Tuesday 21 May 2013

Painting Survivor Series!

Greetings fellow wargamers, and welcome once more to my humble hearth. This time around, I have been inspired to talk about an invention of mine...

I like to think that I am an all round hobbyist, by which I mean that I play games, assemble and convert models (with even a little 'greenstuffing' thrown in from time to time), I write fluff, I collect, and I paint models. Now, not everyone likes every aspect of the hobby to the same degree. I will happily admit that I prefer gaming to almost everything else, and though I like seeing painted armies on the table top, and do paint from time to time, I haven't been concerned about the painting aspect sufficiently to push me to paint the hordes of models I have built up over the years.

I am sure that I am not the only gamer in this position: lots of models, but lacking the drive and motivation to get them painted. Sometimes I get into a painting mood and spend a few sessions knocking out a few models here and there, but I start to flag before I make much of a dent in my 'to do' list.

This is why I came up with the idea of the Painting Survivor Series. It's really just a bit of fun, a motivational tool intended to give inconsistent painters like myself a small incentive to start a painting project and keep going, rather than downing brushes a week later.

The premise is simple enough: an 'iron man' style endurance painting competition which is posted as a communal 'Work In Progress' thread on your forum of choice. In my case this is the Astro Wargaming Community forum. The basic rules are that each participant is required to post photos of the project they are working on every third day after the Opening Day, in order to display their painting progress, bearing in mind that the key phrase is 'Noticeable Progress'.

Progress includes everything from undercoat to completion of basing, which though not strictly all painting (static grass etc), allows people to get that last bit finished off before moving on to the next project. Any participant unable to post pictures of their progress for ANY reason is eliminated. This includes not having time to paint due to work or family commitments, batteries in the camera running out, or internet access problems.

To be a Survivor, you have to paint and you have to post, come rain or shine. If a participant was the 'last painter standing', then they are rewarded by being able to proudly display a badge in their forum signature declaring that they are a Painting Survivor. A fair amount of barracking and verbal 'one-upmanship' went on I can tell you.

Originally, the plan was to keep going until we had just one Survivor remaining, but within a couple of Series, this was resulting in 'paint-offs' that wouldn't end, the last two or three painters gritting their teeth and preparing to sell their soul rather than be eliminated.

I decided that, in order to be able to end a Series in a reasonable time, and give participants a 'light at the end of the tunnel' to aim for, (not to mention letting eager participants that had been eliminated have another bite of the cherry) I would limit the number of posts that would have to be made before reaching the end of the Series to twenty. That's twenty posting days met without being eliminated, which is about two month’s worth of painting work. Anyone who made it to the end would still get a Survivors badge to add to their signature, but if we did have a 'last man standing' situation before the end of the Series, then a purity seal could be added to the badge to display the winner's painting prowess.

In time, as people took part in successive Series, we decided to add to the existing badge rather than have more than one, so we added a tiny skull with a number on it’s forehead corresponding to the series that the participant took part in. The badges are awesome, and were created by a kind forum member, so a shout out goes to LutherMax, thanks for that bud, the icing on the cake for sure.



After six successful series, and about to start a seventh (after a lengthy pause it must be said), I have found that I have got more painting done as part of the Astro Painting Survivor Series than at any other time in recent years, and I am sure that others have felt the same benefit. It's amazing how much motivation you can draw from being part of a communal project, to see what multiple other painters are doing and how they are getting on all in one place, rather than as part of a single isolated thread. Why not mosey on over to Astro and have a look at past threads?

So, if you find that you struggle to maintain a fair pace when it comes to painting your miniatures, or that you are easily distracted by other things like the new series of Doctor Who, why not set up your own Painting Survivor Series, rope in those forum or club members who want to get their armies painted and on the table but don't seem to be able to build up enough steam to get it done, and see who has the stones to be the Last Painter Standing...

Thanks for reading.
 
 

Friday 17 May 2013

The Eye of Morrslieb Narrative Campaign: Part 1 - Introduction


Greetings once more fellow wargamers, and welcome to my war room.


