gods, such decisive warfare was denied to the Tau, and much like in Olholon, what remained was a brutal, bloody brawl. Trenches lined the hills and woods, and the Chaotic Attack was stopped outright.

In Spite of the failed trap, Gree'vas and his men overcome the Warp-God's magics, and begin to press them back - and as the days pass, increasingly so. Though denied skirmishers against an enemy moving with a violent speed, the lauded might of Tau Rifles, tanks, and battlesuits made mincemeat of the Heretic soldiery, their madness not lending as much protection to Railguns and Ion bolts as they probably would have hoped. Indeed, despite the brawl, the situation seemed to favor Tau forces. For a brief moment, this seemed to alleviate the loss of total surprise, and before long it seemed like the Tau had done enough to seize the victory - even the initial losses from the Chaos speed had been negated.

But the Disciples of Dark Deities had further maneuvers.

Appearing on his flank, another massed wave of Heretics sought to drive the mighty soldiery of the Greater Good off the field. This Force, a horde of evermore crazed renegades who's words either prized ancient, eldritch abominations or bayed for the Blood of their foes, pushed the scales of battle back towards even, and the advantage held ever brief by the tau slipped from their grasp.

To match the flanking force, the Ace Battlesuit Pilot Shas'Vre Mu'gulath Shi'dax - also known as the Crimson Comment - took to the field. To oppose him, came to bare the simply named Wardens - a coven of heretical psykers who wield Dark Magics the Tau Empire denies even exist. Their disbelief in the Immaterial would not, unfortunately, protect the Soldiery of the Greater Good. The Crimson Comment and his comrades dive into the fray with the Renegades, their Battlesuits proving far a match for the under-armed and under-equipped zealots of the Eight Sided Star. But Shi'dax match was found in the heretical Magics of the Wardens, their Psykers instilling Terror and horror upon the Tau like never before. The Wytches stopped the Battlesuits from seizing victory in the field, but it did prove a boon elsewhere. The dedicated assaults of the Tau gave time to Gree'vas to break his stalemate, and force the Champions and their warhost to retreat. Upon learning this, the Wardens disappeared back into the lines, and Shai'dax was left to tend to the broken minds of his men.

Elsewhere, the news of Chaos' assault was the signal for the Tau's own Counter Attack. A Kroot Shaper, Kordag Blightfang, would rally his command to move north, to attack, and to slaughter the Chaotic Renegades in the name of their Greater Good. In a delightful turn for the Tau, the Shaper would find a cunning and tactically decisive success. A force the Chaotic Planners had called the "Split Off", marched, crazed, and maddened, right into Kroot's Claws. Despite the blessings of their Dark Gods, they were butchered like the vermin the Tau Considered them. Their Immaterial eyes did foretell this attack but it did not help them in the slightest, and their unholy speed only hastened their demise. For the first time, and to the relief of the Tau forces all across the world of Sleptis, a clear victory - even, if only for a moment.

Retreating from the brawl with Gree'vas, the Champion Sathugore was forced to depart his retreating Column and fight the Shaper Blightfang, he and his troops standing high in victory. This attack, conducted by the remnants of those who threw themselves into the Bloody battle with Gree'vas men, it only heightened the sweet victory the Tau faced as crazed zealots ran haphazardly into their fire and were torn limb from limb. Once more, a tactical victory, but the Champion's change had a purpose - to delay the Tau, and provide a chance for the Warband to salvage the day.

Around the city of Tanburh, the Renegades made their stand, and for the first time in all the fighting, the Tau were on the attack, and it was Chaos who made a desperate stand. If the Tau won here, they could turn the tide - end the stalemate, the brawl, the death. If Tanburh fell, they could win. But Tanburh did not fall - in a twisted, and evil inversion of how Olholon in the west became a rallying cry for Tau, Tanburh became one for the soldiers of the Dark Gods. A reserve force had been held back by the forces of Chaos, filled with heretics...displeased to be withheld from the service of their Gods. But when Tanburh came under threat, their dark howls of war were answered, and they charged into the fray. In the fields before Tanbruh, the Reserve and the Shaper fought, and the Tau were driven back by the Dark Gods Disciples, their previous uncostly victories dampened by a brutal flight from the field.

The months of the war, from Olholon to Tanbruh, had, against the attempts of both Renegade and Fire Warrior, produced a Strategic Stalemate. Chaos suffered more in the way of death, but the Tau, bloodied far more than they had imagined, were unable to press the assault, and instead were locked in desperate defense or recovery against the unspeakable evils of the Eight-Sided Star. Sleptis was bathed in blood, and the war had only just begun.

(Thanks to @Furrybacon for the report!)

