+ inload: Battle for Geostation Erpes +

+ Alien Wars: Battle for Geostation Erpes +

+ A Warhammer 40,000 8th edition battle report (with apologies to Rogue Trader) +

+ The preamble for this scenario, and a copy of the mission itself, can be found here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+++

+ Apologist's Orks: Luggub's Drop Legion +

"Iss quiet." murmured Thrugg, slowing his pace and brushing aside the scrub with the blade of his choppa. "Almost... too quiet."

The ork beside him, Urglab, brightened up. "Too right, boss!" he said eagerly, ratcheting his shoota and firing a burst off into the woods. Thrugg closed his eyes and sighed as the squad leader, Splatta, cuffed Urglab soundly round the ear.

Splatta drew alongside Thrugg. "Wot izzit, boss? Reckon yer can smell oomies?" Thrugg nodded. The two orks remained kneeling in the scrubby cover for a moment in silence, before Splatta looked down and ran his thumb along his blade, testing the edge. "Might be da ones we burned last time we were 'ere, don'cha fink?"

"Nah," Thrugg shook his head distractedly. "We ate dem, remember?" For a moment he paused, brow furrowed, before continuing slowly, 'Sides, dere's sumfing... diff'rent about dis oomie smell..."

+++

+ Bob Hunk's Crimson Fists: 4th Co. Strike Force Cerulean Rampart   +

Brother Gomez tapped two fingers to the Chapter symbol on his pauldron as Grimstone passed by on his patrol of the farm perimeter. The Captain returned his salute distractedly. Damn greenskins, he thought. The Astartes were no stranger to hardship, but the hero of Fell Reach and the Antares Wars found grubbing around on a backwater agri-world frustrating – doubly so when the inhabitants had revealed they had neglected their orbital defences for months; and even the Crimson Fists had been forced into hiding.

Still, they were alive, and ahead of the main ork force. If they could avoid interdiction by roving ork patrols, the Fists would be back in Driffield Urb within hours; and they could begin a counter-insurgency to uproot and throw back the orks.

Grimstone's jaw tensed as he heard a brief rattle of small arms nearby...

+++

+ Theatre of war +

+ Temportus system; Driffield sub-urban Region; Geo-station Erpes +

Geo-station Erpes – top right of this pict-capture – is an example of a basic agri-world climate monitoring station.

Little more than a collection of sensors to the north-east of a small farm, the Geo-Station was destroyed along with the farm and its inhabitants within days of the ork invasion. The burned-out ruin of the farm  acted as a temporary barracks for a platoon of orks for a few days before they moved on, having stripped the nearby orchards of provender. 

A few days later, retreating Crimson Fist forces paused in order to attempt to use the Geo-Station for communion with the local town. As night fell, the Crimson Fists settled down for a brief respite. Unfortunately for them, an ork patrol had been sent back to investigate raised electromagnetic levels from the Geo-Station...

+++

+ Deployment +

Grimstone's Marine are dug in behind thick bocage. The two sentries (marked with muzzle flashes) are front and centre, and Grimstone accompanies the squad on the east. The two lieutenants are with the second squad, opposite the rad-apple orchard.

Using a split deployment, the orks use the orchard and low scrub to cover their cautious approach, leaving a central gap. Thrugg is on the western flank, leading two small squads towards the farm through the orchard.

+++

+ Turn 1 +

Crimson FIsts (CF): A sentry picks out the approaching greenskins through the trees. With the Crimson Fists' Chapter Tactics making cover useless, a single bolt explodes a luckless ork.

Luggub's Drop Legion (LDL): Thrugg urges his troops forward, directly towards the farm. While cover won't help, being out of line of sight will!

LDL: Second-in-command Hruk opts for a more cautious approach, finding the sweet spot within the orks' range, but outside of the marines' rapid fire. Trading shots, the orks clip one of the Astartes, sending blood spattering. Cursing, the marine resumes his place in the line.

