Promethor Crusade, Game 1
Crusade Narrative Prompt:
As the remnants of Hive Fleet Leviathan retreat from Imperial Space, isolated Tyranid forces on several small planets continue to struggle for survival despite being cut off from the Hive Mind.
Promethor is an Imperial world located in Segmentus Pacificus. Once abundant in resources essential to the Empire of Man, it now faces challenges for survival as various forces converge upon it with their own objectives. Some, like the Space Marines, aim to eliminate the remnants of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Meanwhile, groups such as the Inquisition, Chaos, and Orks have found ancient technology beneath the former AgroWorld that could influence the outcome of many wars.
Hive Fleet Spectre Intro
Cut off from the main strain of Hive Fleet Leviathan and desperate for resources, splinter Fleet Spectre found itself falling into the gravity well of a planet experiencing some unusual psychic echoes. The brash noise from Ork tellyportas was punctuated by the pained psychic screams of Imperial wayfinders as the forces arrived or made landfall. These cacophonous echoes of war ran counter to the subtle flavors upon the Warp left in the wake of Aeldari Warpstone.
These essences were but toppings on the main dish that was the psychic residue of despair and desperation pervasive among the local populace; their fear stirred by the presence of conflict upon their doorstep. All of that activity spiked the interests of the psychic warp-navigator beasts searching in the darkness, for where there was war and death – there was biomass.
Sweet, sweet biomass.
Nearing the planet and searching for a populated location to make landfall, Splinter Fleet Spectre’s resident Neurotyrant detected something its cadre of Zoanthropes had missed from afar. A discordant note among the symphony of pain and progress. An acrid scent upon an otherwise excellent opportunity. There was a hint of wrongness within the aura surrounding Promethor, and it threatened to spoil the entire endeavour: Chaos.
Quickly recognizing the need to prioritize this target before it could fully take root, The Screaming Dread woke its counterparts early. Undying Brood and Stalking Ruin rejoined the Hive Mind as they left their the gestation pods. The eagerness and excitement within the hive was intoxicating, and quickly stirred them to readiness. Born again and perfected for the fights to come, they are eager to claim this new world.
The Whispering Death has arrived, and it is hungry.
Game 1 – vs Death Guard
On the left flank, I deployed Screaming Fury, the Carnifex, to take on the Death Guard unit led by the Lord of Poxes. Behind the cover of a shipping crate, the hope was that the Death Guard would approach to within charging distance, and I could take on the Rhino and its pestilent contents on my terms.
While I was able to take the fight on my own terms as planned, the dice were not in my favor. Screaming Fury held its own for a while, but weakened by the abundant diseases it was eventually overwhelmed. A Psychic torrent from The Screaming Dread and Warp Blasts from its retinue of Zoanthropes was not enough to keep the Carnifex alive. They did cut down the remainder of the armored troops, leaving the pondering Rhino alone, with little to do.
Midfield saw an aggressive shootout – Undying Brood and its Termagant spawnlings, Skulking Jaws, and the Purple Scourge did their best to utilize cover and pressure the incoming vehicles of the Death Guard.
Sacrificing waves of the cheap beasts kept the Undying Brood from taking much focus. Shaken and rendered unfocused by the Neurotyrant Warlord’s empowered Psychic Scream, the formidable Death Guard armor was kept in check through most of the battle.
The right flank saw a solid assault by the newly spawned Stalking Ruin and its retinue, Gnawing Death. They worked to take down Typhus and his Terminator bodyguards, but failed to do enough damage on their alpha strike to alter the odds in their favor for the following rounds of combat.
In an act of overwhelming finality, the massive cannon of the Plagueburst Crawler pasted the last of the defiant and obnoxious Purple Scourge. With little to show for their efforts, and heavy losses, Hive Fleet Spectre slipped into the shadows to fight another day.
Summary
The presence of Nurgle on Promethor tested, Hive Fleet Spectre found the opposition to better established than desirable. Nevertheless, a fight against Chaos was always a loss, since the warp-tainted meats were not consumable by the hive.
Leaving the hearty Death Guard to be weakened by other foes, The Screaming Dread and its subordinates turned their focus onto a different aspect of Chaos that must be stamped out before it could take hold…