 

[Hyvelic]

The Bulwark of the Imperium Stands.​

If there was ever a battlefront more unlike the highborn Captain Sidney Alistar's extravagant and comfortable family estate, it was this. His Tenth Army Group had been deployed to the southwest to defend against the Ork hordes, their positions anchored only by the towns of Marh to the north and Kahr to the east. Much of the front was an undeveloped swamp, and Alitar's men would thank the God-Emperor if their trenches weren't flooded through before they were fully dug. They would have to innovate, and the captain eventually settled on constructing a string of above-ground fortifications dotting the muck. The lucky guardsmen got musty and perpetually damp ferrocrete bunkers. The unlucky ones got told to chop down some trees and build themselves a blockhouse.

The captain had been sent with a sheaf of papers from the Warmaster requesting an assault on Solfach to destabilize the Ork lines supported by flying ace Iotapianus Leonidas and his crack air wing. In preparation, they sent out over a dozen elite scout teams to find targets and track enemy movements. Most would not survive. First, they reported streams of Orks from the battle at Bolburg making their way south. Then they reported massive columns, a swarm; much of the Warboss's right flank had decided they were the better scrap. Then, they were being surrounded and overrun.

Those that did make it back faced the grim prospect of defending the front lines against a horde of Orks charging into the marshlands like army ants, ripping up everything in their path. Many garrisons were swept up and surrounded on all sides like the high ground in a flood. There was hardly any point in aiming at all. Even a blind man could score a hit with every lasbolt in his powerpack firing into that mob. Some positions held, some were swallowed up and devoured, and another sort of fortification emerged. In places where Orks had fallen, then fallen as they mucked through their own corpses, then fallen as they clambered over the growing piles of bodies, a gory sort of rampart arose which was sometimes manned as a forward defense by enterprising Guardsmen.

The charging Orks came as thick as the grass on the savannah, and Leonidas's air wing scythed across the skies, annihilating hundreds of Orks per sortie as they dodged battalions' worth of groundfire spat up, like inverted rainfall, from below. Artillery shells slammed into the center of the largest hordes, sending green bodies flying. Sometimes their firepower saved a bunker, sometimes it wasn't enough. This wasn't a battle for great heroics. This was a battle where there was the enemy and there was your ammunition, and you could only pray to the God-Emperor that the former ran out before the latter.

And yet the Tenth Army Group fought on because they would gladly lay down their lives for the Emperor because they knew that every Ork they tied up here wasn't attacking their comrades at Bolburg, or just because they had no way to run. And the tide slowed. In the north, the Warboss pulled his army back. The Orks dispersed over the course of long and weary days. The Tenth Army was battered, exhausted, and running low on every possible form of ammunition, but the Emperor's bulwark did not break.

Thanks to @Another Amoeba for the report!

 

[Hyvelic]

♫
From the Taiga to the furthest seas, all of Sleptis rings with the sounds of war
In the southwest, those sounds are the thunder of armored treads.​

Gab'Smasha the Red, Ork Speed Freak is driving north to Tuterheim, leading a powerful force of Orkish vehicles along with some looty, shooty, tek loving gas huffin sons of guns (and a lot of grotz). At its core, his plan is elegant in its simplicity. Go fast and hit hard looting, and shooting all the while. Gab'Smasha hopes to be through Tuterheim and on the way to khar, leaving only ruins and scrap behind him before too long.
His plans quickly run into a wall, not the walls of Tuterheim but the steel wall of the Imperial Guard's mechanized forces.

Gab'Smasha was not the only command of an armored column with the inclination to use it on the South West front. Colonel Hernandez Bierkortte (Loyal Servant of the God-Emperor of Mankind) was himself commanding Imperial forces on the front, and when a man is in command of a Baneblade, it is a natural for him to desire to unleash all eleven barrels of fury on the foe. This desire was in fact the main thing that the Colonel had in common with his counterpart. One many have been a man, educated in a military academy, treating the tactica imperialis like a sacred text, whereas the other was an ork learned in the school of 'ard knocks, and completely illiterate, but in the end both of them kindred spirits in their deep-set desire to blow things up with their tanks.

Bierkortte's force had been divided into three sections, Sections Schwarz, Weiß, and Blau. Though initial plans had called for alternate deployments, as Imperial and Orkish elements began to clash and it became clear that Section Weiß would be unequal to the task of meeting the Orkish offensive, Section Schwarz was reassigned to Weiß's front and vice versa.

