Manoeuvers in the Jimulthuan Quadrant: I

 

The early stages of the war seemed so little. Only with hindsight was it possible to see the genesis of the terrible conflict yet to come. 

Landfall

The first hints of danger were noticed by Tempestus regiments stationed on key Imperial staging facilities on Rylstone II. Perimeter alarms round remote automated pumping stations were tripped. Valkyrie flybys of the area spotted Xenoforms in the area, reportedly Tyrannic. 

No sign of a Hive Fleet had previously been reported in the Rylstone system. Where had these outliers come from? To Major Relonius of the Rylstone Reserve, it didn't matter. Hit them hard, work out the details later, was his motto. 

A full detachment of the Major's best were sent to eradicate the Tyranids. No request for backup was sent beyond a standardised notification to the Crypt Angels Chapter Fortress. The Major at least told someone he was going out. 

He didn't return. 

Later reports from a forensic astropathy team managed to locate the source of the Tyranids. A Drukharii raider ship had slipped in almost unnoticed and deposited the creatures. This answer gave no clue as to why the xenos would do such a thing, but the damage was done. The Tyranids had escaped destruction and were now roaming free, somewhere on Rylstone II. Imperial forces slowly began to mobilise, knowing that they couldn't be left to fester or attract the notice of a Hive Fleet. 

Losing these forces from the local front against the T'Pau Sept on Rylstone III meant a tiny shift in the balance of power in the system. Whatever the Drukharii were up to, it surely meant no good for the Imperium. 

The Bagot Line

At the far end of the Quadrant, entrenched armies were clashing on Bagot Prime. Epistolary Valerian Astralhand had sworn a public oath to root out the forces of the Death Guard that had for decades plagued the planet with their presence. 

Determined to finish the work he had been deployed to begin so long ago, Astralhand committed his Ultramarines in full force against Death Guard fortifications wherever they could be identified. By crushing their strongholds, they'd have nowhere left to hide, and once exposed, they could be eliminated. 

The bold determinism of his attacks was met with typically stolid resilience. The Death Guard had dug themselves in across the planet like ticks on the back of a dog. Rather than the swift and decisive strikes he'd hoped to achieve, Astralhand found himself drawn into siege after siege, fighting tiny, drawn-out scraps on too many fronts for his limited forces to achieve dominance in. 

He took some consolation from knowing that his enemy was at least prevented from continuing whatever corrosive work they'd been planning in secret for so long. They were just as committed as he was, and without the manpower to break out of their besieged forts, it would surely be a matter of time before their resolve broke. 

And time was against them - Astralhand had merely to call on the local Imperial Fleet, currently in dock around Drawbridge, and he'd have all the firepower he needed to winkle the foe out of their hiding places. 

Doomed Uprising

As the Imperium's warmachine slowly began to respond to these twin threats, a third raised its ugly head. 

The citizenry of Alebus, usually placid if somewhat simple-minded, began to show alarmingly rebellious tendencies. Vast groups of demonstrators gathered around the landing sites and spaceports of the planet, waving placards and performing ritualistic dances, often in direct defiance of safety and security measures. 

No amount of increased punishment seemed to deter them. It was only when one demonstration tipped over into full-blown violence that Sororitas from the on-world shrines to the Blessed Saint Daphne were deployed. 

Explosions had ripped through a series of hangars, destroying Aquila landers carrying the officers of a patrol vessel in low orbit. Already on edge after the demonstrations, Canoness Serrelia Cantrata was looking for an excuse to make some examples. Her impulsive reflex was proved well-justified - arriving at the scene, her sisters ambushed Black Legion assets as they attempted to capture the area. 

A vast fleet had dropped out of the warp just moments before. The split-second timing of Canoness Cantrata's attack prevented key planetary defence installations from being overrun and neutralised; massive defence laser batteries were still firing at the Chaos Fleet late into that night. 

Cantrata herself did not survive the action. A shrine dedicated to her was later built on the site of the battle, and a Serrelian Order developed amongst the surviving Sororitas who fought alongside her.

Through her actions, the Traitors had been turned back, their fleet in disarray. As ill-luck would have it, however, they were fleeing to Drawbridge, just as the Imperial Fleet there was starting to answer Epistolary Astralhand's summons...

Campaign Round One

That's a full set of actions played out: all the results are in. Who scores what?

Well, Rylstone slips to the Xenos, but everything else stays as it was. So the scores are:

• The Imperium holds Alebus, Zamaroon and Drawbridge. 3 points!
• The Xenos hold Rylstone, the Transcaridian Docks and Haga. 3 points!
• Chaos holds sway in the Sweetwater Debris Field and the Vulnis Infernii. 2 points!

But that's not all!

• The Inquisition scores 2 points!

Yes, I'm throwing my hat in the ring. Of course I am, it's my campaign! My fleet isn't appearing on the map yet, you'll find it if you bump into it. It's my intention to strengthen the Imperium through conflict, so I score a point for each system where the Imperium is tied for Dominance. Starting from next round, I'll be able to try and manipulate the balance of power through a reduced set of actions compared to the others. Being really annoying, mostly!

Here's the map as it stands at the end of round one - players may declare their round two action whenever they feel ready for it.