This time, I bring you part one of what will be a multi-part part series all about the narrative campaign I will (hopefully) be running. I have decided to post as the campaign goes along rather than wait till it's over and then post it all at once, to give an honest account of how things go. I haven't run any kind of campaign in an awfully long time, so I am not sure how it will pan out, but if I encounter problems along the way and can get around them, maybe others can learn from my misfortune. Here goes...

The Eye of Morrslieb

~~~


For twelve nights, the Eye of Morrsleib glared down on the land as it forged a shimmering path across the heavens, like the emerald spear of a god. It's luminescence lent the countryside below an eerie and unnatural hue, sickly and pallid. In it's wake, there did fall a rain of glittering dust which glimmered and sparkled with the pure stuff of Chaos.

In every place where the dust fell upon the land, it brought with it the power of change, unfettered and uncontrollable. It's taint permeated all: flesh, stone, earth and water. Living things were twisted into diabolical new forms, or rent assunder, mewling and ravaged. Dead things found their withered limbs, though creaking and splintered, imbued with terrible new life.

On the thirteenth night, the Eye opened and became one with the earth, and every creature attuned to the raging winds of magic turned their faces towards it's resting place, sensing its power...

~~~

The Eye of Morrslieb is a three battle linked campaign I am planning to run at my local club, in an effort to get enthusiastic but inexperienced Warhammer Fantasy players playing the game, and to allow grizzled old veterans like myself to get their teeth into something with a back story while hammering home the nuances of 8th edition. Also, it will make a welcome change from the slew of 40K battles that have been fought recently as part of our Club Warhammer 40,000 League. This is intended as a warm up before we go for either a Club Warhammer Fantasy League, or into a more involved map based campaign.

I have to admit, despite a barrow load of resources to refer to, planning a linked campaign for multiple players is much more complicated than planning one for just two armies. The campaign narrative breaks down into three plot stages, each represented by an appropriate battle. I am planning on using pre-made scenarios from various sources with as little tweaking as possible, just to keep things simple for this first campaign.

Now I stress, there are two things I would like this campaign to emphasise: Making a narrative work and be exciting, and to help people along with the rules and getting to grips with gameplay and how their army works. Although there will be an eventual winner, this is not intended as a competitive campaign.

Stage 1 - Investigation

The representatives of each of the participating armies, leading small scouting or vanguard forces who happen to be the closest to the impact area of the Eye of Morrslieb all rush to ascertain the nature of the object that has fallen from the heavens. It is clear to all that it is of significance and may be of value to their masters.

As the armies hurry to do their masters bidding, they unexpectedly run into rival forces, intent on reaching the Eye first in the name of their own masters.

This first battle will be played out using the Meeting Engagement scenario, representing the hurried nature of the forces, and their focus on getting to the prize first, rather than who else might be about. We have eight armies taking part, and each game will involve two armies. The results of this first game will determine which armies reach the crash site first.

The armies taking part are as follows:

Vampire Counts (me)
Skaven
Skaven
Warriors of Chaos
Lizardmen
Lizardmen
Empire
Orcs & Goblins

There will be restrictions on list selection, and as the first two games revolve around the smaller forces rushing to reach the crash site and what happens when they get there, the players will use the same list for both of the first two games.

The restrictions are intended to ensure that the forces that are selected are not going to unbalance these low point games, and to try and pruduce armies that are representative of the kind of force that is more of a garrison/scouting/vanguard type of force, rather than a main army force with all the big characters and support. That comes later...

Here are the restriction on the lists for the first and second game:

Maximum of 750 points in total

No Lord Choices - Your Lord is with his army, this is just a peripheral force

No Battle Standard Bearer - The Battle Standard is with your Lord and the main army

Maximum of one War Machine - this is a small force mobile force, not an artillery train

No Monsters - Again, this is a small force, not the Altdorf Zoo. The force is not equipped to deal with a monster

No Magic Items with an individual value of more than 25 points - Any characters with this force are not important enough to be able to afford anything more spangly

In addition, to avoid any situations where a single lucky spell wipes someones army off the table, spells are generated by rolling a D3 rather than a D6, ensuring that in the first couple of games we don't see any of the really big spells, and to allow the players to concentrate more on maneouvering and combat rather than sparkly sticks that go Whizz Bang!

