campaign mission 2

100 DAYS
The race to save Omega

"There is a cancer eating at the Imperium. With each decade it advances deeper, leaving drained, dead worlds in its wake. This horror, this abomination, has thought and purpose which functions on an unimaginable, galactic scale and all we can do is try to stop the swarms of bio-engineered monsters it unleashes upon us by instinct. We have given the horror a name to salve our fears; we call it the Tyranid race, but if it is aware of us at all it must know us only as Prey."

— Inquisitor Czevak at the Conclave of Har 

Mission Two – Day Ten – Cut off the Head

With news of the Tyranid attack reaching Imperial Command, key positions have been swiftly reinforced, though the full extent of the planetary force is yet to be deployed, and air support is not yet operational. Anticipating that command outposts will be among the next targets, all available Space Marine units have deployed to protect the planetary leadership, including high ranking Imperial Guard officials.

Mission Length:

As per standard missions.

Deployment etc:

The Imperial force will comprise of 1000 points of Imperial Guard, including 2 Company Command Squads and at least two Platoon Command Squads, and 1000 points of Space Marines. The Tyranid player picks a force of 2000 points.

The sides deploy in a “Pitched Battle” set-up, with the Imperials using several structures to represent the command outpost.  The Imperial Guard deploy first, followed by the Tyranids. All Space Marine units enter from reserve as per usual. The Imperial Guard player may not keep any forces in reserve. The Tyranid player may use reserves as per normal rules.

Victory Conditions:

Use the following table to count up the Tyranid score for this mission. More points are awarded for officers killed in close combat because these officers are less likely to recover from their injuries!

Officer Type	Killed in close combat	Killed by shooting/ other	Fled
Colonel	10	5	2
Captain	5	3	2
Lieutenant	2	2	1

Once the Tyranid score is counted, check the following table to see the result of the battle and the impact on the next major battle, Mission 5.

Tyranid Score	Result	Impact on Mission 5
15+	Significant Tyranid victory – IG command has been utterly routed, with confirmed kills of several high ranking officers	Tyranids accrue 500 point bonus
10-14	Minor Tyranid victory – IG command has been severely hit with key figures missing or out of action	Tyranids accrue 200 point bonus
5-9	Minor Imperial victory – IG command has suffered some losses	Imperials accrue 200 point bonus
Under 5	Significant Imperial  victory – IG command has emerged generally unscathed	Imperials accrue 500 point bonus

IMPERIAL COMMAND - The Cadian 42nd
Colonel Esmir, commander of the 42nd Regiment Colonel Esmir is a sly old dog, a man of vast experience and sober judgement, hero of a hundred conflicts. But he has never faced the Tyranids, nor escaped from a situation as perilous at that on Omega. As commander of the 42nd regiment, the largest Imperial force on Omega, much rests on Esmir. First, though, he must fight tooth-and-nail for his own life.	Captain Cosovic, 3rd Company Infantry Cosovic’s career has been marked by occasional brilliance but marred by episodes of impetuosity and poor discipline. He is, however, a sound tactician and an excellent motivator – accordingly, the 3rd company is often called upon for the most dangerous and difficult assignments. Despite their differences, Esmir ensured that Cosovic and his men were swiftly redeployed to fight alongside him when news of the Tyranid attack broke.
Lieutenant Degovic, 3rd Company, 2nd platoon A specialist in heavy weapons fire, talented and clever, but otherwise somewhat lacking in distinction.	Lieutenant Kevala, 3rd Company, 9th platoon Young Kevala, a personal friend of Cosovic since an early age, has been marked out as a future leader of some standing. He is brave, often leading from the front, and has demonstrated himself well able to instil in his platoon a desire to fight to the death.

