Wednesday 17 February 2016

The Last Battle for Home

The addiction has progressed and now Mia's army has also started to be built and is growing. We had our first battle a few days ago. It was more of a skirmish at 550 points. She has chosen to play Tyranids but is painting them up as close to unicorns as she can. They have layers of varnish with glitter in parts and a pink and white colour scheme.

The start of the army.

Here are a few pictures of some more of my figureheads. We have Grendel the Iron Priest, who I made from spare parts and a backpack and legs from Anvil Industry. I am really happy with their parts. Cheap and really very useful. I found that the plastic took longer to bond with the glue but the finished piece I was very pleased with.

Grendel
Karael was my first dreadnought and thankfully has magnetic arms. I tend to use him in every battle as unlike the others he has a few options for weaponry.

Karael armed with his Heavy Bolter.

Asger was an old terminator from when I first played 40k. He originally had a god-awful paint job, so I decided that he deserved another coat of paint. His points cost was insane for the battle, but I was so desperate to use him. On the battlefield he walked to an objective and sat there for the whole game as he kept failing his terrain roles. However due to his position he managed to claim four objective points.

Asger

The game ended in a massive victory for me at 14-5. It was a crushing defeat and it made me feel slightly better about all of my previous losses. Below is my fan-fic of the battle.






The Last Battle for Home

The servo-motors within his armour propelled him with swift efficiency. Ignoring the acrid poisons in the air he could feel his primary heart beating strong.  His ceramite boots thundered across the dead wastes of his homeworld.  Asger, saddened by the loss of his recently fallen brothers, stormed onward, his Jackals by his side. The emotional torment within drove him forward into the belly of the xenos threat. The life sensors back on the ship had registered human readings from a bunker in this location. Any life form that had managed to avoid The Tyranid invasion deserved to be saved, after all they were the only non xenos organism left on the planet.

In the distance he could see collodal pods crashing into the earth. The tyranids had come back for the Aureus.  The huge Jackals at his side stopped in their tracks, blinded by what was before them.  The sun beat down upon the shining monstrosities. Their alien forms shimmering and reflecting the Sun's rays. Asger's retinal display reduced the intensity allowing him to focus on his foe. They were Tyranids, but none like he had seen before. Their carapaces shimmered and glinted creating havoc within the Jackals by his side. Attempting to control them he grabbed Gandus by the ruff of his thick muscular neck.

"Calm brother, you can do better than this. You have seen far worse. It..." Asger said, unable to finish his sentence as the Jackal was torn from his hands.

A sea of worms hit them. Failing to burrow through his terminator armour the brain worms collapsed to the ground. Asger's jackals were not so lucky. They yelped and roared as the fiendish  grubs buried themselves into the beast’s flesh, tearing their way towards the juicy and tender nervous system that they desired. Lifting his ancient hammer high the brought it down upon the skulls of his furry brothers.  Having raised them from pups he felt a deep regret, but like all of those that had fallen before him he would continue to carry on with them in his hearts. The loss of life was just another reason he had to fight. Saying a quick prayer he moved the pulped, writhing body aside so he could access the hatch.  The plasteel buckled easily under the strength of his armour.  Throwing the door aside he entered.


*  *  *  *  *


Karael was once again staring into the face of hell. It was brighter and more colourful, but it wanted to kill them just the same. Firing his twin linked heavy bolter with glee he tore apart the incoming genestealers.  Their hard exteriors exploding in flashes of vibrant green. With the cover support of Ragnus' force the shimmering brood was obliterated in seconds. All of the marines knew what was at stake, the last survivors of their homeworld could be saved.  Their legacy may continue.  It was crucial that they kept the xenos threat away from Asger and his mission.

