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Imperial forces muster before deployment to Taros.




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A formation of heavy armor is obscured by "Hell Smokers"


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Maintenance crews work on recovery of a damaged Conqueror




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Shock troops dismount deep in Tau territory during a nighttime raid.




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Col Helstroms Batman Cpl. Lawrence chooses a stick grenade over a swagger stick while interacting with local insurgents.


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Fighting a "Flat Earth Campaign" Col. Helstrom encouraged his tank commanders to make 'Fish cakes' whenever practical.


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Why Thank you kindly Captain!

Photoshoot today:






























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Beat me to it!






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Beat me to it!

Here's another of the repair team.

That is a really cool armoured force! The two-seater sentinel is great


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Where did you get the hell smokers?

Great stuff there guys, some nice shots

A really cool photo shoot guys, some great action shots. The two seater sentinel on the ridge line with the sky backdrop is just great!

You guy are one of my favorite blogs on here. I can always count on seeing a diversity of models and fantastic cinematic scenes.

 Illumini wrote:
That is a really cool armoured force! The two-seater sentinel is great


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Where did you get the hell smokers?

They came from a Kickstarter, but I don't remember which game it was for. The same folks did a plastic drop ship too. I always wanted some civilian vehicles for terrain, or garrison type vehicles and those trucks fit the bill. The hell smoker is just some war gear tossed in the back.




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 gobert wrote:
A really cool photo shoot guys, some great action shots. The two seater sentinel on the ridge line with the sky backdrop is just great!

Kestral really nailed that shot. I just snap away with an IPad. Normally we just take pictures in game but lockdown got boring.

Very nice you two.

Cheers,

CB

Why thank you! Collecting images for an eventual show off gallery. Here's I walker's Heretical all too close to practical Russ Variant.

Mortian makes some cool tanks.

Col Helstrom clenched a communications bulletin in his fist as he climbed out of his staff car. A seemingly random mix of armored vehicles were scattered about the Forward Operational Base, many with service hatches open and enginseers performing their sacred rights in the sun of the Taros day. Rights that almost always started with the removal of soft Taros sand from the air filtration systems. Col Helstrom found his batman, Cpl. Lars Rytkr eating a sandwich on the shaded side of a Salamander scout tank.
"Lars, round up the commanders of my security section and the 495th tank hunter platoon, request support from the Tech priests to be in attendance at a mission briefing at the TOC in 30min and I'll swing by the shrine and see if one of the priestesses from the Order of Diane can join us. "
Thirty minutes later Col Helstrom was bent over a map table with the landscape around Tarokeen displayed.
"The effort to take Tarokeen has been sidelined momentarily by a push for this well head. Various war masters seem to have differing ideas on the strategic impact this particular well head will have. Those opinions may be caused by our lack of solid intelligence on the Tau forces in that area."





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"The 495th tank battalion has diverted a full company with Infantry support for a night assault on the Well head."
The TOC duty officer, a sanctioned psycher Master Gefren, assigned to support the Battalion raised an eyebrow as he looked at the maps. "Even if we knew what type of forces were assigned to that facility, the core of the Tau cadres are within easy support distances."
"Indeed" Col Helstrom replied, "however the governing opinion is that because the facility is not hardened only secondary units will be deployed in its defense. Furthermore do to the value of the well head indirect artillery fire is not approved."
The Col. paused to let that information sink in. "Night flights are suspended, so no Air support until sun up. However, on the plus side Space Marines of the Blood Angels chapter are deploying to the location."
Knight Commander Katya Georgena was the next to speak.
"Do you have your own force estimation for the Tau?"
Helstrom jammed a finger down on a Tau airfield. "significant numbers of battle suits and Devilfish are within easy striking distance. Plus, our recon teams have encountered large numbers of Kroot auxiliaries. Given the anti armor capabilities of the Tau I suspect maybe a platoons worth of tanks and infantry actually make it to the well head. When they get there, we have no idea what the orders will be. Every cook in the kitchen wants something different from the pot."
Sgt. Harkness, the burly squad leader of the 4th security platoon spoke next.
"Where do you want us, and how are we getting there?"
"Deploying on my position, via Valkyrie. Due to the night flight restrictions you won't be part of the first wave. Commander Georgena, take your Destroyer squad with 3rd platoon for support and deploy behind this ridge line here ASAP. You will be our rear guard and counter any pursuit in the event we have to fall back."
Col Helstrom turned to Master Gefren, "I'd appreciate your presence on this one, and I could use at least one volunteer from the Tech Priests". I diminutive woman in the garb of a hospitalier spoke up. "The Holy Order of Diane give their blessing to this mission, I realize you had hoped for one of the Swordsmistresses Col. You will have to settle for my presence".
Col Helstrom nodded, "there will be kroot."
"Yes" she replied.
"Good, my staff car will accommodate the last of us. Driving hard we should be able to join the fray with elements of our 1st recon company. I'll assemble a command squad and as many mechanized squads as we can from the remnants of 1st Platoon."


