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Hello!

This is a shared topic for all the members of our Rust Never Sleeps crusade campaign. Here anyone can share their stories and hobby progress related to the struggles in the Halysian System. Spectators can also feel free to leave comments.

I will start with the summary and the short history of the system and then share the catalogue of its worlds. After that I will focus on my own faction, the misfortunate Iron Warriors of the Rotten Dogs warband.

The Halysian system - History

Minted out of misfortune, as a desperate attempt to store and safeguard all the untold riches threatened by the roaring flames of war, Halysian system stands alone as the only Imperial-held territory in the desolated sector of Paphlagonia. Its worlds are few and war-torn, its population broken and famished. Yet still the aquila and the icon mechanicus shine brightly on each of the countless banners raised on the pinnacles of the forge world Sinope II, the undisputed centrum of the system and its sole reason to still exist.

Comparatively small and remote from its more famous kin, the Sinope II reigns as the only successor to the lost world of Sinope I (known as Greater Sinope since the succession). Its origin traces back to two Martian centuries ago, when a rampaging fleet of traitorous astartes, led by the infamous Black Legion, emerged from the depths of the galaxy to threaten the stability of the wider Paphlagonian Sector. Foreseeing the disasters caused by their position in between the clashing warhosts, the leading techmagi of Sinope I made the bitter decision to relocate as much of the industry and possession as they could, far to the edge of the sector where they would remain behind the warring Imperial navy and under its protection.

The magi, having consulted the machine spirits of their logistical cogitaros, made their way across the void to resettle on the far and shrouded Halysian system. There they built anew their flaming forges and the vaults for their secrets. Taking advantage of and further progressing whatever infrastructure they found present, the magi harnessed the system’s riches while tirelessly feeding their forges. Yet nothing they achieved in their exile could make up for the loss of the prided homeworld. Crying bitter tears of deprivation, they still glanced back to the glorious past, only to receive messages of Imperial defeats and horrible triumphs of the forces of the Despoiler.

Sinope II would rule in peace for a couple of Martian decades more, its industries burning bright from the hunger for prosperity. But it all came to an end when the enemy, having ravaged their way through the sector, finally reached the Halysian system. The magis’ worlds were now beseeched by the Death Guard of Nurgle, to whom the Black Legion had gifted the system for their collaboration. They razed down one Imperial base after another and soon laid siege to the forge world itself. After a chain of terrible defeats the remaining magi held council. Seeing the hopelessness of their situation, they fled, once again leaving their decades of labour behind. Sinope II was lost and with it the last Imperial grasp on the sector.

But this was yet not the end. Having received decades after decades of troubling news from the fighting, the higher ranking priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus had acknowledged the dire state of the sector. They saw the tenacious suffering of the Halysian magi as an inspiring example and well understood the value of the ancient secrets now lost under the shadow. It was clear that the time to act was finally at hand. After broadcasting a request of aid to the wider Imperium, a fleet of reconquest was gathered and munitioned, with Magos Praetor Diogenes appointed as its master. While the battles for Sinope II were still raging, the reinforcements were already heading towards the sector, soon to be joined by a vigilante fleet of the Adepta Sororitas answering the call.

The counter-attack struck almost immediately after the flight of the magi. The quick arrival of the Imperial ships came as a surprise to the traitors, who had deemed the Corpse-Emperor’s slaves too despondent and disorganised to pose further threat. The Death Guard, not accustomed to the garrisoning work, had mostly departed, rejoining the Black Legion to hold council somewhere deeper in the sector. Sinope II and its surrounding worlds had been gifted to a sect of the vile Dark Mechanicum, who seemed to not hold much interest in the matters of warfare. It did not take long until the Forge World was encircled and a siege laid. The hereteks put little effort in the form of resistance, instead withdrawing into the closed vaults of the world's core. The combined might of the Mechanicus and the Sisters of Battle swept through what few garrisons they could find and cut down the last of the heretek’s links of operation. Sinope II was once again in the Imperial hands, but with the true fighting still ahead.

