Skypehammer Round 5: Civil War

The campaign for Averment continues, but a schism has developed in the Imperial lines...



Adeptus Mechanicus vs Imperial Guard!

Private Jonquil Jones slapped the last piece of her lasgun back together, knocked back her slug of Requila ('Commissariat Approved Reclaimed Alcohol, the Eagle Standard!') and rose to her feet in triumph.

The cantina erupted in cheers. Gunnery Officer Belzedere Raphaeli was a dark-skinned, smoky-eyed slice of man topped with a swirl of black hair you just wanted to grab and pull hard on, but he couldn't strip a lasgun for shit. She definitely had his attention now, just as he had the mockery of all his tanker buddies. The evening was definitely going to get interesting. 

"Dynamite Company! Fall in!" 

Eernheart's voice cut through the genial din like a power sword through corpse starch. Instantly, all sense of bonhomie was gone. The torpid air of the cantina swirled as to a soldier, they swept up their gear and ran out at the double. Jonquil somehow managed to collide with Belzedere in the doorway. They squeezed past each other as they made for the makeshift parade ground outside. 

"Rematch later?" he asked her, but she just smiled. He'd lost, and she'd take her pound of flesh when she was ready.

---

This battle features a clash of opposing gunlines: Mikey P will command the Adeptus Mechanicus against Monkey's Imperial Guard.

We've also started to allocate bonuses to the warlords after each game (essentially a variation on the Chaos Boon table). Keeping in lock-step, both Tech-Priest Dominus and Company Commander rolled 3" increase on all aura abilities and weapon ranges.

And in a plot twist: the Adeptus Mechanicus appear to be cutting ties with The Alliance and pledging their support to a third, unaligned faction - the Unknowables!

Adeptus Mechanicus - Forge World Mars

+++NOOSPHERIC UPLOAD INCOMING +++ Additional forces inbound from Forge World +++ Continue assigned mission and /// BINHARIC OVERRIDE /// Overwrite previous instructions +++ 73 percent of data relays rendered inoperable by enemy action +++ Further loss of data unacceptable +++ Acquisition of telemetric site absolute imperative +++ Activate Unknowables Protocol +++ Remove imperial presence from grid +++ NOOSPHERIC UPLOAD ENDS +++

• Jonathon Fyve - Tech-Priest Dominus (HQ) (Warlord)
  Macrostubber, Omnissian Axe, Volkite Blaster
  Warlord Trait: Necromechanic 
  Relic: Autocaduceus of Arkhan Land
• Tech-Priest Engineer (HQ)
  Laspistol, Omnissian Axe, Servo-arm
• 6 x Skitarii Rangers (Troops)
  6 x Galvanic Rifle
• 5 x Skitarii Vanguards (Troops)
  Alpha: Arc Maul, Arc Pistol, 3 x Radium Carbine, 1 x Arc Rifle
• 5 x Skitarii Vanguards (Troops)
  Alpha: Radium Pistol, Taser Goad, 2 x Radium Carbine, 2 x Plasma Caliver
• 2 x Ironstrider Ballistarii (Fast)
  Broad Spectrum Data-tether, Twin Cognis Autocannon
• Onager Dunecrawler (Heavy)
  2 x Cognis Heavy Stubber, Neutron Laser

Warlord bonus: All aura abilities and weapon ranges increased by 3”

Points: 500 | Level: 40 |

Imperial Guard, Valhallan - The 34th Outpost

Eernheart, old crocus! I’m afraid there’s a bit of a rum do with these steel-stockinged johnnies that are supposed to be supporting your lads. According to our intel chaps, they’ve dropped a couple of screws loose from their heads and are now planning to hamstring the whole show. Take a couple of your jalopies out for a spin and turn them into paperclips, there’s a poppet. I’ll have your amsec waiting for you in the Mess when you get back.