+ Victory points total +
CF: -1
LDL: 1

+ Turn 2 +

CF: With time pressing, the Fists on the western flank break cover and move into the orchard, relying on their spirits of their battlegear to protect them.

CF: Rapid fire! Deadly boltgun fire cuts down one mob of orks. The nob is killed cleanly; the alarm remains unraised.

LDL: It's now or never for the orks. Urged on by Thrugg, the remaining mob decides chopping is the better part of valour and flanks the marines.

LDL: The mob and Thrugg charge the Crimson Fists' squad simultaneously, forcing the group to split to defend themselves. Unfortunately, this leaves them in range for the Lieutenants to both heroically intervene.

Apologist's note: D'oh! I thought I was being ded kunnin here, but clever positioning of the lieutenants rendered my trick moot. 

LDL: A fierce axe attack brings Brother Gabron to his knees, and Splatta administers the coup de grace, ending this hero's tale. Retribution is swift; and the orks (including their squad leader) are quickly finished off by his squadmates and the marine officers.

"'Ere, can't we talk about dis?"

LDL: Even Thrugg is no match for three bio-engineered star knights. His blows land, but fail to find purchase in the ancient Mark IV armour.

CF: The response is swift; Thrugg is bludgeoned into unconsciousness.

+ Victory points total +
CF: 3
LDL: 2


+ Turn 3 +

CF: Their way clear, lieutenant Griguez dutifully orders his men to sprint for the northern border. The other lieutenant accompanies them, but ducks eastward slightly, so lend his embattled brothers fire support from his auto-bolter.

CF: Knowing time is against them, Grimstone orders his men to break cover and advance on the orks.

LDL: Wortoof's squad knocks another marine sprawling, but the bloodsoaked Astartes gets back up with a grunt.

LDL: The ork firepower is just not enough; the remaining orks hesitate between advancing and staying put.

CF: Before the decision can be made, combined fire from Grimstone's squad and the distant lieutenant combine to wipe out Wartoof's mob...

LDL: ... except for Wortoof himself. The nervous old ork grabs his communicator and raises the alarm – disastrously for Hruk, who now has no chance of regaining his loot.

Bob Hunk's note: The Alarm roll by Apologist means that I've only got two turns to get the Crimson Fists off the northern table edge...

+ Victory points total +
CF: 3

LDL: -3


+ Turn 4 +

LGL: It's do or die now. The orks have to hold as many Crimson Fists back as they can, to trap them on the battlefield before the reinforcement arrive and end the mission.

CF: Firepower from the Crimson Fists kills Wortoof and Hruk's mob, but leaves the canny ork alive. Grimstone charges, his power fist energising...

CF: ...and before Hruk knows what's hit him, he's crumpled in a broken heap, leaving the field entirely to the Crimson Fists.

Apologist's note: The mission doesn't end when the orks are wiped out; as the Fists still need to make their escape. This added some tension, as the late breakout meant that the squad would have to make two good advance rolls to get off the board. It was a clever ploy by Bob Hunk to charge Hruk, as it gave him a crucial extra burst of speed.

+ Victory points total +
CF: 5

LDL: -3

+ Turn 5 +

CF: Aside from the groans of dying orks, the field was silent. But victory could still elude Grimstone and his men. Urging them forward, all the remaining Crimson Fists sprinted for the safety of the northern border.

CF: The lieutenant looks back before exiting the field, shepherding his men as he goes. Six Crimson Fists Astartes are secure.

+ Victory points total +
CF: 11


LDL: -3

+ Turn 6 +

CF: Injured, stumbling, some of the the squad cannot keep up with their brethren. Bitterly, the Captain is forced to continue his retreat as engines rumble ominously in the distance. Just one precious Astartes from the squad makes it off the field before the night erupts into explosion from horizon to horizon with battlecannon shells and mass-driver cannonfire falling all about.

CF: With Command Points to spare, Bob Hunk nervously rolls for his Captain's advance...  and scores a natural six – the only result that would get him off the board to fight another day!