I am hoping that non of these restrictions will have too adverse an effect on any of the armies, but being as I am using Vampire Counts (who aren't famed for their prowess in low point games), if the restrictions bite anyone in the ass it will probably be me! I haven't run a campaign like this before, which is another reason for starting small, so this is a learning curve for me in that respect as well.

Which armies run into each other will be determined at random using marked pieces of parchment marked with the symbol of an army. Once the Meeting Engagements have been played out, the results will affect who reaches the crash site first as follows:

Each army will roll a D6 with the following modifiers:

Fought and drew or lost = +0
Fought and won a Minor Victory = +1
Fought and Massacred the enemy = +2

The resulting scores will be used to determine the order in which the armies arrive at the site and discover the Eye of Morrslieb. Any players that draw scores will roll off to determine a final order between them. Obviously armies that achieve the best result in the first game will stand the best chance of reaching the crash site first, which comes with certain benefits in later games.

So, next comes the games themselves, who won, and what order they arrive at the crash site of the Eye...watch this space!

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday 1 May 2013

The Monster & The Giant

The Monster and the Giant – The Invasion of Talos VII


Talos VII Planetary Profile

Designation: Talos VII
Type: Deathworld
Tithe Grade: Tertius – Regimental tithes, Adamantium ore, Chem and Bio weapon research
Location: Talos System, Kharvaria Subsector, Invigila Sector, Ultima Segmentum
Satelites: 2, (Perseus - type 3, Bresais – Type 2)
Est. Population: 4.6 Billion
Status: Loyal



Overview of Talos VII

Some believe that the Imperial world of Talos VII was saved from destruction, that the planet was spared in the name of the Emperor of Mankind. Others believe that the people of Talos VII may yet be damned..............

Talos VII itself is part of a system of eleven giant planets which lies in the Invigila Sector, far to the Galactic East, in the Ultima Segmentum. It is a world of twilight, acrid fog seas, blasted wastelands and voracious continent spanning forests. It is a Deathworld, a world poisoned centuries ago by Xenos spore that writhes in agony and rebels against the corruption within. The people of Talos VII are proud and stoic, strong in both body and spirit, but they are grim of countenance, as though they carry the same pain deep within them that infects the heart of their home world. Talos VII is a world redeemed, saved from the brink, though at a cost which is yet to be fully realised.

Hive Fleet Scylla

In 774.M41, the Talos system was engulfed by a tendril of the Tyranid Hive Fleet designated ‘Scylla’, after the many headed monster of old Terran mythology thought to have been slain by the Emperor Himself.
At the time when the Hive Fleet entered the Talos system, the monitoring stations lying in the systems outer reaches were old and poorly maintained, and many had been abandoned millennia before. No signals were received by the Monitoring Servitors of Talos VII of what approached from the void. The Hive Fleet quickly bypassed the four outer planets, which were a combination of insubstantial gaseous giants or great airless rocks and supported none of the biological life that the Hive Mind craves for sustenance, and Scylla steadily approached the prime system world of Talos VII.

Talos was an isolated world, and few interstellar craft passed through the system, though it was one such vessel, the light transporter ‘Guiding Light’, which first brought word of the approaching Hive Fleet. Her Captain was much travelled, and, understanding the gravity of the situation, reported the dire news directly to Planetary Governor Alexandus himself.

Immediately, the order was given to prepare for war. Every military installation on the planet was brought to alert status, units were re-called from leave, munitions were allocated and oaths were sworn. Just as the final Planetary Defence Volunteers reported to barracks, the long range augars of the orbiting weapons platforms began picking up the incoming fleet, and few though they were, they prepared to commence firing, desperate to destroy as many Tyranid vessels as they could before they made orbit.

