Angels in the Architecture: Space Foxes vs Drukhari

Sweetwater Egress campaign: Episode 7

Serjalan Creese, Burgomeister of Sweetwater, leans against the wreck of his Chimera transport and takes a heavy drag on his autohaler. 

The tank is caput. Smoke is still rising from the burnt-out cabin. He thinks they hit a mine - the front end of the tank is the most damaged, tracks shredded and slumping into a blackened crater on the road. The driver and the gunner are both dead, killed in the blast. Strapped into his combat webbing in the crew compartment, he's escaped with no more than a bruised forehead. 

Escaped. He almost laughs - it's not really the right word. The planet is dying, the people placed in his care dead or as good as. The cathedrals and shrines he's kept in pristine condition all these years are broken rubble. 

There was no point joining the desperate hordes at the spaceport. Yes, he could have pulled rank, ensured himself a place on a transport. Where would he run to? Imperial space is a death sentence, he knows he'll be held responsible for the loss of the planet. Some border outpost? A xenos world? 

No, he might as well die here. He'd wanted to see the cathedral at Balaama once more, the gorgeous carved facade with its statues of saints ascending to the Throne. There had been less fighting there, he'd heard. So he'd taken his personal transport from the underground vehicle pool, left in the dead of night without telling anyone other than the crew and planned on sitting in front of the cathedral until the world caved in, drinking amasec and puffing myrrphine to dull the pain of loss. 

Well, he's here now. He pulls his greatcoat tighter around himself. The early morning chill is creeping through both the thick wool and the pleasant haze of his drugs. It's made worse by the deaths of his crew and worse still by knowing the sun isn't going to come up today. No dawn creeping down the marble statues, slowly shading the white stone with flesh tones. Just the hateful deep red of the burning sky staining everything a scabby crimson. 

Half the cathedral is gone, anyway. The great saints are lying broken on the ground along with the bell tower. Only the lower tiers remain with their ranks of lesser angels. He raises his bottle to them in a sad salute, takes a long drag and chases it with a deep chestful of myrrphine. 

One of the angels salutes back.

---

The campaign rages on (catch up on previous episodes here) as b1llyb0b's Space Foxes face the wanton cruelty of Rapid's Drukhari!

Space Foxes

It's the same force as last time (not a lot of choice about that!), but the Space Foxes will be looking to improve upon their draw against the Death Guard.

• Basilanus - Primaris Captain (warlord)
  Master-crafted Power Sword, Relic Shield 
• Lieutenant with Combi-weapon 
• 5 x Assault Intercessor Squad
  Sergeant with Plasma Pistol and Power Fist 
• 3 x Aggressor Squad
  Flamestorm Gauntlets 
• 3 x Suppressor Squad 
• 3 x Outrider Squad

Drukhari

The Drukhari similarly have something to prove, after getting rinsed by the World Eaters, and have chosen to emphasise the shooting part of the army, with another unit of Scourges, at the expense of Lelith, their melee expert.

• Aesruin - Archon (warlord)
  Huskblade, Splinter pistol
• 10 x Kabalite Warriors
  8 x Splinter rifle, 1 x Dark lance, 1 x Splinter cannon
• 5 x Scourges
  1 x Shardcarbine, 1 x Blaster, 1 x Dark lance, 2 x Haywire blasters
• 5 x Scourges
  3 x Shardcarbine, Blast pistol & Solarite weapon, 1 Shredder
• Venom
  Bladevanes, Splinter cannon, Twin splinter rifle

Mission and Deployment

Our mission is a modified 'Cat Catcher' one as seen at Winters SEO's event and channel. I won't post the full scenario, since that's a perk of being a subscriber, but suffice to say that the aim of the mission is to grab hold of the 'cat' (in this case, a very confused planetary governor) who may or may not come quietly, or may just run away to the nearest enemy unit.

There's also D3VP bonuses for warlord kill and most units left alive.

The Space Foxes win the deployment roll. They pick the side without the buildings, choosing instead the crater-filled open roads to zoom towards their objective.

The Outriders take the northernmost flank, followed by the Assault Intercessors (led by the Captain) and the Suppressors (cheered on by the Lieutenant).

On the extreme flank to the south, the Aggressors pick their way through the rubble.

On the Drukhari deployment, the Archon takes five of his most heavily-armed Kabalite Warriors into the Venom, which lurks in ambush behind a crashed aircraft.

The rest of the Kabalites, and both units of Scourges, occupy the ruined buildings, waiting for their chance to strike.

Space Foxes win the roll-off and the hunt is on!

Turn 1 - Space Foxes

Creese stares, dumbfounded. 

