Macharian Crusade: The Battle of Hoight
Greetings everybody! The Battle for the Paradise World of Hoight was fought this week by the forces of the General Lysander’s 4th Army Group. This verdant paradise was discovered deep within the Argolis Cluster. It was defended by an advanced human culture whose military termed themselves the Paladins. This is a after action report of the climax of the campaign.
First, a brief description of the forces:
+++Report Begins ~ Lysander+++
4th Army Group; Hoight Invasion Taskforce
4th Army, General Lysander commanding
41st Field Kitchen Platoon (10 Ratlings)
21st Tallarn Desert Raider Company (Colonel Raz Aziz)
(Crusade Formation)
407/1 Hellhound Hellstorm Formation (6)
(Imperial Armour: Apocalypse formation)
423rd Tank Company (Hive-Marshall Stanislaw; Steel Legion)
423/1 Leman Russ Battle Tank Squadron (3)
423/2 Leman Russ Demolisher Squadron (3)
423/3 Leman Russ Vanquisher Squadron (3)
4111 Superheavy Battalion
Hellhammer
Stormsword
The Warhound Titan ‘Indomitable Vengeance’; Legio Metalica
The Paladins of Hoight
Home Guard, Psyker-General Velatorin commanding
Paladin Lascannon Defense (craploads of Lascannon support teams)
Old Guard
5 Platoons of Lascannon Infantry
Leman Russ Tank Squadron (3)
Baneblade Formation (3)
Shadowsword Titan Killer
Beasts
Trygon
Exocrine
Raveners (2×3)
Hormagaunts (2×20)
Once objective were placed, the deployment over, the Scout moves of the Fast Attack over (Lysander allows all Fast Attack to make a full move after deployment), and a 4 rolled for first turn, the Imperials opened fire.
Imperial Turn 1:
The Titan and Vanquishers laid into the Shadowsword, doing 2 structure points, immobilizing it, and nearly destroying the main gun. The Stormsword and Hellhammer fired into the front ranks of the Hoight defenders, tearing huge gaps in the lines. The Hellhounds laid out 2 Hellstorm templates that terrified the Hoight defenders – if this formation was allowed to fire for 3 turns, neither man nor tree would be alive. The Battle Tanks fired on the enemy Battle Tanks, accomplishing little other than random destruction of nearby defenders. On the far right flank, 2 Tallarn Platoons destroyed the Exocrine with accurate missile and plasma fire. On the far left, the Demolishers advanced.
Hoight Turn 1:
The Shadowsword fired at the Stormsword, causing no damage. The Baneblades battered 2 Hellhounds and dropped multiple blasts on the Tallarn forces clustered around the Sacred Grove in the left-center, killing dozens and forcing the survivors to go to ground. The remaining fire of the Hoight forces killed a few more defenders, battered 2 more of the Hellhounds, but overall accomplished nothing significant.
Imperial Turn 2:
The Orbital Bombardment (Strategic Asset) was executed by the orbiting Battleship Oasis, turning the Disruptor Beacon and the reserved Hoight Hellhound into portions of the glazed lining of a 50m radius crater. The Vanquishers placed 3 accurate shots into the Shadowsword, resulting in another smoking hole in the Hoight defenses. More defenders were incinerated by the Hellhounds, but the Baneblades proved capable of absorbing all the anti-tank fire of the Warhound, Demolisher squadron, and remaining Imperial attackers.
Hoight Turn 2:
The Paladin unleashed their burrowing monstrosity upon the Leman Russ squadron. A daring landing behind the Vanquisher squadron was met by a Tallarn ambush, killing most of the attackers who then poured fire into a Vanquisher, destroying it. The Hellhounds took even more beating, finally losing a member and seeing most of the Inferno cannon’s removed. The Baneblades punished the Tallarn infantry near the Sacred Grove even more, but their faith was a mighty shield yet again.
Imperial Turn 3:
With the Disruptor Beacon finally disabled, the Tallarn poured through the Sacred Groves into the Hoight lines. Only a single Lascannon scattered, emerging inside a Hoight Baneblade with his knife and pistol at the ready. The Warhound finally hit it’s stride, killing 2 Baneblades with blasts from the Turbolasers. The Trygon was killed with massed infantry fire and the deadly shooting of the cooks of the 42st Field Kitchen. As it lunged forward for a last strike, Lysander personally placed a shot from the Fang of Tallarn into its brain, laying it low. The Hoight defenders were nearly eliminated from all the Sacred Groves by the assaulting Tallarn forces.
Hoight Turn 3:
The beasts boiled forth from the hole left by their Trygon. Raveners assaulted the Leman Russ squadron, only to be stymied by the improved side skirts of the Steel Legion. An entire platoon of Tallarn infantry disappeared under a tidal wave of Hormagaunts. Colonel Raz-Aziz saw his command Chimera destroyed, and order his veteran command forward to assault the Hoight command on their hill.
Imperial Turn 4:
The Raveners were blasted from existence by combined fire. The Hormagaunts faced even more dreadful fire from Hellhounds, infantry, and the Warhound Titan. Tallarn veterans assaulted Hoight defenders all along the lines. The Tallarn assault elements, all led by veteran officers decorated with the Golden Aquila and Companion of Solar, slaughtered the Paladins as brutal repayment for the assaults of the beasts and the punishing fire of the Baneblades. The last Baneblade was destroyed, the Leman Russ squadron vaporized, and the Hoight command was left to face its fate almost alone.
Hoight Turn 4:
The Hoight command advanced to seek terms of honorable surrender, apparently unfamiliar with the Tallarn Desert Raiders’ philosophy of battle.
+++Report Ends ~Lysander+++