The armies would meet and clash not far from Tuterheim. From the beginning of the clash, it was clear that the Imperial Forces had the edge. By the time that the Speed Freak forces had made contact, their air support had noticeably thinned, leaving the Aeronautica Imperialis dominating the skies. On the ground, the Imperial Baneblade proved why it was so valued and renowned as it shrugged of loota fire and annihilated trukks. Getting their teeth kicked in by a massive tank did not noticeably demoralize the Orks in any way, they were in fact having the time of their lives, but as the battle continued to develop in the favor of the Imperial Armor Gab'Smasha made the call to pull back in order to "'ave anotha go later". Imperial attempts to pursue were limited, a result of both their being in little shape to do so and the incredible speed of the Orkish vehicles. While the main clash occurred in the south, sections Weiß and Blau made their own advances, overrunning Orkish territory all the way to Hauderwait with minimal losses. By the end of the 90 days, the Orkish army was licking its wounds in Imelrech, spirits high. As Gab'Smasha watched, his meks went to work on what tank wreckage they had recovered, thinking of the Baneblade he exhorted "make me one but propah orky, biggah flash, with more dakka AND MAKE IT RED!"


Thanks to @JuliusNepos for the report!

 

[Hyvelic]

Under the Midnight lit Road, the Strangers Plot and Scheme​

On Sleptis, there are a variety of factions fighting for dominance of the planet, for one reason or another. Each side has a story, and each side has plots and trickery unknown to the rest, Grihzareah for example would make his way to the Northern reaches of the Imperial border, where three factions, the Imperials, the Tau, and the forces of Chaos met and would fight over territory for one day.

They would slink their way through the lines of all three factions and in their mischief, for what else could it be called, and find himself disrupting the best-laid plans of Man and Tau in a variety of ways. At first, they had intended to merely have their fun by causing havoc for any forces on the march in the region, to tip the scale in an unforeseen way.

Sadly such a thing could not happen for the armies of Chaos, the Tau, and the Imperium were all… distracted with other matters leaving a small wrinkle in the plan the Incubus had made. Though, they were not one to let this get them down and instead saw this as another opportunity.

While the best hopes of an attack were crushed with the actions of the others, Grihzareah sought to bring down the carefully made peace between the Tau and the Imperium. By their hand, tensions would raise to an amount far higher than expected. It was only due to several factors that it did not end in bloodshed.

One of those reasons being a dark feeling in the Incubus' instincts. Something dark and vile was occurring, and before whatever it was that was going on could take effect upon them, they left with their job incomplete. Another scheme to take place within the damned confines of Sleptis was under the direct eye of the Thousand Screams themself.

They would make their way to Marzell where they had received rumors of something that would prove interesting to the foul city of Commoragh, and the Archon was not disappointed in the slightest. Within the looted ruins of Marzell, the Archon would find an untapped source of slaves, loot, and more within the confines of the city. The amount of these resources was enough to sate a normal entity, at least for a while, but what they also found there would without a doubt draw the attention of several other Kabals, and potentially bring a large number of opportunists who would see the planet as untapped potential. But they were not the only ones who would find things of worth, however.

Three followers of the Dark Gods would move out for their own nefarious purposes. Reyna Pola, a follower of the Prince of Excess, the Chaos God Slaanesh would venture out from the hole they were hiding under to the city of Chiple, they would pursue a variety of rumors and whispers to seek supplies and resources not yet taken initially. This proved to be worth it as the whispers and searching lead her to two locations. At the first was a… source of continuous favor from Slaanesh, and that is all that needs to be said. At the other was a prize well worth the searching as well, for there was an intact factory within the city. This factory would allow whoever holds it to produce a variety of civilian-grade vehicles as long as it was supplied with materials. Materials the dark forces of chaos had more than ample access to.

The second follower, Khryruse, travels to the city of Merton where their search leads to a simple discovery. The city still had plentiful resources in which to exploit and sacrifice for divine favor from the Dark Gods themselves. After securing this location he would soon after find… something else. It is unsure what exactly it was, but many said it was an unidentified sword that held unknown properties. Though all who lived agreed it was filled with the Malice of Khorne itself.

The final servant, Rathmor, would travel to Loutbury and they would find a factory. Unlike the previously mentioned civilian factory, this one was a military-grade factory. This factory would allow his forces, or the forces of chaos themselves, to have two options in how they use it. The first would be to arm more of their forces in a consistent manner in ranged weaponry, or they could increase the quality and combat output of their already armed forces. Either option would increase the price their enemies would pay as long as the factory remained in play.

The last scene of trickery, scheming, and general cunning would not arise from a suspected source. Instead of the cunning of an Imperial Agent preparing to strike at a target, it was something more Feral. Instead of additional arrogance unseen to the mortal coil from a follower of the Changer of ways, there was a simple motive. Instead of highly sophisticated gear to optimize their task, they had only the most primitive weapons possible. Instead of Pale skin, with a sadistic smile, it was a green-skinned monster.

Different events would conspire to allow the Ork Kommando Deffstalka to plague the battlefield. He would capture the injured in the North, inside the border of the Kabal's Territory looking for… something. What it could be was yet to be found out, but it surely would not be good for all of those involved on the other end of the scheme.