Rotating on his well oiled pivot, he fired his storm bolter and heavy bolter simultaneously at the Tyrant closing in on his position.  It’s devourer cannons launched a sea of brain leeches upon him, failing to penetrate his thick exterior.  Karaels new thick coat of writhing worms completely obscured his view.  gradually he could see them tunneling through the grill that shielded his face.  He focused, shutting out the battlefield he waited for his tiny adversary to burst forth.  Ripping through the the armour before him the brain leeches spilled forth.  On entry, they were greeted by a surge of acid and Karael’s gnashing teeth.  Their screeching and hissing was sweet music to his ears as they popped and melted only inches away from his face.

*  *  *  *  *

Toriathos marched across the battlefield with his unit. He had formed quite the bond with Rerlus during his time in the Warp and they had saved each other many times.  Having lost his eye in their last deployment, Rerlus had taken to the battle with even more tenacity. Toriathos couldn't stop the corners of his mouth curling upward as Rerlus screamed in glee,  firing his bolt pistol at the towering tyrant before them.  Wave after wave of brain leeches hit them and slid off of their armour.  Chanting prayers to the Jackals of the Warp, the rune priest summoned his  bestial companions. The black jackal spirits tore through the battlefield dampening the shining monstrosities before them. Howling the giant spiritual entities ripped through the Tyrant bringing him to his knees. The giant attempted to swat and shoot the apparitions before him in vain.  Flailing it made one last attempt to obliterate the unit before him. The blast of worms impacted on the mountain range behind them burrowing into the stone squealing in the realisation of their failure.

The marines roared in victory as the tyrant collapsed. Without their leader to guide them the remaining sparkling xenos began to retreat. Karael chased them firing his heavy bolter in ecstasy, confident that they had no means of escape.


*  *  *  *  *


Asger advanced through the fortifications. His thunder hammer make light work of the the defences, while his shield defended him from the occasional barrage of automated fire from defence turrets.  He had been down here for hours. They must have spent years fortifying their location below ground. The giant pit they had fashioned had almost been his end. The sheer size and weight of his armour played against him in the narrow corridors, and just one foot wrong would have sent him tumbling into the black abyss below.

Krak grenades exploded into his shield and cracked his armour.  Turret shells impacted into his robust exterior and he narrowly escaped the swift bolt of a plasma cannon rigged to explode. These survivors were worthy of the effort he had gone to rescue them.  Asger had travelled through far more hostile environments but he was impressed at what they had managed to achieve. If the tyranids had found their way down here sooner, it would have taken hundreds of the mindless drones to penetrate the defences.

Advancing out into the wide clearing he could smell the survivors before he saw them. The scent of decay was overwhelming. Asger moved his light across the room, his sensors picking up the faint remains of life. Using his vox link he called for backup, he needed to get these people out of here. Most were dead, but a few maybe a hundred if they were lucky were alive.

At the back of the large makeshift hall, they had stacked the corpses of those that did not make it. A wall of decaying mass that would haunt their kin forever.  But within that same decaying wall was hope. Sprouts of plant life grew out of the deceased. Around the room the survivors had managed to cultivate and plant areas of vegetation.  Weak vegetables and fruit grew from the plants, hanging limply to their stems.

Asger had seen worse. Often situations like this led to cannibalism and the taint of Chaos but he saw no corruption here. The people began to shuffle towards him. Men, women and children surrounded him, tears in their right eyes and smiles on their faces they clung to his superior frame. Normally he would not allow such tactile connections, his training forbid it, but just this once he knew these people needed it.  

In the hours it took the support to arrive at his location Asger leant about the survivors fight against the Tyranid threat.  He learnt of both their struggle and also of their leader.  Her name was Eira. Her husband had led the fight against the First Tyranid invasion of their city and fell in the conflict. Eira had fled with her district and sustained life down in the city's underbelly. Originally they had a much greater area but as the years went on they had to seal off sections as the defences were breached.  The hard labour, initial conflict and onset of disease had cost her the use of her legs.  Honouring her commitment, Asger approached the seated figure and lifted her frail body in his huge arms. She had sustained the life upon their planet and she deserved, in some way to continue to fight on alongside the Canis Aureus. He was sure Grendel would find a solution.  

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