LDL: With just two marines off the board this turn, the remainder are quickly butchered by the overwhelming  force of the full ork army.

+ Victory points total +
CF: 9

LDL: 2

+ Result +

Crimson Fists victory!

The brave survivors live to fight another day.

Falling back to Driffield Urbs, Grimstone and the six survivors vow vengeance on the orks.

+++

+ Conclusion +

+  A fantastic game; we really enjoyed ourselves! Bob Hunk and I discussed the scenario afterwards, and agreed that it was a little unbalanced in favour of the marines – but that was clear from the start. When playing games like this, think of them as scenes in a film. It creates a bit of distance and stops you getting too involved in events! Such an approach works best with small-scale skirmish games, as there's (typically) not as much time invested in the game, so you can roll with the punches while your spirits are still high. If you do want a closer, more competitive experience, Bob Hunk suggested the following:

• Using Tactical marines rather than Primaris
• Removing the Lieutenants

+ A variant that occurred to me on the way home would be to use Nob rules for all the orks (with Thrugg as a Warboss). The stat changes for Primaris make Nobz a more credible threat at the numbers faced. Basically super-orks to face super-marines! +

+ A spectacle and an ongoing narrative +

+ For games like this, it's all about enjoying playing setpieces that bring up unexpected tension – will Thrugg survive? Will the Captain escape? – and might lead to something else. Bob Hunk and I are pretty fired up for a sequel to this game; and perhaps we'll go for a larger, evenly-pointed contest at some point. If we do, that will be informed by the events of this game – perhaps it'll give Bob Hunk some ideas for a Warlord trait, or maybe I'll be able to model a banner with some Crimson Fists trophies front and centre. It's stuff like this that makes your army yours; and really gives them a history that develops with you – it ain't all about winning! +

+ In any case, here the result was rather irrelevant compared with the spectacle of the game. Playing this scenario with a good friend, using lovingly-built modern iterations of the classic forces, on a fully modelled board that was made specifically for the game, has been a long time in preparation – and worth every minute, I think! +

+ Strike Force Cerulean Rampart will (hopefully) return in: The Battle of Jadeberry Hill +

+ inload: Alien Wars Mission: Battle for Geostation Erpes +

+ The Battle for Geostation Erpes +

Orks assault the sorry remnants of Jadeberry Meadows Farm, defended by battered members of Crimson Fists 4th Company.

+ As covered in Bob Hunk's guestinload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], we're playing a version of Rogue Trader's Battle for the Farm, reimagined in the Alien Wars setting. I've drafted up the following mission that you're more than welcome to try out. +

You should be able to click on this to embiggen it; but if it doesn't work, let me know in the comments.

+ Designer's notes +

+ What edition is this for? +

+ This an 8th edition update. GW made rules available for a 6th/7th edition updated of the original scenario, and the original one works fine for 1st/2nd ed.; I thought we'd try the latest version. +


+ Competitive or friendly? + 
+ This is very much a playtest mission, so if you find it hilariously unbalanced and unenjoyable one way or the other, I've added some suggestions for variation. However, I would encourage you to try it out, imbalances and all, as a different sort of gaming experience. You might try the historical gaming approach of taking it in turns to command the different forces, to see if you can improve on your gaming partner's approach. +

+ Given the simplicity of the forces, you might try it out as an introductory mission. It's very firmly in the narrative gaming camp. The original version is fairly infamous for being very one-sided – check out Realm of Zhu's article on this [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – and later editions of the game have made marines tougher and ork shooting worse. +

+ I've stuck with the original forces (twenty-one orks taking on sixteen marines), but I've tried to give the Marines more of a reason to hoof it across the board fairly early on, while making the loss of each one a really serious problem for the marines – both -1VP for their side, and +1VP for the orks. I hope this adds a sense of how precious the individual Marines are in the modern background, and helps to give the Crimson Fist player a few more strategic choices than 'hunker down and murder everything at range.' +