The Death Guard have most certainly been notified of the turn of events and are no doubt heading back towards the system. And without the means to decode the ciphers that barrier the entrance to the planet’s core, the loyalist forces have found themselves in a position they can not properly secure. It is a hard task to prepare for a foe arriving from the void with unspeakable horrors at their side, but to do so without knowing what goes under your very feet is truly a matter of its own. Fortunately however, there are rumours spreading of the approaching Imperial ships, full of loyalist astartes far from the edge of the system. Arrive if they should at the moment most dire, escorting the angels of death onto the battlefield, it might finally bring the craved-for light into the darkness that is now the Halysian System.

NOTE! The images used in the catalogue are gathered my a member from what I believe is stock of photos. However if you find your own property among the pictures that you wish to be removed, feel free to notify me about the matter.

NOTE2! It seems that I don't know how to display uploades images inside text columns. I must study the matter more before uploading the rest of the worlds.


The Halysian system - Worlds



Diapora - Industrial World

The closest planet to the host star, Diapora has served as an efficient industrial base for the system. The planet is mostly inhospitable, except for the several factory holdings that run along its mountainous terrain.

Key locations:
Roel: a set of factoriums forming the world’s largest single industrial base.
Rur: a servitor factory complex built around an old Mechanicus shrine.
Kottore Spring: a massive drilled well. The only source of usable native fresh-water.



Vacra - Industrial World

The second planet, Vacra, was the first world in the system to be settled by the Imperium. It used to be a striving agriworld, but then by some unknown influence, the planets surface became slightly toxic, destroying nigh all plantlife on it. Since then the city it once possessed has been turned into a multi-refining manufactorum with many smaller ones following. A large interplanetary harbour orbits it like a moon, with countless lesser spacecraft circling back and forth between it and the surface. Due to the old and badly outdated supply links within the system, over half of the industrial materials harnessed in other planets must travel through Vacra, where they are refined into more suitable states before being consumed by the needs of the Mechanicus. This, even despite its remarkable distance from the outer worlds, has made Vacra the second most important planet in the system right after Sinope II.

Key locations:
Amida: the world’s biggest urban complex, covering a remarkable portion of its surface. Most of the industrial refining is done here.
Calais station: the second biggest refinery-complex in the world.
Ionia: the orbital harbour governing traffic in and out of the world



Halysian Prime - Agriworld

A beautiful green planet that has been granted the honour of carrying the name of the star it orbits. After the loss of planet Vacra's agriproduction, Halysian Prime is now responsible for providing close to all food and farming products in the system.

Key locations:
Deli: a vast complex of warehouses and landing bases. Agriproducts from around the world are gathered here before being shipped out into the system.
Hoover Dam: a gigantic global dam complex that controls the water rations around the world
Locus: an Imperial shrine.



Sinope II (Lesser Sinope) - Forge World

As the heart, lungs and the brain of the system, Sinope II ruled over its neighbours with a despotic grip. Not a single ship was launched into space without its ultimate goal being to serve the development of the forge world. Essentially a data-hoard world due to the nature of its history, Sinope II did also pose a promising beginning of production rates. That was all before the devastation, of course. Now torn asunder by war and plagues, not to mention being mostly inaccessible due to cipher-protected vaults inhabited by enemies. There is hope for Sinope II still however, if the Imperium regains the control of its core and manages to relocate the war-stage further away into the Paphlagonian sector.

Ruled over by the joint-government of Magos Praetor Diogenes and Canoness Danicia of the Order of the Bloody Rose.

Key locations:
Analytica: the terrestrial governmental complex of the fabricator-general.
Dialectica: the largest garrison of the forge world. Serves partially as the Sisterhood’s monastery.
Secretum: the main entrance to the planet’s core, where the vaults, control station and the original governmental base lay.
Colitur: a large temple complex devoted to the worship of the Omnissiah.



Diphilus - Moon Base

Shipdock and warehouse moon. Serves as a transportation link between Sinope II and the rest of the system, allowing each inch of the precious surface of the forge world to remain devoted to production. Controlling Diphilus means controlling the traffic in and out of Sinope II.








Halysian Belt - Asteroid Belt


The Halysian system hosts a large asteroid belt, which is constantly under heavy mining operations. Supplying the needs of the whole system, the hazardous work of the miners has been deemed well worth the risk.

Key locations:
Colonia: a small inhabited space station. Gate in and out of the belt.