Imperial lines at set up

Colnel Esmir

Steady men, steady

Nids eye view

The onslaught begins

Heroic intervention by the deathwing

Their compatriots were not so accurate with their teleport

A drop pod full of reinforcements arrives to hold the lines

Genestealers attempt to take the skyshield

The first squad of terminators fare badly and most are slain before their comrades arrive

A trygon bursts amongst the Imperial defences, scattering the guardsmen in horror

Colnel Esmir puts his faith in the Emperor as all around him are slain by the beast

The lone survivor of the Deathwing faces down the oncoming tide.

The Dark Angels valiantly prepare to hold the lines

Accepting his position, the lone terminator shuns a heroic sacrifice in favour of the mission and heads back to the front line

Genestealers threaten to overwhelm the Imperial skyshield

As all seems lost, the Deathwing reinforcements arrive to aid their bretheren

The Imperials rally for a last-ditch effort to slay the nigh unstoppable Trygon

Their celebration is short lived, as massed, ranged bio-weaponry tears through even terminator armour

With the Dark Angels depleted, a final blow is struck with the arrival of mycetic spores bearing Tyranid reinforcements.

Colnel Esmir finally succumbs to the Tyranid assassination

Too little, too late, the off-target deathwing squad cannot help their allies.

The delayed Deathwing squad are determined to reap some retribution for their dead brothers.

Against all odds the Guard hold the skyshield

The last of the Dark Angels are slain by the hormagaunts.

The lines are broken, and the Doom of Malantai arrives to seal the Imperials fate

Yet more genestealers outflank from the West and take the Imperial Guard by surprise.

There's no stopping the Doom of Malantai as it leeches the very souls from the remaining Guardsmen

A small victory in the centre gives some raised spirits for the survivors

The day belongs to the hive tyrant and his brood.

Mission Two DEBRIEF - Minor Tyranid Victory

No amount of hastily-procured reinforcements could have adequately prepared Esmir and his cohort from the devastating attack that befell them just days after the reality of the Tyranid invasion had been accepted. A heroic but ill-starred intervention by the Dark Angels could not save the Colonel, who fell to grievous wounds inflicted by a new Tyranid creature of unknown species and origin. Likewise confirmed dead was Lieutenant Degovic, and in the aftermath of the battle there were reports that Esmir’s second in command, Captain Cosovic, had fallen to the same strange beast that slew his superior. The valiant Lieutenant Kevala, however, had ensured that Cosovic had been rescued from the battlefield even as the Imperial troops, routed by a shower of organic projectiles, had fled in terror.

Stranded, exhausted, and nursing serious injury, old friends Cosovic and Kevala would face a challenge of the highest order even to live out the few hours that remained until dawn. But with Cosovic now the highest-ranking officer in the 42^nd regiment, Imperial Command would divert any resources necessary to secure his safe return.

Old two eye:

'My death-star blob of T6 did me proud, marching through the centre of the battlefield with enough dakka to keep the Dark Angels at bay as I'd hoped (though the inaccurate deep-strike of the 2nd terminator unit helped immensely).  Having reached the Guard emplacements relatively unscathed my tyrant was able to swing things in my favour with his Brain-leech devourers- a fitting weapon in an attempt to cripple the enemies' command structure and feed on their neurons. Meanwhile the deep-striking Trygon prime and Doom of Malantai kept the central guardsmen busy, whilst the gene-stealers gave the flanks something to think about.  The Doom in particular had the kind of performance that justified his background description as an insane vortex of death. I benefitted from the combination of good dice rolling, a rare case of having a carefully prepared plan and the co-operation of my opponents who fielded lists that best suited the nature of the conflict.'

Commissar Bob:

'deleted by the Inquisition...'

Jimbo:

'Well, we certainly gave it a shot but the sheer nastiness of some of those big nids plus the punishing rate of fire meant we simply didn't have enough firepower to take them down. By the time the Doom arrived we were out of anything that could seriously hope to damage it and it cut through our lines regenerating wound after wound. It's a shame the other deathwing squad mishapped to the other side of the board as they may have made a difference early on in the game. This day belongs to the hive mind.