The angel is alive. Silvery feathered wings flex gracefully from its back. The fluted armour seems almost black in the ruddy light. It's holding a long trumpet, he thinks, with a flared end and. Perhaps it's going to sound the last trump and usher in the final death throes of the planet? Or has he huffed too much incense?

As it lifts its horn, he feels the ground begin to rumble under his feet. This is it, the end at last. The sky will fall in coloured pieces like the glass in the cathedral, or the stone at his feet will break open and swallow him. The rumble builds to a roar and he falls to his knees, ready for the end. 

Instead, a huge armoured bike with heavy tyres blasts into view, the massive rider clad in orange power armour with a white helmet. 

Wasting no time, the Outriders turbo-boost up the main road and secure the Governor (who decides he does want to be rescued). The Assault Intercessors and Aggressors also run forward to support them, while the Suppressors sit tight at the back.

Being in the Devastator Doctrine, the marines can advance and shoot, and everything opens up against the Scourges in the main building. That should have been curtains for the Drukhari, but a combination of the Quicksilver Reactions stratagem and some very fortuitous dice rolling meant that only two of them fell.

And that's the turn for the Space Foxes: the objective is in their paws, but their neck is well and truly stuck out.

Turn 1 - Drukhari

Space marines? What are they doing here? Has the judgement of the Imperium already been passed? 

There are three bikes in all, halting in a rough circle round him. One of their riders stretches a powerful hand towards the fallen burgomeister, the eyes of his impassive helmet blazing a fierce green. Its skull-like muzzle is merciless. 

The other two turn the front farings of their bikes towards the cathedral ruins and unleash a thundering volley from the weapons there. Stone angels shatter and explode, marble fragments raining down the already-ruinous facade. The noise is incredible, ear-splitting. They're here to destroy him, he feels that as a cold certainty that turns his stomach. 

Hot, spoiled amasec spurts from his mouth. In sheer terror, Creese turns and sprints away from these orange angels of death, towards the broken sanctity of his precious cathedral and the beckoning angel dancing in the stonework.

The Drukhari meet this aggression with cold cunning: moving to get everyone into firing position, rather than racing ahead.

The Venom flies into the centre, the Kabalites edge back to the limit of their firing range, and the Scourges jump out of cover to shoot (before using their Winged Strike ability to drop back out of line of sight - something they will continue to do).

A volley of shots takes out all three of the Outriders, with enough left over to knock out a Suppressor too. 

The first wave of the Space Foxes has been well and truly blunted, but like a rugby ball passed to the back of the scrum, the Governor has moved from Outriders to Assault Intercessors.

Turn 2 - Space Foxes

His angel, the angel in the stone, they have their own thunder. Their trumpets sound. In the cold red dawn, streaks of blackness lined with bubbling silver rip forth from the facade. He can't hear them over his choked breathing, but it's a beautiful sight. 

There are more angels up there, he realises. A chorus of them, floating down from the cathedral to meet him. They are slim, graceful, quite lovely as they descend on their shining wings. 

Smoky fire engulfs one of them, the snap-crack blast of bolter rounds. It's not far to fall, but its wing is torn away by the detonation, and the ethereal creature topples, crunching to the ground. Creese cries out in horror, runs to aid his fallen saviour.

The Space Foxes continue to run forward, switching to the Assault Doctrine in the hopes of a long charge. However, as the Assault Intercessors pick up the Governor, he decides he'd rather be on the other side of the field, and runs to join the Scourges.

To add insult to injury, he also picks up one of the fallen Scourges and puts it back in the unit!

As the only unit that didn't advance, the two remaining Suppressors draw a bead on the Venom. With unerring accuracy they hit it with three shots, and when the Venom fails every one of its saves, the vehicle explodes, dumping out its passengers and killing a Kabalite in the process.

This turn of fortune is not matched in the charge phase, when the Assault Intercessors fail their long charge into the Scourges, and are left in the middle of the field (standing on top of some ruined motorbike chassis).

Turn 2 - Drukhari

He bends over it. Blood pumps from the stump of the wing, which is flexing convulsively on the ground nearby. The angel's armour is curved and gorgeous, close-fitting over the woman's (it's a woman, he realises) shapely body. She's face-down. 

He tenderly rolls her over. She's so light! Almost like a child, despite her armour. The faceplate of her helmet, once a smooth mirror, has cracked and broken. 

The corpse-white face with its too-large pupil stares up at him and smiles, and he realises how terribly mistaken he has been.

The Drukhari continue their policy of running for cover, with the Kabalites making a break for the central ruins and the Scourges sweeping away to the side.