Orticus - Industrial World

Where Diapora provides the heat, Orticus provides the cold. The freezing planet has been inhabited relatively late, but already hosts a remarkable amount of the system’s prized industry. Due to the constant demand of powerful heating systems for its inhabitants and machinery, Orticus is highly dependent on its neighbour Altium for fuel. Nevertheless, the proximity to the mining operations on the Halysian belt and its position as the only alternative base for ore-refining (to the far more distant Vacra) has made Orticus an irreplaceable asset to the system.

Key locations:
Lorca’s Novena: a large refinery. Ore-refining, storing and exportation is based here.
Dementia: an industrial complex of multiple varieties. The main base of fuel importation.
Collateralia: the largest concentration of population in the world. Guards the main entrance to the massive web of subterranean mining tunnels and supplies the workers within.



Altium - Gas Planet, Drilling World

The sole gas giant in the system, Altium's importance as a source of fuel is of critical importance to the area and especially to its neighbour Vacra. Its vast mining stations hum day and night to provide the system its needs.

Key locations:
Vesta, Iesta, Levesta: three biggest fuel-mining stations. All inhabited.
Levant station: a massive fuel repository and interplanetary traffic station.





Gravis - Dead Cracked Planet

The furthest planet, if you can call it that, has been aptly named Gravis, or Grave. Surrounded by unknown alien energies, all attempts to reach the cracked surface have failed if not on approach, shortly after by the inhospitable energies on it. Those who survived have returned insane or as empty husks, alive, but effectively braindead. Since then the Imperium has decided the planet to be only observed, but not before the guardsmen in the past came to give the planet its name.

Key locations:
???

Hear the Rotten Dogs bark

Rotten dogs looking good!

 Flapjack wrote:
Rotten dogs looking good!

Thanks!



The Dog Soldiers

Known in the past as Trench Hounds, the stubborn infantry company that grinded down the lost worlds of the Galatian System, the Rotten Dogs now share an unnerving path to despair. Doomed by a failed attempt to capture and weaponize a powerful daemon of Nurgle, they themselves ended up as the wretched slave-pets to the Unclean One. Whenever the Uncle calls, the Rotten Dogs answer, doing tricks and fetching toys in whatever humiliating fashion he sees fit. Slowly but undeniably they fall to obliviousness, their rotting brains losing every sense of companionship to their legacy. In the end they will all march as mindless puppets to their master's whim, not caring or even knowing about their past as unyelding marines of the Iron Warriors. But until then they keep on carrying the prided stripes of the IVth, perhaps as a silent protest and a hopeful attempt to store the last climpses of selfness left in their cores. For hope is the arch enemy to the Lord of Despair, and the sole route to redemption.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'm very much slower as a blog writer than as a hobbyist, so this one will inevitably run behind the progress. I've got around 27PL worth of Iron Warriors ready and painted, plus tons of w.i.p projects like the obliterators you can see from the picture. We will just have to see the order in which I share the stuff, but I at least try to retain the order in which they get finished. At the moment I like converting minis more than painting them, but am very shy of showing w.i.p's, so that is something I'll have to work on I guess

This might all change of course if any of the 13 campaign participants decides to join this thread, in which case you may see anything from Sisters to Loyalist IW to the Cults of the Genestealers.

Not even the vile Techno-virus reigns untouched among the ranks of the Rotten Dogs. The Uncle took the seed of the obliterator and twisted and turned until he finally saw it fit for the Lord of Despair. What followed was a peculiar fellowship of hulking monstrosities, each a disgusting mix of machine and bloated flesh. This potent variant born from the daemon's touch requires not the armoured hulk of the terminators, but gladly accepts any proud astarte as its host, growing hunks of infected meat to where inpenetrable plate would otherwise reside. These accursed creatures then live on as any other cruel obliterators, absorbing and growing arms of destructive power as their deranged minds see fit. It is no wonder that they can be found in dozens from with the trenches of the Rotten Dogs, acting both as the anchors to their battlelines as well as the very symbol of the demise that awaits them all.

A couple of wip shots of today's toil

Great work on the Rotten Dogs, your Obliterator conversions are suitably nasty looking.

Do you have any other info on the Rust Never Sleeps campaign and future plans for it? I'd like to follow along if you guys plan to do batreps and/or more writing for it. Narrative campaigns like this are my favourite part about the hobby, so inspiring.