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The Return to Taros, End of the Early War.

Although losses had not been light, the war on Taros was proceeding according to the Empire's satisfaction. The Tau were reeling from a series of defeats, a number of the Rinn'va's best commanders were dead or missing, and lead elements had reached Tarokeen. While the Tau appeared ready to hold the city, it was estimated they would have little taste for streetfighting. The imperium held the "Needle" fortress of Dawnwater's edge, and for the moment supply lines were adequate to the guard

Only two flies remained in the Imperium's Ointment. First, the Tau Fleet, more specifically the Rinn'va Sept's fleet, had suffered only light losses, and was proving aggressive and resourceful. The Imperium had come out on the losing end of several raiding actions led by Ko'ro Ishia and the flagship Thunderchild. Even more infamous was the Hakkit Gouge, commanded by a kiff warlord of the same name. Faster than anything on the Imperial Roster and boasting impressive stealth tech and "shadow" armor, the mercenary was proving more efficient at space warfare than the Tau, despite his species relatively low tech base. Specializing in boarding actions, his ship had been bolstered by a strong contingent of To'ok, experimental Tau Suits, and other Mercenaries from Shas'o Rymr's cabal of tainted warriors, whose effectiveness was estimated as equal to a space marine company.

Still, it was not all glory for the greater good in the depths of space. The Rinn'va's two explorer Carriers, East Wind Rain and Nimbus, launched what could have been a classic surprise carrier assault on the Imperial fleet in the nearby D'naib system. However, the tau had crucially missjudged the position of the Imperials in the gas clouds, and launched from point blank range. While this enabled them to immediately cripple one enemy carrier, both slow lumbering Explorer class ships found themselves sailing down the imperial line...and under its guns. East Wind Rain went down over D'naib, but Nimbus, fighting skillfully under Ishia's personal command managed to escape into an asteroid field. With half the Tau Carrier strength destroyed, the Imperium looked to force the Tau to commit to a decisive battle.






Even better news awaited commanders on the Surface. The Mechanicus announced that new surveys indicated that the near fabled Volmar Reservoir, a mass of water and promethium trapped beneath Taros since the planet's formation, could be reached using upgrades of some of the drilling equipment remaining on Taros from its imperial days. Handy to Tarokeen, the Well Head, once firmly in Imperial hands, would ensure no repeat of the first Taros war, even if the tau managed to cut off the supply convoys.




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On the Tau Side, the battle for the Wellhead represented a last chance to slow the Imperial Juggernaut. Well before dawn Shas'o Kithkannon knelt painfully, his old joints protesting, in his personal rock Garden. The thunderous thrum of a Manta's engines spinning up told him it was time. Reaching the arming hall, he passed Shas'o Rymr in his outlandish, feather decorated suit and it nodded to him, a bobbing of the sensor package. Kithkannon gazed into the pitted lenses and hoped he wasn't making a terrible mistake.

