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I was watching a documentary about the Last Days of Vietnam, mostly how once the North Vietnamese decided to cross the line and invade the south....how every South Vietnamese was desperately fleeing to Saigon and trying to find their way to the American fleet by any means possible. One of my neighbors is actually Vietnamese and his grandparents were kind enough to fill out their own experiences fleeing Vietnam.


So got me thinking - 40K Fiction is pretty good at replicating war stories - at least as insofar as the focus is on the Imperial Guard.

I wonder if there has been any fiction or fluff incident that's touched on something similar like this. That sense of chaos and panic as you have a civilian population and a weakened military force trying to flee for their lives as a slow but relentless enemy creeps ever closer to that last tiny patch of land belonging to the Imperium on that world....

I vaguely recall a short Tyranid story that fits the bill - evacuation of a world going on, heroes in a convoy desperately trying to move people/munitions/macines, and then BOOM! the Hive Fleet is upon them..... cue Death everywhere.

Can't remember the name of the story though. Can't think of anything else either...

Any suggestions?

There are a few bits and pieces in Dead Men Walking that are about the civilians, but the book far from focuses on them.

At the end of Dead Men Walking, the Death Korps are recalled as winning against the Necrons becomes too costly and they basically abandon the civilian population and the PDF they trained.

Aus Askar wrote:
At the end of Dead Men Walking, the Death Korps are recalled as winning against the Necrons becomes too costly and they basically abandon the civilian population and the PDF they trained.

Bruh... that's savage! *Insert Meme*


On topic @OP: I don't think there are many (if any) stories on this topic, but as the Dead Men Walking example suggests, there are elements of it found in a number of books. That being said, I'm with you in that I'd be keen to find and read any books which focus on it.

Savage as feth, the arguably main characters asks his colonel why, the colonel says something similar to '' Victory is going to cost us too much here, we've been recalled to go fight the Orks on an other planet, good bye '' And the retreat is described as being really orderly, more of a marching in another direct than a true retreat. Keep in mind the main character was about 15 meters away from where he was supposed to trigger the nukes strapped to himself.

execution hour has something similer as part of the plot. with the "main ship" helping over see evacuation efforts before the planet killer destroys a world

GrapeApe wrote:
I was watching a documentary about the Last Days of Vietnam, mostly how once the North Vietnamese decided to cross the line and invade the south....how every South Vietnamese was desperately fleeing to Saigon and trying to find their way to the American fleet by any means possible. One of my neighbors is actually Vietnamese and his grandparents were kind enough to fill out their own experiences fleeing Vietnam.
<SNIP>
I vaguely recall a short Tyranid story that fits the bill - evacuation of a world going on, heroes in a convoy desperately trying to move people/munitions/macines, and then BOOM! the Hive Fleet is upon them..... cue Death everywhere.

Can't remember the name of the story though. Can't think of anything else either...

Any suggestions?

The short story is "The Fall of Malvolion" by Dan Abnett (better known for his work on Gaunt's Ghosts). I read it in WD253 (Feb 2001). Don't know if the short story appeared anywhere else.

The Lamenters Chapter shows up (briefly) in the story. The chapter was nearly destroyed by Hive Fleet Kraken so I'm assuming Malvolion was one of the planets in Kraken's path.

If I recall correctly, Ben Country's hell forged had a scene sort of depicting this although there really isn't anywhere to go for the planet's remaining populace...

The newish Legends of the Astarum Militarium (or whatever the @#$% they're called now) book has a great series of stories about Yarrick, beginning with him (and his army of millions) being ambushed and cut off by orks.

It has a great feeling of hopelessness as Yarrik just tries to save what he can before Ghaz crushes them all.

The book as a whole was sort of meh, but the first 3rd was really great.

The Medusa 5 campaign had the Imperium evacuating a planet before a warpstorm hit.

Last Days of Ector is the exact story you're looking for.

There are a few short stories that I can't rightly recall the names of.

One is where there are a bunch of troops retreating from a Chaos (I think) attack in the Jungle and they have to get to a certain check point before their location is bombarded. One by one they get picked off until the sole survivor reaches the check point, only to be told to get to another check point as the area is going to be bombarded.

I think you have read the one that I was thinking of with the Tyranid invasion. I think the Lamenters show up as well in it and do ok initially, but the shear mass of Tyranids is too much and they are all killed, the Guardsman who is the main character kills himself as it's hopeless.

Vengeful Spirit has the world of Molech being evacuated and Horus letting a ship escape so that terror is spread throughout the Imperium.

 Pilau Rice wrote:
There are a few short stories that I can't rightly recall the names of.

One is where there are a bunch of troops retreating from a Chaos (I think) attack in the Jungle and they have to get to a certain check point before their location is bombarded. One by one they get picked off until the sole survivor reaches the check point, only to be told to get to another check point as the area is going to be bombarded.

That's fromthe very first 40k short story collection-Deathwing.

I think you have read the one that I was thinking of with the Tyranid invasion. I think the Lamenters show up as well in it and do ok initially, but the shear mass of Tyranids is too much and they are all killed, the Guardsman who is the main character kills himself as it's hopeless.