+ Forces are a bit vague +
+ No, you're a bit vague! +

+ Silliness aside, yes; they are. I've deliberately left the marines' exact equipment (and numbers) unstated, so feel free to mix and match weapons, or use whatever models you have. While we're trying it with Intercessors, you might find Tactical Marines give a closer game, if that's what you're after. +

+ For added balance (and to give the orks some teeth), you might try Thrugg as a Warboss. I've left him as a Nob, as I think that better fits the original background – he's very much just a platoon-level boss. +

+ Similarly, the exact numbers of Marines is vague. You might try using minimum (or even understrength) squads to provide more of a challenge. +

+ Let me know what you think – and if you've got a mission of your own, why not share it? +

+ inload: Waaagh da Orks! +

+ Accept no substitutes +

+ Orks! A long time coming, but Thrugg Bullneck's boyz are ready to take some heads and invade some Chapter homeworlds. Some nice timing, too, as Black Library have just released a new novel set on the world, Legacy of Dorn, by Mike Lee [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. I think I'll pick it up and get into the setting before the game. +

+ But enough waffling, let's look at da ladz:

+ Hruk's squad +

+ Second in command of Thrugg's forces, you can have a look at building Hruk in more detail through this link [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+].

+ Cheerful looking bunch, aren't they? I guess when your boss is the boss' mate, you get best pick of the loot (well, after da boss and da boss' boss – and da uvver bosses – have had their go). +

+ I think the greenstuffed grins are my favourite part of this mob, but the nailed-on hand that allows Hruk to use the bolter he looted from some luckless Crimson Fist veteran is a close runner up. +

The flaming skull on his belly plate is the Charadon Empire symbol (see below).

+ Zerox's squad + 

+ This squad's got the best examples of the Rogue Trader elements I've tried to get in: a mix of ramshackle weaponry that nevertheless looks manufactured rather than all custom-built; heavier armour than modern orks; and a (slightly anarchic) sense of uniformity. I've tried to get more of a sense of individuality through, so they look like an undisciplined army, rather than a warband of beasts. +

 

+ Wortoof's squad +

+ The clans – Deathskull, Evil Sunz etc. – weren't around for the Battle for the Farm era, so I ummed and erred about whether to retcon them in or not. In the end, I decided to keep things simple to avoid diluting the look. +

+ With that said, not showing it off isn't the same as saying it's not there – I think it'd be possible to pick out a mob of more Snakebitey-looking boyz, such as the fur-clad Wortoof here. Similarly, the two in the front rank here look slightly more like Blood Axes than the others. +

+ Splatta's squad +

+ This mob's a good example of the contrast between the jokier-looking ork on the right, and the more savage Splatta in the centre. I'm not against humour in orks; I just think it's more fitting when there's a nasty streak to it... +

+ Ident-markers and ikonography +

+ Backplates came in with Waaagh the Orks, and were given a lot of emphasis in terms of markings – working as a bit of blank space equivalent to a Space Marine's shoulderpad. They haven't really been mentioned much since 3rd edition, though they haven't explicitly been written out. The models, however, still have 'em, so I used the info from Rogue Trader to add the symbol of Luggub's Drop Legion to them:

+ Warpaint's also mentioned, so a few of the boyz have got classic chequers, dags and – what better for the troops of the Arch-Arsonist? – flames. +

The ork on the right here is based on the Bolta and Kleaver model (rightmost, top row). Can you spot any others?

+ This has been a really fun little project, and it's great to get it 'finished' to a state I can play a game, rather than sighing and thinking 'only three more squads and tanks to go...' +

+ I'm looking forward to getting 'em on the field. +

+ inload: Anatomy of the Astartes: Crimson Fists [GuestpostID: Bob Hunk] +

+ inload: Anatomy of the Astartes: Crimson Fists +

+ Refighting Rogue Trader's 'Battle for the Farm' scenario has been on the long-distance auspex scans of Bob Hunk and myself for a number of years; and while the PCRC's gears grind slowly, they grind exceeding fine. Suffice to say that while you may have been following my efforts in re-creating the orks of Luggub's Drop Legion [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] and watching the scenery get built [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], the heroic greenskins of course need some bullying bad guy space fascists (ho ho ho) to fight. +