• Commander Q. Eernheart III - Company Commander (HQ) (Warlord)
  Laspistol, Chainsword, Frag grenades
  Warlord Trait: Master of Command
  Relic: The Laurels of Command
• Tank Commander  (HQ)
  Battle Cannon, 3 x Heavy Bolters, Heavy Stubber, Hunter-Killer Missile
• A Squad - 10 x Infantry Squad (Troops)
  Sgt with chainsword and laspistol, 6 x lasguns, plasma gun, missile launcher
• B Squad - 10 x Infantry Squad (Troops)
  Sgt with chainsword and boltgun, 6 x lasguns, grenade launcher, missile launcher
• C Squad - 10 x Infantry Squad (Troops)
  Sgt with chainsword and laspistol, 6 x lasguns, plasma gun, autocannon
• Hellhound (Fast)
  Heavy Flamer, Inferno Cannon

Warlord bonus: All aura abilities and weapon ranges increased by 3”

Points: 500 | Level: 31 |

Mission and Deployment

Eernheart was out in front, impeccable despite the sweltering evening heat. Dusty red light flickered from the brim of his cap, he could put a Commissar to shame. Dynamite Company, reinforcements rushed into service from the planet's populace, snapped to attention as he spoke. 

"Recruits! As you know, our comrades from the Adeptus Mechanicus will shortly be arriving at this outpost. They are here to refit our transport vehicles and anoint the holy relay mechanisms we have been guarding."

"About time," Renfrew muttered next to Jonquil. The Chimeras that they'd rode in on were barely functioning scrap. One of them had an exit hatch actually held on by boot straps. Jonquil threw the decrepit vehicles a dirty look, she still stank of exhaust fumes from the trip in.

"At 2045 hours, one hour from now, they will be arriving. This outpost will outshine the finest Deversoria that the Nephilim Sector has to offer! It will..."

The rest of Eernheart's speech was lost in a terrific explosion and an eye-searing blaze of light. A blue-white line cut through the row of parked Chimera by the relay tower, and all three of them exploded. Through the ringing in her ears, Jonquil could hear a feedback howl, some kind of rising static siren.

They were under attack. 

We're playing the Eternal War - Front-Line Warfare mission from Chapter Approved 2019. At the end of every round, points are scored for the four objectives (one for the objective in your deployment zone, two for the two objectives in the middle, and a whopping four for the one in your enemy's zone). Plus the usual First Strike, Linebreaker and Slay the Warlord points.



The AdMech castle up around the centre of their lines: Dunecrawler and Ironstriders, screened by Rangers with the Tech-Priest Dominus and Enginseer backing them up.



A squad of Vanguard went on either flank: the squad with the arc weapons hugging the cantina building on the left flank, and the plasma weapon squad among the ruins on the right flank.



On the opposite side of the field, the Imperial Guard form a skirmish line of three squads, the Company Commander behind them.



The Hellhound deploys on the extreme left flank, ready to race forward. The Leman Russ Tank Commander parks directly behind the power station. Thanks to the enormous tower in the centre of the field, this should have left the tank hidden from every AdMech gun - except the commander was poking out of the turret rather conspicuously (opps!) and can be seen by the Ironstriders.



The AdMech have the decision, and choose the Imperial Guard to go first!

Turn 1 - Imperial Guard

Everyone was running, diving for cover behind the nearest pipeline. Tank crews sprinted for their vehicles. Only Eernheart seemed unfazed, his cut-glass diction piercing through the chaos like lasfire.

"Squads A and C! Flank and go forward! Squad B, covering fire on my mark. Go go go!

Requila still pulsing in her veins, Private Jones knelt behind the pipe and took aim. There they were, the traitors! More of the renegades who'd wiped out so many of the old guard who'd been stationed out here. Her grandfather had been one of them, she'd blast as many of the bastards as she could in his name and the Emperor's.

Lasfire filled the air, several of the sinister, cloaked figures advancing on the outpost dropped in the dust. "Yes!" Jones shouted as her first shot of the war connected, flinging her target headlong on the sand. 

"Hold! Hold your fire!" Vancer, the sergeant was shouting at everyone, his face a fearful rictus.

"Friendlies! Repeat, we're dropping friendlies!"

It's a cautious advance for the replacements of the 34th. C Squad on the right flank breaks cover from behind the generators and eyes up their middle objective. On the left flank, A Squad moves towards the left-middle objective.

In the centre, B Squad holds firm, looking after their Commander (who, thanks to his new boosted aura, can now shout effectively at all three squads).

The Leman Russ stays put, since the Tank Commander can see the Ironstriders ahead of her (popping the hatch not so foolish now!), while the Hellhound races forward and puts on track onto the middle objective.

 

With an order of Move! Move! Move!, A Squad race onto their middle objective and try to look inconspicuous.