The orbital weapons platforms may have been ancient, but unlike the outer monitoring stations they were well maintained and heavily armed, and they destroyed a great number of Hive Ships with high energy beams and immense armour piercing explosive shells, cracking meters thick armoured shells and spilling the ships innards into the icy void. Despite the determination of their crews, the orbital defences were too few by far to halt the Hive Fleet, but, resolved to do their duty and inflict as much damage as they could on the approaching flood of ships, the crews of the defence platforms sealed themselves inside and kept firing until their ammunition was spent and capacitors overloaded. Great armoured Kraken assaulted the defence platforms, crushing them with mighty jaws or piercing their metal skins with razor sharp beaks, disgorging thousands of Tyranid creatures into the stations which overwhelmed the trapped crews within hours.

Slowly the Hive Fleet slipped into orbit above Talos VII, surrounding it with a sea of living vessels. As the transmissions from the orbiting platforms ceased, and the defenders below looked to the skies, the first mycetic spores began to fall, glowing hot as they plummeted ground wards through the atmosphere.

The Tyranid invasion of Talos VII lasted ninety three horrifying days, during which over four fifths of the population was slain and rendered down to feed the Hive Fleet. Tens of millions died in a visceral orgy of primal slaughter. By the thirtieth day, the rolling green grasslands, mist shrouded marshes and continent spanning forests were changed beyond recognition. The ancient fathomless lakes were transformed into bubbling seas of toxic murk, writhing with slashing tentacles and enraged bellows as the lakes ferocious denizens were poisoned by the alien spore infecting their habitats, and battled against ravenous Tyranid creatures in the depths. The year round snow upon the titanic sky scraping mountain ranges began to melt as the temperature rose with the choking of the atmosphere by alien spores and micro organisms, and the vast tracts of equatorial forests exploded in a chemically induced frenzy of growth intended to increase the volume of bio mass available for the Hive Fleet to consume, smothering settlements, arterial vehicular routes and major supply lines.

As the sky darkened and the heavens heaved and rolled with thunder and strangely coloured lightning, the war on the ground was raging. The Planetary Defence Regiments fought bravely, withdrawing to the mighty fortress cities of Talos VII which rose like mountains from the land. Here they could better defend the many thousands of refugees that had made the arduous journey from the rural areas to the cities as the first spores began to fall. Terrified men and women who were judged fit to bear arms were swiftly armed with what weapons were available, many of which were nothing more than converted tools, and pressed into service to bolster the inner defences of the cities. Thousands of street gang members from every territory arrived unbidden at the recruiting stations Their age old blood feuds and ancestral grudges set aside, they sewed service badges onto their clothing and swore binding blood oaths to defend their home cities to their last breath.

The backbone of the Talosian defence was to be the soldiers of six entire regiments of Talosian Light Infantry, and two of Talosian Armour, mustered for service across the stars. None could have foreseen that the blooding of these regiments would take place in the defence of their home world against such a terrible foe.

The vast swarms of Tyranid creatures numbering in the millions which flowed across the changing lands broke upon the huge bastions of Talos VII in endless waves of voracious scythed and clawed beasts. Those that looked out from the great plex-glass viewing occulus high in the fortress towers saw nothing but a tide of chitinous bodies crashing over and around everything, stretching as far as the eye could see, until the hordes were obscured by thick mists.

The gargantuan armoured weapon blisters which studded the kilometres high walls of the fortress cities spat forth enormous explosive shells and searing lasbeams as Macro Cannons and Turbo Lasers opened fire on the enemy. Wide mawed cannons would gout forth blazing chemical fire, scouring the approaches to the walls of enemy creatures, only for the vile Xenos to surge forward in even greater numbers, pouring between the scorched and blasted mounds of their own dead that they used as cover from the torrents of defensive fire.

The defenders of the bastion cities knew that they were trapped, and all contact had been lost with those caught outside the walls. With the huge influx of refugees from the settlements beyond the cities, provisions of food and water soon began to dwindle, and all supply routes had been cut save for the few brave pilots who, with the grace of the Emperor, managed to survive the frantic death runs from the upper landing platforms of one city to the next, dodging great winged Tyranid creatures that filled the skies, and bringing in what meagre supplies their limited holds could carry.