Col Helstroms vox specialist kept the squad updated on the imperial deployments. Among the good news, the 495th had an attached Storm trooper squad which had infiltrated the battlefield led by a local insurgent known as the Dune Dweller.


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The Dune Dweller was a very sly and dangerous individual know for a fondness of explosive ambushes. However, his love of the ambush, any ambush put his loyalties in question. Bad news included the 495ths attached infantry platoon being at half strength with only two full squads. Very bad news was that the Tau were able to engage both the Guard and Marine forces with little very little return fire due to the inky darkness of the predawn morning.


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Master Gefren watched as Col Helstrom and the enginseer fought with installing a pic imager on the Chimeras targeting system while the driver carefully jinked around both the dangerous terrain in the deployment zone and stray incoming fire.
"You couldn't install that before we hit the front?" Master Gefren asked.
Both the Col. And the Enginseer responded with a garble of frustrated tech babble, both speaking at the same time.
"Guess that sounds like no."
"Contact! Kroot! 12 O' clock" the Chimeras commander rang out. I large mob of Kroot warriors was swarming towards the Train engine at the north end of the well head. The staccato hammering of the Chimeras heavy bolters rang out as both hull and turret guns sent explosive shells out towards the enemy.
Master Gefren opened the top deck hatch and peeked out, eyes just above the deck level. To better remain concealed the Chimera was not illuminating the Kroot with its search light but he could still make out the lanky hunched shapes of the alien Kroot. Master Gefren reached with his mind, a low hiss like a snake filled the air and not unlike a writhing snake he wrestled a greasy slick energy that fought to escape his control. Frost formed around the open top hatch as a bolt of electrified witch fire formed amongst the Kroot arching from one to another and eventually reaching back to Master Gefrens open hand. He closed his hand into a fist and a half dozen Kroot fell to the ground dead, smoke gently rising from the electrified corpses.


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Master Gefren dropped back down closing the hatch.
"Col. You say we should expect to be attacked from the rear by Kroot? If so we are surrounded."
Col Helstrom patted the Enginseer on the shoulder "Good job brother, now we just need to keep this track alive. Commander, hold here. Everybody dismount! Loose skirmish line at the tracks back." Col Helstrom used his comm bead to give orders to the Chimera in their section. "Track one hold here, track two position on track ones left flank pointed to about 2 o'clock. Give me about two Kroot width between the front of the tracks, let's see if we can funnel the Kroot to me."


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"Let's hope the Kroot choose to attack us and not the Chimeras. Drivers once we are stuck in, break off. If we fall let the Flamers of the Armored Fist squad finish the Kroot."


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The priestess was the first out, and as each member of the squad dismounted she quickly blessed them and pressed a wafer in their mouths.
"Body of Diane?" one of the Guardsman asked
"No, alpha level combat stimulants, you shall feel no pain today." She replied.

The Kroot warcry started out as a victorious shriek but quickly turned to low grunts as the brutal exhausting combat dragged on as imperial troops matched steel for steel.

When the last of the Kroot had finally been dispatched, Col Helstrom raised the Chimera commander on the Battalion comms " I could see some blue skyline camouflage suits and bikes drop near the trains locomotive. Did you get a good auspex feed on the suits? "
"Looks like a good feed Sir" the commander replied.
"Excellent, we'll get that Intel back to HQ, drop the rear hatch so we can mount up. Perhaps we can salvage something from this battle."



As the scattered imperial troops maneuvered to positions of safety under the cover of massed artillery batteries Col Helstrom examined the data from the Chimeras enhanced Auspex.



"Look at that Tau commander! If they had Commissars it would have already faced summary execution. I think we can work with this....."