With their guns mostly out of range, B and C Squads are ineffective, but the Leman Russ has better luck when its battle cannon blasts away one of the Ironstriders, and the heavy bolters pick off two of the Arc Rifle Vanguard.



Drawing a bead through the ruins, the Hellhound unleashes its Inferno Cannon on the plasma Vanguard and incinerates three of them.



With no First Strike achieved, the Arc Rifle Vanguard passes morale, and Mikey P spends 2CP to ensure the Plasma Vanguard pass their morale check.

Turn 1 - Adeptus Mechanicus

"What do you mean, 'friendlies'?" Renfrew shouted at the sarge. 

"It's the Admech! They're here early! It's a mistake! A Squad's on the vox, we're firing on the Admech!"

Eernheart was there in a flash, nearly tearing the headset off Clements. "A Squad, report!" he snapped, loud enough that the vox was probably redundant. Jonquil stared, wide-eyed, at the figures she'd just fired on. They were still advancing. Backlit by the evening sun, they were shadow and fire. They could be anyone, anything.

There was a close, distinct rattle. Ballistic weapons, a crackling staccato quite distinct from lasfire. Somebody screamed on the other side of the control tower. 

"C squad?" Eernheart barked. 

The big beasts remain still, but the Skitarii are sent forward to secure the objectives (they're scored at the end of each round, so possession counts).



The two plasma Vanguard jump up into the upper levels of the ruins, where they can at least gain a cover save and be screened from infantry fire.

The three remaining Arc Vanguard advance towards the centre objective, getting one steel-capped boot onto it.



The Rangers move into rapid-fire range of A Squad, readying themselves to charge onto the objective.

Before that can happen, the Dunecrawlers heavy stubbers open up and take off half the squad. It has less good fortune with its neutron laser, which twice fails the Hellhound (rolling a pair of 2s - the only result the Dominus can't help with).



The remaining Ironstrider and plasma Vanguard also target the Hellhound, stripping away half its wounds (which, thanks to its Vahallan trait, will not impede it at all).

With the charge looking too long, even for their bionic legs, the Rangers open fire on A Squad and gun down the rest of them, securing First Strike.

As the round ends, both sides have their home objective and one of the centre ones, with a bonus for the AdMech.

Imperial Guard 3 : 4 AdMech

Turn 2 - Imperial Guard

"A Squad's down," Eernheart yapped, throwing the vox down. Amazingly, he managed to raise his voice further still. "Advance, firing in good order!"

Renfrew threw Jones a confused look. She shrugged, got to her feet and vaulted the pipe. 

"Come and get some!" she screamed, sprinting forward and snapping off a blast from her lasgun. 

Up ahead, she could see C Squad descend on the troopers they'd been firing on. They weren't firing back, they just kept marching straight towards the control tower even as C Squad fixed bayonets and overwhelmed them. Were they oblivious? Drugged?

Through the gathering dark, up ahead, something lumbered on huge, steel pistons. A brutalist vision of an insect, belching smoke and topped with a twelve-foot long cannon. The top of the thing was a turret, she realised as it rotated left, then a double pulse of searing light flashed from the gun and left her blind. 

Cursing, she stumbled, losing her footing in the dust. Somewhere nearby, something exploded. 

Undaunted, the Guard press on - C Squad move closer to the middle objective, with B Squad leaving the home objective to back them up.

The Hellhound swings around the ruins, but keeps hold of its middle objective and keeps the Vanguard in sight.



The only imperials who appear slightly daunted are the Commander, who hides behind the plasma reactor, ready to shout orders very loudly, and the Tank Commander, who is not ready to break cover and challenge the Dunecrawler yet.



In Shooting, the Tank Commander repeats the success of last time and destroys the second Ironstrider, which this time explodes and injures the two Mechanicus HQs.



The weapons fire from B and C Squad struggle to penetrate the shroudpsalm of the AdMech and only gun down two of the Arc Vanguard, leaving the Alpha alive.

The Hellhound trains all its guns against the Plasma Vanguard and roasts them both.

With the impetuosity of Space Wolves, C Squad charge and envelop the lone Vanguard Alpha, secretly hoping to keep him alive and remain impervious to counterfire.

Sadly, not even humble Guardsman are that incompetent in melee, and the skitarus is beaten down, leaving the objective in the Guard's hands.