The ancient incoming aqua ducts had been contaminated with Tyranid spores and parasites, and across Talos VII thousands died in agonising convulsions as vile alien creatures exploded from within their wracked bodies before the order was given to seal all incoming pipelines. Even at those cities where the swarms had not besieged the walls, none that ventured out survived for long, as they became prey for roving packs of Tyranid warrior beasts. The limited numbers of armoured units that were far away from the cities at the training fields knew they were doomed, but courageously attacked the swarms where they could, heavy bolters and battle cannons spitting death and blasting gaping holes in the rushing hordes, but the enemies numbers were too great and the tanks ground to a halt amidst the sea of chitinous forms, scythe armed Carnifexes and Trygons tearing through their armoured flanks, and smaller rippers forcing their way through grills and vents to smother and choke the tanks engines with their own scorched bodies, or squeezing into crew compartments where crewmen were so confined that they stood no hope of defending themselves. Many poor crewmen died, choking on engine fumes or burned alive when their vehicles caught fire or were even devoured where they sat strapped into their seats, screaming as their blood and viscera pooled beneath them and showered their stations with gore.

The defenders of Talos truly believed the end had come when the ground vibrations caused by rampaging swarms of Tyranids were joined with a deeper shaking, and from the mists marched Hierodules and Hierophants, towering behemoths of bestial destruction armoured in meter thick armoured chitin shells and as large as the greatest Mechanicus constructs. The hulking Bio Titans strode through the storm of fire issuing from the wall emplacements, some falling to concentrated blasts, but those that reached the citadels struck the walls like living meteors, tearing the gun emplacements from the walls with their immense claws and bringing tonnes of stone and plasteel crashing down on the swarms which clamoured at the walls below. Where the Bio Titans breached the mighty walls, the swarms of assault beasts outside flooded through to slaughter the terrified defenders within. For the people of the cities that fell, it was as though the monsters of their darkest nightmares had come to claim them.

At the breaching of the walls of the northernmost fortress city of Kouris, perched upon a mighty cliff overlooking the broiling ocean, where the approach causeway was carpeted with the blasted carcasses of a million Tyranid creatures, swarms of scythe armed Hormogaunts and serpentine Ravenors flooded the tunnels and access ways, every corridor and every building until they could barely move for the press of chitinous bodies. Where they broke open store rooms and cellars and other makeshift strong points within which the terrified people had taken refuge, the butchery was horrific, and they had nowhere to run. Many went mad with stomach churning terror, and men turned their weapons on their families and then themselves rather than allow them to be taken by the Tyranids.

Far to the south, the ancient citadel, L’Havar, was decimated by a dozen or more Bio Titans which crashed through the plascrete walls and went on a furious rampage, demolishing walls and towers, habs and manufactoria with their titanic bulk, tearing down everything around them until all that was left was a mountain of smoking rubble, tens of thousands of humans and Tyranids alike crushed beneath the mounds of rockcrete and plasteel, or hopelessly trapped in creaking and flooded pockets beneath the ground, effluvia and alien parasites pouring in to devour them.

At the mountain fastness of Heavens Gate, a great many winged Harridans circled above the city, and from their cyst covered underbellies they disgorged great clouds of shrieking Gargoyles which swept down through the ceaseless anti-aircraft fire to smother the city. Though the air defences brought down great swathes of Tyranid monsters, and the blasted bodies of Gargoyles fell like rain and giant Harridans plummeted like chitinous meteors to crash into the buildings below, one by one the defences were silenced, their ammunition hoppers ringing empty or power couplings fused with the continuous fire, until the city was utterly choked with a sea of chittering Gargoyles and membranous wings and was devoured.

At Phyrros, out on the eastern plains, the beleaguered defenders retreated from the outer walls after Tyranid Bio-Titans swept them clear of defenders with great gushing torrents of organo-acids and corrosive bile. Those doused by these vile fluids died where they stood, screaming in agony until their throats sloughed away and their lungs dissolved, their bodies hissing as they burned until their legs gave way and plunged them into the liquid, their bubbling remains carried away with the toxic flow. The survivors retreated to the ancient and impregnable keep at the heart of the city and sealed themselves inside, in their desperation leaving thousands outside when there was no more room, trusting, praying that help would come. When the Imperial Scourging Teams opened up the keep several weeks later, they found a charnel house of horrors. Pict-records showed that broods of Lictors had managed to infiltrate the keep before it was sealed, and trapped in the darkness, terrified and with nowhere to run, the Lictors hunted the people through the narrow corridors and halls and butchered them one by one.