As they waited on the tarmac beside the Manta, Kithkannon briefly reviewed his troops as he made the ceremonial walk to be first up the ramp. Passing his auxuiliaries, he stopped before one kroot kindred, their greenish skin, black and red warpaint marking them out from their fellows. To the largest he proffered a scrap of synthleather. "From the command chair of a wrecked vehicle. We believe it to have the scent of the most enterprising of the Imperial field commanders. Find and slay him, and you will eat with honor, both on the field and forever after among the Rinn'va". The kroot seized it with a gutteral cry, the others crowding around him, tearing and snuffling. Kithkannon walked on. It might be that kroot would hare off across the sands and not return for days, but it seemed a risk worth taking.

This project is so bloomin good I don't know what to say!!

Kitbashed Tau suits
Usage of Mortian vehicles
Fun fluff
Cool minor races
Bonkers looking Ad Mech
Flipping sweet Imperial Guard mechanised assets
Beautiful beautiful BFG ships

Kestral, been ages since I commented but well done you and your posse for so much cool stuff!

P.S. Near practical Leman Russ tanks FTW!

Cool battle report on a thematic board. Love 40k trains

Thanks! We've been lucky to get to play it - it certainly took a lot to bring it together. Many thanks to Briancj and Insurgency walker. I've been away from Dakka - I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone's been doing.

Here's my battle pics:



The battlefield - mostly Briancj's work, but I did provide the rocks and sand.



Brian's lovely train. Someday I want to do a 40k campaign modeled on the Czech trainride through Russia during the revolution.....



Fish of Fury!



The Tau make their play for the train.





Objective Secured!



Who's this guy? Just the local noodle seller, I'm sure....



What do you mean they can air drop a landraider!?!



Go GO GO!!!



Incoming!!!



The Flatworm struggles to drag away the precious Drill.



For the Greater Good!



Kithkannon Arrives



TOTAL MAXIMUM VIOLENCE NOW!!







RUN AWAY!!!!



Kithkannon surveys the Carnage.

Nice shots Kestral and Insurgency Walker.

Cheers,

CB

It was an honor and a pleasure to be able to arrange the last few battles of the Taros Campaign, both 40K and BFG.

I have had no better friends and opponents on the battlefield than Insurgency Walker and Kestral.

I look forwards to more throughout 2021!

--Brian

Doh! Updated the original post for the last bits of that encounter. Kestral and Briancj are the best!

It has indeed been a great stroke of luck and honor to find some sympathetic souls who share my love of incredibly detailed games of toy soldiers. I too look forward to many future games!

In the meantime, here's the end of the Campaign, at least as the Tau understood it....

In the end, confusion and secrecy among the Imperial command doomed in the Imperium's cause at the battle of the Well head. Imperial forces often received orders to capture objectives they could not reach as different factions among the Mechanicus, the Rogue Traders, and the Guard demanded their priorities be met. The Tau, by contrast, were largely able to take their objectives, partly due to the fact that they controlled much of the battlefield with mobile troops, but perhaps mostly due to the objectives chosen by Shas'o Kithkannon being much more accessible. Tau night fighters had also dominated the early stage of the battle, and unlike in previous engagements, the Skyrays had been able to keep imperial air power at bay. The Tau suffered considerable losses, and despite a clever outflanking maneuver the Kroot failed to bring down Col. Helstromm, but the Tau victory was clear.

Translation: Maelstrom objective cards are fun, but bad draws meant the imperium fell behind with no real chance to catch up by Turn 6.

When Kithkannon took the field himself, it brought to an end the hopes of the Imperium for a reliable planet side Water and Promethium source through drilling. The Tau had stolen some equipment, sabotaged other gear including mining the well itself, and corrupted the drilling data and key machine spirits, sabotage that would continue to do damage through the "S'tux N'et" code for years. The imperial bombardment destroyed much of what was left.

Meanwhile, an even more critical engagement was unfolding near the gas giant Hela in the Taros system....

(Yes, that's right, we got to play battle Fleet Gothic too!)









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The loss of one of their carriers convinced the Rinn'va that they could not avoid decisive battle, since they now lacked the long range strike ability to disrupt the Imperium's shipping without risking their own ships. Acordingly, Aun' Mord Rinn directed that plans be drawn up for an engagement on the most favorable terms possible. Accordingly, battle plan "Storm Rising" was selected from among several plans put forward.



