Orks vs Astra Militarum
A haphazard industrial sprawl towered over the bleak landscape spewing copious amounts of thick, oily smoke into the sky where it blotted out the sun in an ever-present polluted gloaming. The ramshackle nature of the complex gave the impression that a cyclopean fist had scooped up several mighty Adeptus Mechanicus manufactora only to hurl them with great force into the ground leaving a twisted mass of metal beyond all practical use. Yet the smoke and clamurous sound of industry betrayed the facilities operational status. The brave men of the Cadian 421st Shock Regiment advanced in open order towards their objective, heavy armour rumbling amidst their ranks, bayonets fixed and fingers tapping on trigger guards. It was the 38th day of the grand offensive that command had launched to drive the Orks into the acid sea and all signs pointed towards an Imperial victory. Casualties amongst the Astra Militarum were a mere 600,000 men lost, well within the Adeptus Munitorums projections and the 421st was advancing an incredible 12 miles a day, the mood amongst the Guardsmen was almost jovial, many joked they would be embarking on the next crusade within weeks though faced with the mountain of scrap that stood in their way many fell into grim silence. Despite the gains the Orks challenged the Imperium’s dominance of the sky, hundreds of fighta bombaz strafed and bombed the advancing regiments whilst dakka jets fought huge dog fights with Imperial thunderbolts and lightning interceptors. Such was the scale of the threat posed by the xenos airforces that the whole 421st had been retasked to capture or neutralise the main Ork airbase though in reality it had more in common with a forge fane of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Within the metal mountains twisted bowels hundreds of Meks fashioned warmachines of every conceivable type from the aforementioned aircraft to walkers, tanks, buggies and, most alarming of all, the initial assembly stages of several stompas. A sudden peal of thunder heralded the commencement of the Cadian preparatory bombardment. 200 earthshakers and medusas roared as one sending tons of ordnance arcing overhead to crash into the Mek fortress’ flanks which was soon covered with dozens of fiery explosions. Huge sections of the complexes exterior began to collapse under the furious onslaught of the Astra Militarum’s artillery leaving gaping rents in its structure that spewed flames and smoke. The steady advance continued even as the Cadian armour lent its weight to the firestorm. The whine of overtaxed jet engines could be discerned as the Orks took to the skies to defend their base, dozens of crude yet effective flying machines rising quickly from the flames and making straight for the Cadian ranks. From the bowels of the factory sprawl came a wave of brutish walkers that clanked along almost comically on short pistoned legs and above it all a sound that drowned out even the volume of war, a cry given voice by thousands of alien throats;
“WAAAAGH!!”
Deployment: Dawn of War
Mission: No Mercy
Points: 1500