It was at the planetary capital, Talos Invictor, where the fighting was most desperate. Here, the difference between the Planetary Defence troops and the elite of Talosian Light Infantry regiments was plain. The entire strength of six infantry regiments (the 1st, 5th, 10th, 11th, 18th, and 24th) and two armoured regiments (the 3rd and the 8th) had dug in around the city in a ring of heavily fortified gun positions. Over twenty five thousand men and nearly 250 tanks all told, including a company of Shadowsword Super Heavy tanks, thus far kept in reserve to defend the Talosian capital, ready to defend the city.

As the assault began, and huge waves of Tyranid assault beasts bounded towards the Imperial lines, the infantry manned heavy weapon emplacements and dug in Leman Russ Battle Tanks opened up, taking a fierce toll on the enemy creatures. Time and again they swept the killing fields clear of shrieking and chittering Tyranid hordes, the pre-prepared crossfires of lasbeams and explosive shells hammering the approaches mercilessly. It was only where Bio-Titans and broods of Carnifexes led the assaults on the walls that the lines were sorely pressed. The Hierophants and Hierodules were engaged by the mighty Defence Laser ‘Spear of Righteousness’, from its housing high up on the Tower of Eternity, and by the Volcano Cannons of the three Shadowswords, and where they pierced the armoured carapaces of the Bio Titans, they cracked and split as their innards were superheated, and many were brought crashing to the ground.

In some places the Tyranids reached the outer defences, and here they were driven back by grim veterans wielding massed flame units. Where the largest assault beasts led the attacks, mighty Tyrgons and Mawlocs bursting up from beneath the cratered ground, and broods of raging Carnifexes crashing into the Talosian positions and scattering helpless Guardsmen like chaff, the line threatened to buckle under the horrific onslaught. Only the actions of noble officers and even individual troopers kept the enemy from tearing great holes in the lines as short ranged but deadly melta and plasma weapons were brought to bear, bringing the creatures down through sheer volume of fire backed by Talosian grit. Many names passed into the annals of regimental legend during those close and desperate engagements, as the brave men of Talos stared death in the face.

The battle for Talos Invictor was to turn at the positions where a concentration of Hive Tyrants led the assault: the approaches to the great western gate. Here the Tyrants led great numbers of Hormogaunts and Genestealers behind an impenetrable wedge of Carnifexes five ranks deep. Though many of the living engines of destruction were felled by concentrated fire from dug in Leman Russ, Demolishers and Vanquishers, they were too many to be halted and they smashed through the lines of tanks in a tide of destruction not yet seen during the battle. They were an unstoppable mass, tearing through tank armour and smashing them aside to continue the charge, driven by the overriding directive of the Hive Mind. The Talosians morale was reaching its limit as this monstrous assault crashed towards the city walls, and the firing intensified as the Tyranids closed in.

It was at this critical point that the volume of defensive fire was abruptly cut in half. Broods of Lictors which had infiltrated the Imperial positions under cover of the attacking Carnifexes and Hive Tyrants sprang from cover to assault the gun emplacements and command posts from the rear and they were powerless to engage this new attack, the Lictors upon them in an instant. With the defensive fire so greatly reduced and the Talosian soldiers embroiled in chaotic short ranged battles against enemies attacking seemingly from every direction, Tyranid creatures began to pour through the breach in the lines and into the outer reaches of the city.

Those defenders that were able retreated within the city walls, under covering fire from defenders within, and those that could not sealed themselves inside rockcrete bunkers as the enemy flowed over and around them, screaming, their hands locked over their ears as the chitinous horde scraped and scratched and battered at the hatches, eager to gain entry and slaughter those locked inside.