Turn 2 - Adeptus Mechanicus

Renfrew had her by the elbow, dragged her upright again. 

"What is that?" he said. "Are we supposed to charge it?"

The walker ahead was thumping steadily towards them, turret tracking back in their direction. The static chant she'd heard before was louder now. There were figures walking along under the spider tank, if that was the right word for their scuttling gait. The noise was coming from them. 

C Squad were still firing into the bodies of the troopers they'd overrun when a second group, just a few of them, appeared from round the side of the building. It took a split second, too fast to comprehend - C Squad, troopers she'd known all the way through boot camp, were shot down. Almost all of them, dead. 

A glowing dot of light flicked past her, green as a firefly. At her side, Renfrew gasped. The walker was firing on them, automated stubbers clacking back and forth like the antennae on a lobster as they sought targets. Renfrew bled.

What infantry remains to the AdMech all swing towards the left - which coincidentally is the opposite direction to the oncoming Hellhound.



The Dunecrawler's heavy stubbers sweep across C Squad before it once again turns its neutron laser on the Hellhound - rolling another pair of 2s. A CP reroll results in a hit finally being scored, but the machine is still left effective on three wounds left.



The Rangers turn their galvanic rifles onto C Squad, killing all but two of them (but now making the charge onto the objective impossible).



With two centre objectives in their hands, the Guard now overtake the lead, and it's looking thin on the ground for the Mechanicus.

 Imperial Guard 7 : 5 AdMech 

Turn 3 - Imperial Guard

"Forward! Forward for the Emperor! Avenge our glorious dead!" Eernheart was shrieking somewhere nearby. 

And Jones found herself very willing to obey. Even as Renfrew toppled backwards, she was up and running, finger pulling hard on her lasgun trigger. It bucked and shuddered in her arms, as eager to get to grips with these traitors as she was.

There was a whistle, a roar, and the dirt at the feet of the walker erupted in a massive plume of flame. Shells! The tanks were coming round to support them! 

Jones ran, firing from the hip, blasting one of the robed troopers ahead. She was aware that she was shouting, but she wasn't really listening to herself. There was a war to fight!

While C Squad hunkers down on the objective, it falls on B Squad to charge upfield. On the other flank, the Hellhound swings around and starts heading for the enemy centre.

And now the big play - the Leman Russ finds its parking brake and moves off the backline, drawing a bead on the Dunecrawler while reclaiming the home objective.

Small arms fire is ineffective, and even the Hellhound's flamers start to run dry, claiming only two of the Rangers.

The real fireworks are reserved for the Leman Russ, who opens up with everything on the Dunecrawler and scores a barrage of hits. The poor machine (who never really found the on switch today) then fails all of its saves and is utterly destroyed.



The Guard follow this up with yet another bayonet charge - B Squad going into the last of the Rangers. It becomes something of a ticklefest, with only one from each side falling, but the momentum is definitely with those in olive drab.

Turn 3 - Adeptus Mechanicus

The next shell from the Leman Russ caromed off the armoured turret of the walker. It seemed to grunt under the impact, metal feet scrabbling momentarily in the dirt as though startled. Then the turret was turning relentlessly round again, that huge cannon searching for a shot. 

It never came. Behind them, the Leman Russ barked in anger once again, and the entire turret of the creature blew apart. Ammunition cooked off, sending tracer rounds sparkling away into the dusk. 

A figure twice as tall again as a man stalked out of the blazing wreckage. It wasn't remotely human, it looked more like a robotic prawn. Where were its legs? 

A hatch on its back opened, and a small cylinder popped up. A nozzle folded sharply out from that and started pouring out bullets at an impossible rate, making an almost comical rattling noise. Jones flung herself to the ground, but Cronan and Mills folded to the ground right in front of her. 

Very little options remain for the AdMech. The Rangers fall out of combat and hug the side of the building. The Enginseer steps over the wreckage of the Dunecrawler to reclaim the home objective. The Dominus steps up to lead the counterattack consisting of himself).

As Volkite bounces off the Hellhound, and the macrostubber only takes down one of C Squad (which does take them off the objective), the Dominus charges into B Squad for a further round of ineffective punches.

It's just a single point for their home objective, while the Guard can claim a point for their home objective and the Hellhound's objective, solidifying their lead.

