Welcome to the second battle of our latest campaign. To recap, the forces of Chaos have descended on an Imperial Shrine world and have been met by a combined Space Marine battle group. The enigmatic Eldar have allied with the Imperials for their own inscrutable reasons.
In the first engagement of the war, a Chaos raid on an orbital defence station was repelled by the defenders. Now, as the main force fleets meet in battle in high orbit, the Chaos planet strike assault begins….
The battle was a 2000 point per side Planet Strike mission. The Space Marines and Eldar were the defenders, Chaos Marines and Daemons the attackers.
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As Chaos dreadclaws began penetrating the upper atmosphere, marine forces were already deploying on the likely drop zone. The newly arrived Grey Knights had predicted the position of the Chaos assault with uncanny accuracy.
Stormravens deploy troops before returning to orbit. Imperial navy Valkyries and Vendettas orbit the position
A lightly defended forward base was chosen to anchor the marine defences
Grey Knights deploy and head to the eastern bunker. Reports of Chaos warships powering up their macrocannon batteries have the Imperial forces on high alert for orbital bombardments.
Their Eldar allies position heavy weapons on nearby bunkers.
Space marines take cover as the first flashes of the incoming bombardment begin to light up the heavens
An Eldar war walker stalks forward, tracking for targets. Moments later it disappears in a huge explosion as the first macro cannon shells impact.
The rain of fire blasts glowing craters across the base. Despite the fury of the bombardment, the war walker is the only casualty. The landing pad takes two direct hits, but its power fields hold.
Automated defences come on line and begin searching for targets. But the Chaos forces have coordinated their assault well. As dread claws streak in from the atmosphere, rends in the fabric of reality appear as daemons begin to manifest. The interceptor guns are confused by the conflicting signals and score no hits.
With a roar of infernal rage, a defiler appears through the smoke and ash. Arriving from a nearby drop zone, it quickly shows the Grey Knights that the adamantium walls of their bastion offer little protection
The Grey Knights lash out with their halberds, striking the legs of the Chaos engine, immobilising it.
A cascade of foul slime explodes amongst the defenders as something horrible steps from the warp. Mamon, Prince of Nurgle rears up above the marines. Two are slain immediately, dissolved to goo by his spray of filth.
With a crack of displacing air and a flash of brilliant lightning, 5 Death Guard terminators teleport next to a second bastion.
The Chaos assault seems never ending as more corrupted forces arrive. The Eldar find themselves besieged as Raptors descend from the burning skies. Their flamer makes a mockey of the bunkers walls, burning two of the Xenos to death
Mamon’s clumsy attacks miss the surviving marries, who now find themselves toe to toe with the daemon prince
The Death Guard terminators make quick work of the second bastion with their power fists and combi-meltas. The marine defenders take further casualties from bolter and flamer fire.
With two bastions destroyed in the opening minutes and most of their forces engaged, things look grim for the defenders. Then, with a roar of turbo jets and a flash of lascannons, a Vendetta gunship swoops low across the battlefield
Even the legendary armour and toughness of the Death Guard is no match for lascannon fire. Now the remaining marine defenders have a (sort of) even fight.
Chaos forces continue to arrive through tears in the warp or by Dreadclaw
Blood for the Blood God!
Stepping from the cracking glow of a teleport arc, Baalor the Horned, Chaos Warlord takes the field. He raises his claw and points to the waiting Grey Knights……
Surrounded by the servants of the Ruinous Powers, the elite of mankind stand their ground
To the north, newly arrived obliterators demolish another bunker. The Eldar occupants look upon their attackers with dread
The Chaos Sorcerer chants in a tongue that no man was meant to utter. Glowing tendril of power snake across the field and drag a marine unit out of cover. Fresh from slaughtering one marine squad, Mamon issues forth a stream of corruption, striking down half the marines.
A second gunship appears over the battlefield, cutting down Chaos troops caught in the open
The Grey Knights fight bravely, but they cannot stand against the daemon weapons wielded by Baalor. The Librarian falls last, felled by the Chaos Warlord
(He’s behind you!)
The remaining Death Guard terminator gets to grips at last with the surviving defender of the second bastion (with predictable results)
The obliterators finish off the petty Eldar, but find themselves out of position. Heavy bolter fire from the last surviving bastion begins to target them.
With the defenders hard pressed, the Eldar main force makes its appearance
The gunships continue to punish any Chaos units in the open. The forces of the ruinous powers now find themselves faced by a highly mobile enemy with long range firepower
Khorne berserkers find themselves out in the open due to a poor landing in their dreadclaw
The Eldar seize the chance to demonstrate the power of their ranged weapons. Fire Dragons deploy in a firing line
Ravening heat beams, scatter lasers and pulse cannon wipe out the berserkers. But the foot soldiers of Khorne are eager to avenge them
As the Fire Dragons die beneath the blades of the Bloodletters, the Eldar tanks reposition and continue to pour fire into the Chaos attackers.
Plague Bearers arrive to support the last Death Guard Terminator. Now it is a race to see if Chaos can hold the landing zone long enough for their main force to arrive, or if the Imperial defenders can drive them back
The Bloodletters continue to chase the Eldar skimmers, who remain frustratingly out of reach
Imperial and Eldar skimmers begin to take a heavy toll on the attackers. It seems as if the Chaos assault is on the verge of collapse.
In a remarkable display of long range fire, the distant obliterators and immobilised Defiler manage to knock down a Wave Serpent and Vendetta. The immobilised skimmers are quickly overrun by the Bloodletters.
The Remaining Raptors finish the second Eldar bunker and make for the last bastion (that has been thinning them out with auto-heavy bolter fire all battle)
With the threat of the skimmers all but neutralised and the arrival of the main force imminent, Baalor orders all forces to target the remaining bunker
Seeing the collapse of the Imperial defenders and the loss of most of his forces, the Eldar Farseer decides to withdraw. The Eldar melt away as the Chaos forces raise their debased banners over the fallen bastions…
Chaos: 2 bastions held
Imperial/Eldar: 1 bastion held
Chaos victory!
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Whew! That was a very see-saw battle. After turn two it looked like an Imperial rout, with two bastions taken and their forces against the wall. Then the reinforcements arrived – fast skimmers with lots of guns. The Chaos assault spent the last few turns trying to take cover from some serious ranged weapons. It really came down to few critical rolls - the damage results to immobilise the Wave Serpent and the Vendetta, and a few desperate cover saves to stop the Nurgle forces been blown off their objective. That was the first game of Planetstrike we’ve played and I have to say it was good fun.
Next game – 2,500 point Spearhead. The Imperials counter attack the Chaos bridgehead in an attempt to destroy the invasion before it begins.
Kill all humans 
All painted and pushing 60,000 points combined.
Waaagh! Skarshak - 18,500pts 
CSM - Cult of Ezmirr - 3000pts 
Knights of Atlantis 