 Thumpingbear wrote:
Great work on the Rotten Dogs, your Obliterator conversions are suitably nasty looking.

Do you have any other info on the Rust Never Sleeps campaign and future plans for it? I'd like to follow along if you guys plan to do batreps and/or more writing for it. Narrative campaigns like this are my favourite part about the hobby, so inspiring.

Thanks for your feedback!

Unfortunately I myself can’t provide much broader information at the moment than my own warband’s stories, due to the fractured nature of our campaign. :( We have 14 players (myself icluded) fighting sort of independent mini-campaigns around the System and some of the fluff is secretive. The first Phase ends by the end of the October, by which point I’ll have collected the results on each front and will write a new, more inclusive chapter to the story, more like the prelude in the original post. Then the players will be divided again for the next phase, followed by another period of independent conflicts.
It is up to the players themselves to write their own reports and progress logs, but it seems they favour our private discord for that at least for now.

I will however soon write some reports about my own battles against the forces of Mechanicus on the gasplanet of Altium. I could also publish the information whom of the players is fighting whom and where, if that is what interests you.

Cheers!

No fluff or campaign reports yet, I'm sorry. Sitting down to write takes that critical effort I haven't been able to find. But here's wip shot 5 Nurgle terminators that will soon join the Rotten Dogs on their path to despair.







Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's also one almost finished Daemon Engine. It has been magnetized for weapon swapping, so I can play it as Forgefiend or Maulerfiend, whichever I prefer.

The fiend is proper horror monster looking, seriously one of the scariest looking minatures I've seen - Great job!

"Wretched curs", cursed the Lord Reviler under his breath. He should not be there. None of his brothers should be there. Had the sons of Mortarion more than rot and mucus for brains, this system would be secure and firmly in the grip of the Chaos gods and they would be on their way to despoil fresh worlds and be at the Warmaster's side. Now they were mired in this mess, trying to salvage the ever worsening state of the campaign. Lord Erethral Arkhavex, Captain of the 21st Company of the Sons of Horus, Pillager of Tallarn, Lord of the Brotherhood of the Octed, was seething. His closest friends, if there were such things in the ranks of the Enlightened, stood beside him.

"I understand your frustration, my lord, but needs must. The children of the Dark Prince are trapped on Gravis, and to gain them as allies, we have to free them", spoke Vadith, or at least one of his bodies. The Sorcerer currently inhabited the bodies of three Sorcerers at once, somehow having split his soul into the three of them. None but he knew which, if any, was his original body.

"I concur", said Kasavor. Or as many knew him, the Husk-maker. The Daemonologist pointed at the holographic map. "There. I suggest we land a force there, locate the proper ritual site and secure it. But be warned, my lord", he added, more serious now, "The Daemons have been trapped here for a long time, barely surviving on the measly offerings of the planetoid. They will attack us, seeking to inflict what little pain they can, dragging us down with them like a drowning man would take his saviour with him".

Erethral nodded, lifting his massive helmet from the hands of the two slaves that had been holding it thus far. Relieved of the weight of the Terminator suit's helmet, they quickly bowed and withdrew with shaky arms and legs. "We start now. The quicker this campaign is over, the sooner we can join the Black Crusade."

Game One of the Brotherhood of the Octed against the Daemons of Slaanesh 30 PL

The First game of our campaign was a simple match of Sweep and Clear, in which the Black Legion had made a planetfall and were almost immediately assailed by the crazed and pleasure-derived Daemons of Slaanesh. The forces in this game were something like this:

Brotherhood of the Octed:
Patrol Detachment

Chaos Lord with Terminator Armour (Erethral Arkhavex)
combi-melta, Blade of the Relentless, Veilbreaker plate, Hatred Incarnate (I paid 1 RP for Gifts of Chaos and 1 RP for extra Relic, to make it fair, increasing the base Crusade points cost of the veteran Lord to 4)

Master of Possessions (Kasavor the Husk-maker)

5x Chaos Terminators

5x Chaos Legionnaires (First Brothers)
Reaper chaincannon, Balefire tome (Prescience), bolters, power fist, Icon