+ Cue the inimitable, LED-laden and beautifully-painted Crimson Fists of that selfsame Imperial Commander. This force has itself been a few years in the making, and is a fine demonstration of the same modelling and painting skill that brought the Heresy-era Praetor Letholdus a few moon-cycles back [+noosphericinloadlinkembedded+]. The Crimson Fists are going to be a treat to see on the table play! +

+ Nota bene: In order to tie the actions of the Battle for the Farm into the Alien Wars timeline, there's a bit of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff going on. We toyed with various methods to square the circle, and we're falling back on the good old-fashioned approach of 'narrative foreshadowing'. The concept of a patrol moving in to retrieve something from a position defended by the enemy is fairly generic, so we're relocating the time to M35 and changing a few names to protect the innocent allow us to indulge our need to plant some Easter Eggs (and there may be a little prize if you can spot and identify them all...). So, we'll see the fate of Geo-station Erpes during the Alien Wars; and perhaps return to Rynn's World proper at a future date. +

+++

+ INTERRUPTSPOOL +

Hi everyone, Bob Hunk here, creator of Team Fisto and Apologist’s long time friend and gaming rival! Apologist asked if I’d like to do another guest post on his blog, this time talking about my Crimson Fists and their part in the Alien Wars. So of course I said yes!

+ DATASCREEDPURGE +

+ The Crimson Fists Chapter during M35 +

At the dawning of M35, the Crimson Fists were still entirely a fleet-based Chapter, with no home world or dominions to tie them down to a specific sector. Taking on a crusading role similar to the Black Templars or the Imperial Fists before them, they patrolled the marches of Imperial territory, repelling xenos aggression wherever it reared its hideous malformed head.

Although it was over three millennia since the break-up of the Astartes Legions, as a Second Founding chapter the Crimsons Fists still possessed a reasonable amount of functioning ‘relic’ equipment at this  point, especially in comparison with chapters from later foundings. This, combined with the difficulty of maintaining regular supply lines to a roving fleet could lead the Crimson Fists of the era to have an eclectic look to their arms and armour. MkVI and MkVII power armour freely mixed alongside older marks. Similarly, the cutting edge MkIIIc Godwyn-pattern bolter rubbed shoulders with the venerable Umbra-pattern bolter and the Proteus-pattern missile launchers.

Crimson Fists circa M35

+ The Sons of Dorn and the Nova Terra Interregnum +

Like the vast majority of Space Marine chapters at the time, the Crimson Fists adopted a strict policy of non-involvement with the Imperium's internal politicking. If anything, the Crimson Fists took this a step further than some other chapters, barely acknowledging that the schism was taking place at all.This culminated in the widely recounted incident where Algernon Traegus – 16th Master of the Chapter of the Crimson Fists – kept ambassadors from Terra and Constantium politely but firmly waiting for an audience for so many weeks that they were both eventually forced to withdraw before meeting him.

This stance was, of course, in marked contrast to their primogenitors, the Imperial Fists, who openly sided with Ancient Terra. However, when we consider the fact that the Imperial Fists have many feudal domains on the Throne World and in the Solar System, this is hardly surprising. As has been noted elsewhere, the mustering of military resources on the borders of Segmentum Pacificus left some parts of the Imperium’s frontiers woefully under-defended. Seeking to address this shortfall, Chapter Master Traegus split the chapter fleet over a number of sectors in the hope of mounting as many patrols and counter-insurgencies as the resources under his command would allow.

Battle-brethren of the Crimson Fists engage the xenos

+ The 4th Company at Temportus +

One such patrol was the strike cruiser Cerulean Rampart and its attendant escorts, carrying the Crimson Fists 4th company commanded by the stoic veteran Captain Grimstone. They had been assigned to patrol the Compitales sub-sector, which, with it’s coreward shipping lanes was a known haunt of greenskin pirates and other foul xenos reavers.