Defenders within the city were forced to fight a frantic fighting withdrawal deeper and deeper into the wounded stronghold, using the tight alleys and access ways to funnel the attackers towards one prepared position after another, tenaciously defending every foot of ground until they were overwhelmed or the positions became untenable. They held every street corner, every tunnel, every building, many giving their lives to slow the Tyranid advance and buy precious time for the defenders and civilians deeper within the city.

At the city’s heart, Governor Alexandus had descended with his personal guard ready to stand and face the enemy at the finish. Within the deep catacombs beneath the city where the Ministorum Priests had gathered the faithful, fearful pleas for salvation could be heard, filling the vast underground spaces with prayers to the Emperor of Mankind for deliverance. At the last barricades, and with nowhere else to withdraw to, the Talosians steeled themselves to face the foe. All around them they could hear the shrieking and chittering of the swarms as they built for the final assault.

The Imperial soldiers opened fire one last time as the alien host charged at them across a wide thoroughfare, littered with fallen statues of ancient heroes, wrecked vehicles and falling masonry. Behind the Talosians, the Preachers cried out above the din of battle, and just as the soldiers braced for the assault, and the prayers of the people reached a crescendo, the ground shook and lurched violently. The prayers ceased immediately and the people wept in terror.

Outside the city walls, where the hordes of Tyranid creatures clamoured to enter the city, and Bio Titans prepared to tear down the walls, beams of searing light meters wide lanced down from the heavens, evaporating the discoloured clouds and vaporising great swathes of Xenos, the armoured behemoths buckling before this intense and pinpoint bombardment. From the high towers, the people there saw a sight such as few ever live to see. The sky was alight with hundreds of fiery spears as Imperial troop ships descended from orbit. Darting between the monolithic troop ships were wings of Marauders and Thunderbolts which harried the Tyranid Harridans and Gargoyles that swarmed in the skies, and strafed the swarms on the ground, dropping hundreds of tonnes of high explosive munitions into their midst, tossing broken Tyranid bodies left and right.

Within the heart of Talos Invictor, the Tyranid charge had faltered, and before the Hive Tyrants could reinvigorate the attack, squad upon squad of hulking Terminators in Bone coloured armour materialised before the barricades, blocking the path of the Tyranid swarm, their Storm Bolters and Assault Cannons spitting death, and Heavy Flamers incinerating great masses of aliens, leaving charred mounds of fused Tyranid corpses strewn across the thoroughfare. Even as the Tyranids charged forwards, they were cut down by the Deathwing’s relentless fire, joined now by that of the Talosians, their faith renewed and eager to cleanse their world of the Xenos invaders. The size of the swarm was great, and they yet pressed forwards, but as they did so, Dreadnoughts and Marines of the Dark Angels Chapter, delivered to battle by gunship and drop pod, engaged them from the rear, pouring ever more fire into the Tyranids until, caught between the grim Terminators of the Deathwing before them and the Dreadnoughts and Battle Companies pressing from behind, the swarm disintegrated.  

It transpired that the Imperial Fleet that had been en route to take on board the Talosian regiments before striking for the nearby warzone of Kairis Ultra had found a sight they never expected as they arrived in the Talos system, and, caught unawares, the Hive Fleet in orbit was annihilated by the vessels of the Imperial Navy and the Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers of the Dark Angels force in attendance. The following hours and days were hard fought, and many Imperial servants yet lost their lives before the majority of the Tyranid creatures were finally eradicated from the surface of Talos VII. The halls and passageways of Talos Invictor were scoured with fire and shell, and great numbers of the Tyranid invaders, bereft of their Hive Fleet and many of their leader beasts, succumbed to their inbred survival  instincts and vanished into the wilderness to spread their vile Xenos corruption. Though the tendril of Hive Fleet Scylla that attacked the Talos system was vanquished, the mass of the Hive Fleet, stretched across many light years, continued its journey deeper into the inhabited galaxy, and to this day, more than two centuries later, the people of Talos are watched from the shadows by agents of the Inquisition for signs of Xenos taint or corruption, lest a beacon be lit to draw the Hive Fleets once more.

The soldiers of the Talosian regiments fight in the Emperor’s name across the length and breadth of the Imperium, courageous, loyal and tenacious, they fight to repay their debt to the Emperor for saving their world from annihilation.