10x Chaos Cultists


Slaanesh Daemons:
Relesha the Denied Twin, Transweaver

10x Daemonettes

10x Daemonettes

10x Seekers


The Daemons of Slaanesh leaped immediately towards the Undivided Chaos warband, the Seekers racing forward while the rest of the Daemons held back, biding their time. The Seekers leaped over the battle-field, smashing against the Terminator elite, empowered by the magicks of the Transweaver and the Chaos gods. They struck with ferocity, but the armoured bulk of the Terminators was strong, and the daemonic claws and tendrils found no purchase, dragging just one Terminator down. In return, the Terminators showed the might of the Bringers of Despair and struck home, dragging half a dozen Daemons off their steeds with their accursed blades and, more importantly, their power fists, while the Heroically Intervened Lord managed to kill one measly Seeker, leaving three. Two of the Daemons vanished shortly after, leaving just one Seeker standing. On Chaos Turn 1, Lord Arkhavex and the Bringers of Despair teleported using the Veilbreaker plate's ability, after which they turned their weapons towards a squad of nearby Daemonettes, exorcising them with the might of their guns.



The Husk-maker raised the lone fallen Terminator and smote the lone surviving Seeker. The Legionnaire squad opened fire on the other surviving Daemonette squad, nearly wiping them out, until they, too, ran away in the Morale phase.

In the end, the Transweaver succumbed to the might of the Black Legion, leaving the ritual site to in the hands of the Black Legion and fulfilling the Black Legions own agenda, giving them a whopping amount of 9 Chaos points, immediately raising the Warfleet Glory to maximum and raising the Glory track of the other two tracks by one from the starting point.


Game Two, 40PL, Supply Drop

The Chaos Legionnaires and their mortal allies started to unload the noctilith and other important resources needed for the unbinding ritual. Constantly harrased and losing many slaves to the alluring whisperers in the total darkness of the planetoid. Finally, the Daemons attacked once more, as the twin sister of the temporarily banished Transweaver came at them with a vengeance.

Forces:

Black Legion

Lord Arkhavex

Kasavor the Husk-maker, the Master of Possessions

5x Chaos Legionnaires (First Brothers)
Reaper chaincannon, Balefire tome (Prescience), bolters, power fist, Icon

5x Chaos Legionnaires (Sons of Fury)
Mark of Khorne, heavy chain axe, daemon blade, Icon, Astartes Chainswords and bolt pistols.

5x Chaos Terminators

Vargarachnus, the Bladed Terror ( Venomcrawler)



Daemons of Slaanesh

Ralesha the Denied Twin, Transweaver

10x Daemonettes

10x Daemonettes

10x Daemonettes

10x Seekers

Exalted Seeker Chariot


In what would be a very close repetition of the first game, the Slaaneshi Daemons took the initiative, racing across the battlefield. The Seeker Chariot tried to achieve what the Seekers had not in the first game and smashed into the Terminators, while the Seekers moved against the followers of the arch rival of their god and charged the Khornate Legionnaires. They were quite successful, managing to slay the entire squad before piling in to the nearby squad of Legionnaires and the Master of Possessions, who combined managed to take down two Seekers. The Chariot fared worse, failing to kill a single Terminator, but suffering only six or so wounds back as well.



The Black Legion struck back, with the Lord and Terminators vanishing once more with the Veilbreaker plate and reappering in the back lines of the Daemons, who had a commanding grip of the battlefield. The Legionaires and Kasavor leaped back, leaving Vargarachnus space to fire at the Seekers.

In the following shooting phase, the Venomcrawler fired at the Seekers, killing a couple. The Terminators opened fire with everything they had on the the Daemonettes holding the middle of the battlefield, felling just four of them. Then it was charge phase already, and the Terminators managed their 9" charge, killing one of the two squads of Daemonettes in the middle of the field, while Vargarachnus engaged the Seeker chariot, leaving it with 1 Wound left while suffering one wound in return. Things were looking quite even at the end of this turn.