The Governor continues his swaying allegiance, killing the Scourge he just resurrected, before returning to the Assault Intercessors' unit.

In the shooting phase, three of the Assault Intercessors are slain (with Armour of Contempt keeping the rest of the unit alive), but the attack has not been blunted this time.

Turn 3 - Space Foxes

He recoils, throwing her off his knees, but she's too fast, grabbing his wrist. And his greatcoat is snagged on her armour, hidden recurved blades that hook into the wool and hold him to her. 

"Don't go," she tells him, and her voice is like a scalpel-cut in his ears, thin and wicked. "You saved me, you should be rewarded."

With an icy strength, she pulls him down towards her, her too-red mouth pouting behind the broken mirror of her visor. 

Something crashes into him from behind, tearing him off his feet and crushing the bones in his arm. The same force snatches him from the fallen angel, leaving her broken and smeared amongst the rubble. The pain in his arm is overwhelming, even through the myrrphine haze, he can feel splinters of bone rubbing in there, but whatever has him has an unbreakable grip. He's carried, screaming, into an impossibly fast battle.

Poised to strike, the Space Foxes' first move is to lose control of the Governor. He ditches the Assault Intercessors and joins the Archon's Kabalite squad.

Perhaps not the wisest choice, as the Space Foxes move forward and declare that squad as their Oath of Moment target. 

The flames of the Aggressors take out all the bodyguards while the Suppressor's devastating wounds blast the Archon (although it leaves his Shadowfield intact).

The remaining Assault Intercessors charge the main ruins and massacre the other Kabalite Warriors within. The lines of the Drukhari ambush have been breached.

Turn 3 - Drukhari 

Silver-winged angels flip and soar around his captor, another of the orange-armoured marines he dimly realises. Creese is dangling raggedly from the marine's left hand; in his right, he carries his own trumpet - an elongated autocannon with a firing shield, muzzle still leaking smoke from recent use.

Black light whoops from the angel's trumpets, scarring his vision. His captor twists away from one line, holding Creese off the ground with no more effort than he held his autohaler before. One angel flits too close, the marine's cannon lashes out, smashing the angel's head so it tumbles away with a broken neck. Then there are more marines, four of them, their bright orange hard on the eyes, massive jump-packs clamped over their shoulders. And more of the angel-creatures too, small and slight beside the armoured colossi, but faster and better equipped, rushing out of the cathedral with shrill cries.

A pair of them flank one marine, the first drawing attention with a flourish of a hooked blade. The other fires some kind of energy weapon point blank into the marine's back, scouring a hole straight through his armour. The burnt stink of vaporized flesh fills the air, but even as he topples, the marine takes his killer out with a back-handed swing of his roaring chainsword. 

Another tracks an angel with his pistol, too slow to intercept the arcing flow of its aerial dance. But he's not trying to kill it himself, just drive it into reach of his comrade, who leaps off the ground in a whine of turbines to hack the darting angel out of the sky. As he lands, he's caught in a hail of fire from somewhere above, his armour riddled with greenish shards of crystal that pierce the ceremite and pitch him to the floor. He twists and contorts in screaming agony, unable to get up. His brothers are likewise downed, collapsing amidst the heaps of dead angels they've killed. 

The sky is full of wheeling angel flocks and mighty orange marines descending on trails of fire. 

With a force that knocks the last breath out of him, the marine carrying Creese slams him against the cathedral's stone front and leaves him there, rammed into an alcove near what was once the main door. There used to be a small font of holy Sweetwater there you could bless yourself with before entering. 

Now he sits in the cracked basin and watches in stunned agony as the marine squares up against the last angel standing, a tall and cruel-eyed seraph whose grey sword cuts hissing holes through the marine's armour. 

It's all too much. Creese slides off the cathedral and runs away, heedless of where to or why.

He doesn't get far.

Quick to spot a winner, the Governor bids farewell to the Archon and teams back up with the Assault Intercessors.

Like birds of prey, both squads of Scourges converge on the Space Foxes, ready to blast them to atoms. Deprived of his prize, the Archon sneaks onto the lower level, ready to jump up and shank any survivors.

In the ensuing fusillade, the Assault Intercessors are gunned down, followed by the Captain himself. There is now no-one left to protect the Governor as the smaller squad of Scourges swoop in to secure him.

However, the Governor is having none of it this time, and promptly runs away to the protection of the Lieutenant.

Turn 4 - Space Foxes

He's almost to the wreck of his Chimera when another of the marines steps out from behind it. Creese is too surprised to stop and almost slams straight into the marine, who sidesteps neatly and clotheslines him. 