I think that's from the 3rd edition Nid Codex.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:


That's fromthe very first 40k short story collection-Deathwing.

Yep, it's called Devil's Marauders

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

I think that's from the 3rd edition Nid Codex.

It might be but I remember it from Let the Galaxy Burn. I think it's this one The Fall of Malvolion

Death or Gory from the Ciaphas Cain series is about our unlikely commissar protagonist getting shot down deep in Ork territory and needing to somehow make way back to imperial lines, collecting a motley crew of survivors along the way.

It isn't as serious as I think you're looking for, but it's easily my favourite Cain adventure.

Thanks for the suggestions folks!

And yes, it was Dan Abnett who wrote the Tyranid/Lamenter story.

I also recall another Ciaphas Cain story with that kind of "we need to get out of Dodge" feel - i believe they were fleeing the OldCrons.

Actually now that i think about it, the Tyranids and the OldCrons make the perfect antagonist for these types of stories - inhuman, takes no prisoners, etc.


Edit - and here's a little tidbit of what I saw.

This is the "Last Flight from Da Nang" a major city near the North/South Vietnam border that was overrun.

A commercial airliner with the president of the company attempted to airlift as many women and children from the city around the time the North Vietnamese tanks were only a few miles away.....

That was the intention at least.........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzcWZ7j1iTg

jareddm wrote:
Last Days of Ector is the exact story you're looking for.

Seconded, an excellent little story about an evacuation from a doomed world. It starts off with a sense of doom, then it gives the defenders a glimmer of hope, then that hope is crushed and the last five or so chapters are nothing but fighting retreat and desperate struggle not to get swept away by the Tyranid living tide.

Xyptc wrote:

jareddm wrote:
Last Days of Ector is the exact story you're looking for.

Seconded, an excellent little story about an evacuation from a doomed world. It starts off with a sense of doom, then it gives the defenders a glimmer of hope, then that hope is crushed and the last five or so chapters are nothing but fighting retreat and desperate struggle not to get swept away by the Tyranid living tide.

Is the "Last Days of Ector" connected to the Valedor novel by the same writer?

I do find it telling though, that just like the The Fall of Malvolion, its the Tyranids again who take up the role of "inevitable creeping doom."

GrapeApe wrote:

Xyptc wrote:

jareddm wrote:
Last Days of Ector is the exact story you're looking for.

Seconded, an excellent little story about an evacuation from a doomed world. It starts off with a sense of doom, then it gives the defenders a glimmer of hope, then that hope is crushed and the last five or so chapters are nothing but fighting retreat and desperate struggle not to get swept away by the Tyranid living tide.

Is the "Last Days of Ector" connected to the Valedor novel by the same writer?

I do find it telling though, that just like the The Fall of Malvolion, its the Tyranids again who take up the role of "inevitable creeping doom."

Yeah, Guy Haley. It's set in the same system a few weeks before Valedor takes place.

Tyranids do the creeping doom very well. There is no reasoning with them, no hope to appease or divert them, only to decide if you have the resources to make a stand and try to beat them off, or otherwise write your world off to the Devourer and try to save as many people as you can before they render the world uninhabitable. With a lot of attackers the "fight or flight" line is a lot more blurred, but with the Tyranids it's usually a fairly easy decision to make because you can tell just how many creatures they can fire at your world from the size of the fleet, and you know that they will send everything without hesitation. Furthermore, even a successful defence will be immensely costly to the defenders, and so only important worlds are deemed "worth saving". For every world defended, you can bet your biscuits that a far greater number will have been abandoned, and that often means massive evacuations.

 Bobthehero wrote:
Savage as feth, the arguably main characters asks his colonel why, the colonel says something similar to '' Victory is going to cost us too much here, we've been recalled to go fight the Orks on an other planet, good bye '' And the retreat is described as being really orderly, more of a marching in another direct than a true retreat. Keep in mind the main character was about 15 meters away from where he was supposed to trigger the nukes strapped to himself.

I was referring to the initial evacuation of the city, not the end of the book. It was an excellent portrayal of the Death Korps though in that last scene.

 Ancestral Hamster wrote:

GrapeApe wrote:
I was watching a documentary about the Last Days of Vietnam, mostly how once the North Vietnamese decided to cross the line and invade the south....how every South Vietnamese was desperately fleeing to Saigon and trying to find their way to the American fleet by any means possible. One of my neighbors is actually Vietnamese and his grandparents were kind enough to fill out their own experiences fleeing Vietnam.
<SNIP>
I vaguely recall a short Tyranid story that fits the bill - evacuation of a world going on, heroes in a convoy desperately trying to move people/munitions/macines, and then BOOM! the Hive Fleet is upon them..... cue Death everywhere.

Can't remember the name of the story though. Can't think of anything else either...

Any suggestions?

The short story is "The Fall of Malvolion" by Dan Abnett (better known for his work on Gaunt's Ghosts). I read it in WD253 (Feb 2001). Don't know if the short story appeared anywhere else.