Imperial Guard 10 : 6 AdMech 

Turn 4 - Imperial Guard

"Charge! Charge!" Eernheart gave the word an extra letter Y and enough venom to cripple an Ambull. Jones started squeezing the trigger of the lasgun, but the low-power warning sounded, so she shipped it over her left shoulder, pulled out her bayonet and ran, screaming, towards the nightmare figure ahead of her. 

Some of the robot troopers were still standing, she dimly realised. On crooked metal legs, faces defiled by lenses and grills, they were huddled against the wall of the control tower. Along with the rest of her squad, she'd just run directly into their sights. With precise clockwork movements, they were taking aim. 

With a hostile, gravelly rumble, Dynamite Company's Hellhound powered around the other side of the tower, and the gunmen vanished in a crimson cloud of fire. 

Something slammed into her, hot as hell and solid as a brick wall. Dust and dirt was everywhere, she was on her back, her mouth tasted of soot. 

Towering over her, metal pinions clacking, was the disturbing creature she was supposed to be charging. Under its tattered hood she could see a face made of whirring cameras and writhing cables, made even worse by the ancient, human jaw juddering at its bottom. Its voice seemed to issue from its chest, an ill-modulated burble. 

+++A:SURRENDER THE RELAY B:CEASE RESISTANCE IF A&B=TRUE THEN [insert hostile identifier here] VITAL SIGNS MAY BE PERMITTED TO CONTINUE+++

"Eat my bayo, traitor!" Jones screamed at it, and swung the blade round into what she hoped was its leg. 

The blade snapped on unforgiving metal, and the spidery creature settled over her. A spiked metal pole extruded from another port, and the head of it fanned out into a cog-wheeled axe blade that crackled with ozone. 

+++CONTRADICTION: I NO LONGER REQUIRE NUTRITION+++ 

It lunged down with snake-like speed, and everything went black. 

The advance is complete. B Squad fall out of combat, onto the AdMech's home objective, supported by the Hellhound.

The Leman Russ races across the backline, forgoing the double-shot of grinding advance for a chance to unload onto the enemy warlord.

The Commander runs forward, ordering himself to Move! Move! Move! so he can tell B Squad to Get Back In The Fight!.

Accordingly, the guardsman open up on the Rangers, slaying all of them. The Leman Russ has a rare mistep, and fails to kill the Dominus, but the Hellhound is at point-blank range and has no such problem.

With the warlord down, and only the Enginseer looking at the whole Guard army bearing down upon him, the battle is called there.

Imperial Guard 16 : 6 AdMech

Victory to the Imperial Guard!

---

Jonquil lay gasping on the scorching sands. Bits of burning metal were lying all around her. She felt like she'd eaten half the desert. All the strength in her legs was gone, it took all she had left just to lie still and stare at the pillars of smoke rolling up into the sky all around her.

A massive, angular shape rumbled into view. She couldn't hear it, just feel it. She couldn't hear anything right now. 

Blurry figures picked her up. Something slammed into her back once, twice, a third time. Someone grabbed her face and kissed her. The world swam vaguely back into focus. 

"Golden bloody Throne," she coughed. "What happened?"

"You owe me, Jones," said Gunner Raphaeli, his satyr face lit up in a blazing smile. "It was a shot in a million, but I shot that bastard right off the top of you."

Jonquil smiled brilliantly back at him. "Tell you what," she said, "I'm willing to call it quits."

---

Campaign Map

The Unknowables miss their opportunity to put their stake on the map, as the Alliance claim another sector.

Locker Room

I was keen to see how this fight played out - as it's the closest we had to a mirror-match of heavy vehicles and fragile infantry.

As with small games, luck played a significant part - the failure of the Dunecrawler's neutron laser left the Hellhound free to rampage unanswered. That said, it proved a canny move for the Leman Russ to hold its nerve until the third round before breaking cover and starting (and ending!) the tank duel.

It was fun game to watch - not least to see two shooting armies charging into each other with abandon. I guess the AdMech side could have done with some Infiltrators or Electro-Priests here, but the limitations of my collection left them a bit hamstring.

So that's another win for the Alliance, and not a moment too soon, since they seem to have lost one of their member to another faction.

But all is not rosy with The Cabal either, who are having something of a leadership dispute...