The two remaining Tau Battleships (Custodian Thunderchild and Explorer Nimbus (Torpedo Variant) would shelter behind the Gas Giant Hela, launching ordinance as long as possible. Other forces would hide in nearby asteroid fields to avoid the long range Imperial fire. The valiant but ancient and battered merchant Red Cloud would serve as bait. The Imperium, suspecting the final battle was at hand, formed line ahead, carriers and a massive Lance armed Victory Class battleship forming the van, while rogue trader cruisers and an ancient battleship brought up the rear.

Initially, it appeared the Imperium would brush aside the tau ordinance and destroy the Xenos piecemeal. Fighters from the imperial carriers proved more than able to screen the line, and of the huge volleys of ordinance launched by the tau, only one cunning salvo launched by the cruiser "Warbride" and covered by baracudas that cleared a hole in the imperial screen got through, slamming into the imperial battleship "Triumph". To the disappointment of the Tau however, the mighty vessel sailed on, billowing flame but her lances as deadly as ever. The Red Cloud's valiant but useless resistance saw it reduced to a blazing hulk.

Judging it to be now or never, the Tau signaled to their allies. From the Asteroids raced the loathed Hakkit Gauge, the Kif mercenary burning hard to outflank the rogue trader squadron. Near the center came the signal "Demiurge Brotherhood Responding" (always wanted to say that), and a massive factory ship sortied from the rocks, syphoning the wreckage of the Red Cloud to power its weapons. Truly, a sacrifice for the greater good.

In the end, though, if Taros was saved, it was the vile Hakkit who could claim most credit. Maneuvering into the imperial drive flares to blind their sensors, he executed a series of daring boarding actions wreaking havoc down the imperial line, taking no fewer than two cruisers as prizes.

Near Hella however, things were not going nearly so well. Imperial bomber strikes had rolled the tau defenses back after the Nimbus ran out of ordinance, and now the battleships were forced to emerge from their shelter and engage directly. Nimbus was brutally mauled, enduring a three hour nightmare of imperial torpedo, bomber and lance attacks before she managed to disengage into the atmosphere of the gas giant. Thunderchild charged head on into the imperial fleet for a decisive confrontation with the Battleship. As the two closed in, brutally mauling each other, who should surge from a nearby asteroid field but the enterprising Hakkit Gauge, outflanking the battleship. What is more, imperial carriers had been heavily targeted by the Tau, and now their strength waned, as missiles from flanking tau ships streaked down the line scoring hit after hit. In the confusion of the final mayhem, the battle devolved into a boarding action, and Tau auxiliaries, especially the armored To'ok and other, less savory things from the retinue of Rymr, combined with the forces of the Thunderchild to carry the day aboard the Triumph. The Imperial fleet scattered, giving the Tau effective control of area until reinforcements could be found.

After a long string of defeats, the Tau had done much to level the playing field in a single day. The previously unstoppable imperial drive on Tarrokeen was now seriously hampered by supply issues, giving the Tau the chance to wage a true cityfight (a la Stalingrad). The Imperium still held the orbital fortress Dawnwater's edge and thus near orbit of Taros, but the Tau controlled the outer system, meaning the Guard would have to ration supplies more than ever. The Greater good, however tainted with the unknown corruption of R'myr, was not yet defeated, and the Tau girded themselves for a long fight they hoped would favor them, with their on planet industry

At the well head, Kithkannon found what remained of his student Ins'la, now a corrupted half machine servitor spawn. He took the task of ending the pain of the most promising hope of the Rinn'va on himself, bringing to an end Chapter One of the Second Taros War.

Roll Credits!

Thank you kestral, Brian, and Insurgency Walker. It has been such a pleasure following these battle reports on Taros. A lot of great and creative setups and ideas. I'm sorry to see it at an end.

Nice work guys.

Cheers,

CB