The Lamenters Chapter shows up (briefly) in the story. The chapter was nearly destroyed by Hive Fleet Kraken so I'm assuming Malvolion was one of the planets in Kraken's path.

The Lamenters drop pod in and one guy instantly melts a Carnifex's face off with a melta gun, they are really effective for a few minutes then they just start falling and the guardsmen who the story's perspective is coming from at the end just sits in a trench or ditch and shoots himself in the head before rippers (I think?) get to him. Still one of the best short stories I've ever read, it was in a White Dwarf.

In one of the Night Lords books there's a frantic evacuation involving an emergency atmospheric entry by the Night Lords strike cruiser linking up with their fleeing dropships while the being shot at by the Black Legion and boarded by the Blood Angels. Pretty crazy scene.

There's a bit in the Yarrick series on Armageddon where all of the civilians evacuate their hive and all the orks pretty much hunt them down, circle them, and execute them. Grimdark.

I wrote one in the fluff for my Tau.

Tsar'ha Tallollatrau emerged from his darkened sleep furious at the state of the war.
"Your master, we are losing," Gur'ka'slamoan Tor'rakka told him meekly.
Tor'rakka was just an underling to the great Tallollatrau, a spec of dust under his mighty boot slamming down.
"Quiet!" screamed the king, furious again at Tor'rakka's news.
"We shall attack. Strike in the port. One hundred men, each a Riptide. Unleash the mass destruction of the Tau."
Explosions went up in flames and the whole enemy Ork force cried in pain.
"Argh, me arm blown da off!" grunted a dumb Ork, his arm hewn in three as it held from a string of vein from his shoulder.
The Tau rose again.

Just a teaser...

TrollSlayerThorak'Khun'Na wrote:
I wrote one in the fluff for my Tau.

Tsar'ha Tallollatrau emerged from his darkened sleep furious at the state of the war.
"Your master, we are losing," Gur'ka'slamoan Tor'rakka told him meekly.
Tor'rakka was just an underling to the great Tallollatrau, a spec of dust under his mighty boot slamming down.
"Quiet!" screamed the king, furious again at Tor'rakka's news.
"We shall attack. Strike in the port. One hundred men, each a Riptide. Unleash the mass destruction of the Tau."
Explosions went up in flames and the whole enemy Ork force cried in pain.
"Argh, me arm blown da off!" grunted a dumb Ork, his arm hewn in three as it held from a string of vein from his shoulder.
The Tau rose again.

Just a teaser...

And so, the Tau riptide pilots heroically held their triggers down until the the last Ork lay twitching in the dust.
'Nothin' personnel Be'gel', smirked the lead pilot.

The beginning of the Gaunt's Ghosts story (Necropolis) has the citizens of Vervunhive evacuating
it's possibly not as in-depth as you're looking for, but it's a good read, not least for the raw humanity of it

Dark Disciple by Anthony Reynolds is mainly about Word Bearers, but there's a subplot involving civilians trying to evacuate a Tyranid invasion before the Imperium nukes the planet. This older guy tries to get a kid safely off the planet, and succeeds even though he himself is left behind to die. The book then reveals that the kid was infected by a Genestealer the whole time. The moral of the story is, no good deed goes unpunished.

While my knowledge of 40k novels is certainly lacking this is a very interesting topic and would love to see more of these fight and flight type stories popping up in the lore more than just the usual heroics of the 41st melenium.

All this brings to mind for me is the scene in starship troopers with the initial drop on clendathu where the mobile infantry take initial ground but end up getting creamed.

Can only imagine the guard were dropped to give the civilians and more important material to be evacated off planet bit end up being massively over run

GrapeApe wrote:
I wonder if there has been any fiction or fluff incident that's touched on something similar like this.
That sense of chaos and panic as you have a civilian population and a weakened military force trying to flee for their lives as a slow but relentless enemy creeps ever closer to that last tiny patch of land belonging to the Imperium on that world....

Any suggestions?

Fall of Damnos fits quite well to that description.

I wrote a piece of fluff for my IG regiment which was linked to the extinction of a huge number of suns 60 light years around the place where an Eldar Craftworld was sighted. I can't remember the name of the event but you can find it in the chronologies of the 40k wiki.

Long story short, when the atmosphere went cold as hell and fauna and flora started to die, the Imperial machine had to react quickly. Despite the huge effort the Imperial navy made in this situation of emergency, there were too many people and too many industrial means to save and the Administratum had to select the most worthy of them.

My regiment was thus tasked to defend the naval bases that were overwhelmed by civilians who were deemed unfit for evacuation. The people did not take long before understanding that Imperial propaganda was lying on the intention of the Adeptus Terra to save them all. Very soon, battles erupted everywhere on the defence lines while huge crowds of unarmed civilians try to reach for the ships and improvised militias engaged the IG. It ended up on large scale massacres that were impossible to avoid given the terrible situation.
Finally, something like 10% of the hundred billion of inhabitants and most of the STC were saved from the sector. The RSD had commited things that they would never ever speak of again but they had demonstrated their worthiness and cold obeisance to the orders.

This is the part of 40k I like. Grimdarkness grimmer and darker than anything.