Turn 2 came, and the Daemons leaped into action. Vargarachnus was holding ground and the third Daemonette squad behind the Seeker Chariot was stuck on the objective, not able to move forward. The Seekers moved against the Legionnaires, whilst the Daemonettes holding the line on the Daemon's side of table were given many blessings by the Transweaver and the Warp Storms. With hardly anything to do, the Daemons charged, first Seekers into Legionnaires and Kasavor, then the Daemonettes into Terminators. The Terminators were not fazed, however, and managed to bring down five of the ten Daemonettes with their Overwatch. The Daemons struck first, killing a Legionnaire, Seeker Chariot inflicting two more wounds on the Venomcrawler Vargarachnus and the Daemonettes took down three Terminators. In return, the Seekers lost three more of their number to the power fist and the daemonic staff, whilst the Vargarachnus slew the wounded Chariot. The battered Terminators took two more Daemonettes with their attacks, which caused two of the remaining Daemonettes to disappear from the fight.

The next Black Legion turn was mostly just a mop-up, the lone remaining Daemonette, who was not within Engagement Range, was charged and killed by the Chaos Lord, whilst Vargarachnus did short work of the Daemonettes with its guns and bladed limbs. The remaining Seekers were super-Smited by the psykers, after which the remaining Transweaver was blasted away by the Reaper Chaincannon of the First Brothers.

Another great victory for the Black Legion, another heap of EXP and Chaos points, giving Lord Arkhavex a level and a whole host of Favored rewards and Boons.




The games were what you would expect in this game size and with the disparity of Crusade experience we had as players. I've played more than 20 Crusade games of Patrol size, whilst this was my opponent's first time playing Crusade. In such a small game board and with so few models at your disposal, killing your enemy becomes your primary goal. Once the enemy is dead, you have time to play the mission. My opponent was also playing a spanking new codex and a recently started army he picked up for this Crusade, whereas I'm more familiar with my codex and the Crusade format at this point.

I was worried that the house-ruling decision to have both the Veilbreaker plate and The Blade of the Relentless would be too powerful, but in the end the Blade didn't really do a thing compared to just having an Exalted axe and my Lord did way more damage with his combi-melta, which is probably due to me not rolling a single 6 to hit in melee and because the Daemons seem to be quite allergic to masses of mass-reactive shells. I'm fine with dropping the Blade and going for a Crusade relic for example, but thus far all it's done is give my opponent extra CP. The reason is not to make the Lord a meta monster or anything, the reason is simply this: Veilbreaker plate has one gimmick to it, since its other effect is basically conveyed by Armour of Contempt already, so if you want the cute little Veil of Darkness gimmick, you get very little in return. If I wanted to go full-on damage, a Daemon weapon would do the trick. Now, for 3 RP and 3 CP I get a bit of both, a gutted armour and less-than ideal weapon for what I consider to be a reasonable price (also if he becomes Daemon, I lose the plate and I get locked out of the Murder Sword anyways).

After these matches I have plenty of Favoured Rewards and Requisition Points to spend. We will play more games later, after we manage to get some more paint on our models. I will do a full Crusade intro later, for now these two very short game reports must do.

 lordbickerstaff wrote:
The fiend is proper horror monster looking, seriously one of the scariest looking minatures I've seen - Great job!

Thanks! I'm very satisfied with it myself too. My dilemma is that attaching guns to that silhouette irritatingly lessens the horror aspect, but I enjoy playing Forgefiends much more than Maulerfiends.

Also welcome Ebinmeister to the thread and thanks for your content! This is a wonderful way to archive our otherwise massive campaign.

I promise to post some more content of my own tomorrow evening.

Cheers!

A captain too ambitious for his coterie, Lord Physkon chose to pursue heights higher than his Hounds could reach. He carries the burden of being one of the Accursed Triumvirate, a collegue of warlords that sought to bring the end to the Siege of Galatian Prime by entrapping a mighty plague daemon to an ensorcelled warhead. Losing control of the ritual at the worst of possible moments, they instead detonated the weapon within their own ranks, freeing the daemon and succumbing to its scourge. Galatian Prime was taken in the end, alongside the whole System, but with the nature of the Siege Hounds forever changed. Lord Physkon has since walked on as a torn figure, with one half of his withered brain ineptly yielding to the shame and remorse, asking only for the promises of bliss and oblivion offered by the Lord of Despair. The other still fights back however, with true stubborness of the IVth and a cold anger that seeks for any untried lever to push back fate and to avenge the misblessed brothers. Thus far the daemon has had him bested, with his timer ticking. In the end there will be nothing left to fight for, only a collection of demented individuals swallowed by despair and lethargic abandonment.