"Stay down," he orders in a bass growl, lifting a heavy rifle and firing back towards the cathedral. It's easy enough to obey, Creese hasn't the strength of mind to do anything else. He lies there whimpering until the marine grabs his leg and drags him swiftly behind the Chimera.

Taking no chances, the Lieutenant grabs hold of the Governor - who, for once, doesn't squirm away - and runs behind the ruined Chimera transport.

The Aggressors continue their long jog across the battlefield, hoping they will eventually get to punch something.

Which leaves the Suppressors as the only assault unit available. Not usually their forte, although they do open up proceedings by gunning down the last of the small squad of Scourges. Then they dive into combat with the Archon - and do surprisingly well. 

With Oath of Moment guiding their blows, they break his Shadowfield and take him down to a single wound. The Archon only manages to cut down on in return and the combat will continue for another round!

Turn 4 - Drukhari

He's left face-down, his greatcoat dragged and tangled over his head with the wreck of his arm tangled up inside it. There's nothing to do but cry in pain, so he does that. 

With the Archon locked in combat, it's down to the last unit of Scourges to recover the asset. There's no hiding for them - they leap from cover and begin to cross the battlefield (taking care to stay out of the footslogging Aggressors' threat range).

Opening up on the Aggressors with their tank-busting guns results in two of them falling. The Archon is less fortunate, and loses his final wound when the Suppressor sergeant punches him out.

Turn 5 - Space Foxes

Quickly enough, he finds he can't cry any more. He hasn't the strength for it, and it hurts too much. 

Lying in the dark folds of his coat, head spinning, he gradually becomes aware that the noise of the battle is growing less. Or perhaps he's dying, the battering he's just taken simply too much to bear.

Only three models left for the Space Foxes, but the good news is that the Governor has finally picked a side, and chooses not to leave the Lieutenant's side. In the final turn of the game, the only way to claim him now is to kill his protector.

The last two sergeants move to prevent that from happening. The Aggressor sergeant moves to overwatch anything that comes close. The Suppressor sergeant, still bouncing with success, moves back into open ground and picks off two of the Scourges.

Turn 5 - Drukhari

A last pair of reports sound, two heavy ordnance thuds with answering blasts that echo around the ruined cathedral plaza.

Then silence. 

Are the marines dead? Heart hammering, Creese lies still and waits in darkness to see who has won.

Last chance for the Drukhari. They're down to just two Scourges, but with a heat lance and a blaster, they have a chance to kill more of the enemy and deprive them of the Governor. Victory is still possible.

As the Scourges swoop into position, the Suppressor sergeant attempts a desperate Overwatch. With Oath of Moment guiding his aim, he manages to pick off both of the flying Drukhari and the game ends there!

Result: Victory to the Space Foxes!

Suddenly there's movement again, a flare of agony as his arm is twisted round inside the coat. Something grabs and lifts him, tearing the coat away entirely, and he finally passes out from the pain of it all. 

The three marines stand together and regard his limp body. 

"Target secure," one of them says. Lieutenant Hipaista is a veteran by Space Fox standards, although as a Primaris he's relatively young in the terms of the Astartes. 

"Will he live?" one of the others asks, the Suppressor who rescued him from the Drukharii at the cathedral door. "His wounds seem severe. I've seen vaki die of less."

"He'll have to, at least long enough to get the security codes for the Spaceport," Hipaista snorts. "He didn't even authorise the last shuttles to launch before running away. After that, he deserves death for dereliction of duty. Our captain has fallen saving him, and the delay has cost us any chance of catching Helmholtz. I shall twist his head from his shoulders myself once we've got the launch bays open."

Hipaista sighs. They were lucky to survive the ambush at all, and their forces have paid for rushing in to fetch the burgomeister. They've nothing left after this, but at least they will have helped the last few citizens escape. "See if you can find a medkit in the Outriders' panniers, Petaa. I shall contact the Sororitas at the port. Lives depend on it. Jyry, recover Captain Basilanus's body. "

The marines move swiftly to their task. 

Locker room

What a bloodbath! I though the Space Foxes were going to get shot to pieces as they crossed the field, but their astartes tenacity held on for victory.

I've never seen 'Catch the Cat' played before, but it's a lot of fun. I can see it becoming a regular staple (along with classics like Multiball) for casual games. If I were to make an adjustment next time, it would be to award 1VP at the end of each turn for possessing the objective - just to give some extra incentive. It didn't matter here, where both sides were gamely chasing it, but theoretically, you could leave the cat unclaimed for several turns and not risk it jumping to the other side, before committing to grabbing it. And that wouldn't be as much fun.

The end game for Sweetwater is drawing near - next week, it's time to bug out!