Traegus' choice of the Compitales sub-sector for the 4th company proved prescient, as within days of their arrival in the region they intercepted a call for aid from the bountiful agri-world of Temportus. Grimstone immediately ordered a response. The jump to Temportus was a short one of only a few tens of light years and the 4th company arrived within weeks of the astropathic distress message having been sent.

On arrival in-system, the Crimson Fists discovered that Temportus was under attack by the forces of Luggub’s Drop-Legion, a filthy band of ork raiders. Making all haste to the beleaguered, agri-world, it didn’t take the Cerulean Rampart and her escorts long to drive off or destroy the unprepared and ramshackle assault ships in orbit. Ordering an immediate combat drop, Captain Grimstone led the bulk of the 4th company to the surface and set about eliminating the orks that he found there. The meagre greenskin forces were spread thinly across the surface of Temportus and could offer little meaningful resistance to the wrath of the Crimson Fists. Seeing no benefit in attacking the capital city – the proto-hive of Stenham – the Orks had instead split into smaller mobs to raid the isolated farmsteads, leaving themselves vulnerable to the fast moving and vengeful Space Marines.

In the aftermath of the battle, Captain Grimstone took stock of the defences of Temportus, and was dismayed by the state of what he found. Used to falling under the protective aegis of Imperial Navy shipping lane patrols, the planet’s PDF forces had been run down into a state that barely met the minimum requirements Imperial Governors were expected to maintain.

Although the Crimson Fists didn’t have entirely the same castellan tendencies as their forebears, Captain Grimstone quickly realised that if change weren’t made the the 4th company would almost certainly be forced to return aid Temportus again and again in the near future. After giving the Imperial Governor – a lugubrious man called Rivens – a suitable dressing down, Grimstone immediately set about personally overseeing a recruitment drive for the PDF.

+ Xenos Cunning +

The orks sprung their trap three days later. Emerging from behind moons and from the sensor-baffling rings of the system's gas giants, the armada of Luggub’s Drop-Legion moved in-system towards Temportus with an alien enthusiasm for battle that only the greenskins can muster. This time it was the Cerulean Rampart’s turn to be easily forced out of position. Realising that their was no time to recover his forces from the surface, Grimstone ordered the strike cruiser to retreat to the system edge and attempt to get word of the ork incursion to the rest of the chapter. As the Drop-Legion began to rain from the sky, Captain Grimstone was at the outlying agri-town of Driffield, overseeing the recruitment and raising of the newly formed ‘Driffield Volunteers’ PDF company.

Recovered fragment of a hastily-produced recruitment poster for the ‘Driffield Volunteers' PDF company

Still in parade ground formation and getting used to their freshly starched uniforms, the Driffield Volunteers were swiftly overwhelmed by the greenskins that they suddenly found swarming through the streets of their town. Their armoured support destroyed, Captain Grimstone and his honour guard had no choice but to fall back on foot, heading overland towards Stenham where the bulk of the 4th company were already coming under siege. Travelling by night, or by day when cover allowed, Captain Grimstone led the Crimson Fists survivors of the Driffield massacre back towards the capital. It was a journey that would take many days, and although they managed to avoid the ork hunter-killer- eater patrols at first, their luck couldn’t hold forever. The Crimson Fists were finally brought to battle by the orks at Geo-Station Erpes...

Lieutenant Griguez matches his blade against the crude weapons of the greenskins

+ To be continued... +

I hope you’ve enjoyed this examination of the Crimson Fists in the Alien Wars setting, and hopefully I’ve also whetted your appetite for our upcoming game, The Battle for Geo-station Erpes. If you’re interested in seeing more Crimson Fists (and Imperial Fists of course) then come and join me on my Instagram or Twitter – if either of those things are your bag! Alternatively, if you’d like to learn a little more about the technomantic rites involved with cramming your models full of LEDs, take a look at my Bolter and Chainsword log for a how-to guide.