Our "Echoes of Thracia" campaign recently came to an end in the grand finale, fought out between sixteen brave generals in two alliances. This was all-out miniature warfare for the fate of the feudal city of Thracia Rex, held by the bitter Iron Warrior Traitors and besieged by an armoured Loyalist onslaught of the Iron Hands.
The campaign day was divided into three separate "theatres" interacting between each other. The grand siege was at the heart of it all, and all eyes were following the battle prowess of the fighting 6000 point forces of Iron Hands and Iron Warriors, earning the clash the moniker "Crucible of Iron". Imperial attackers were attempting to storm the city walls from their trench positions, crossing the deadly minefield and other traps set by the Iron Warriors.
Specific "Pioneer" troops on both sides had the opportunity to physically affect the battlefield - Loyalist forces were early on hard at work to extend their trench network as well as constructing the Legendary Thracian Siege Engine "Ombro" to help bring the walls down. Traitors on the other hand were constructing additional traps - rebuilding their fear-inducing frontline bunkers and installing Thracian relics of their own - the menacing Antimatter Mines.
Supporting them were the eight generals in the Battleline missions, tasked with finding every ounce of resources still left in the Thracian system they could help their siege brethren with. They went after every objective token marked as either Ammunition, Fuel, Medical Supplies or Construction Materiel, supplying siege fighters with vital assets whenever a point was scored. The siege efforts were very much dependent on these successes, as no reserves could be brought in without Fuel Tokens, and all heavy weapons had the Limited Ammunition rule only removed with spare Ammo Tokens at the players' disposal.
Far from the despair that was the siege operated the special forces, hand-picked elite units sent to perform surgical missions with diminishing numbers. They went to conquer long-range Scorpius missile systems, to sabotage Thracia Rex's Void Shield power generators and to investigate a massive threat to both sides - a weaponized fusion reactor strapped to an automated bullet train on an infinite loop across Thracia's vast railway networks. Having simultaneously intercepted the same intel describing the fast-moving payload, the SpecOps units hurried to catch the bomb train and to do battle for its route control - two possible end terminals being the Traitor-controlled city of Thracia Rex, and the main Loyalist landing zone, coordinating all of their war efforts on the planet.
In the gloomy caverns and tunnels underneath Thracia Rex, heavy Iron Warrior infantry made way to gain control of the subterranean realm. Making short work of Iron Hand infiltrators, the IV Legion was able to open many secret passages to the no man's land above. As the Traitor Battleline performed with amazing effect, supplying the Iron Warrior reserves with a multitude of Fuel Resources, a daring company of trench raiders was formed out of Cataphractii Terminators as well as Tyrant Siege Terminators and the infamous Dominators. Storming from the hidden tunnel hatches the Terminators caught Loyalist besiegers off-guard, wiping out many units at instant in their surprise attack. It was only the challenging, ordnance-ridden ground that just crucially slowed the Terminator shock assault down, enabling Iron Hands to regroup and ultimately defeat the onslaught. This left them behind their siege schedule however, as due to the defensive maneuvers taken very little work had been managed in extending the Imperial trench network or defusing His Excellence's Mine Garden.
The overwhelming numbers of the Iron Hand invaders were finally able to claw their way over the no-man's-land through sheer willpower, and they were also reinforced by a contingent of Thracian Feudal Militia, sparking an insurrection in the city under the Iron Warriors' stern grip. With the completion of the legendary Thracian Siege Engine Ombro, endless salvoes begun to hammer the Wall of Barbadus, joined by a choir of siege tanks and other long range artillery.
Meanwhile the Special Forces had made an alarming discovery in remote catacombs - the sinister forces of High Chaplain Erebus had been discovered on Thracia Rex and the Word Bearers supported by newly-summoned daemon entities had waged war against both sides. It became apparent that the bomb train was actually a scheme put into play by power-hungry Erebus himself. As the surviving units emerged from the catacombs and hurried to join their battle-brothers in order to share the recent developments with them, the train reached the fateful intersection - it was the Loyalists who had the upper hand. Despite learning of the heretic treacheries, the stern Imperial Fists were characteristically unable to act against their original orders, and sent the train along with its deadly cargo to Thracia Rex.
Doom and death shattered the feudal city and thousands of lives were lost in an eyeblink. Hence Erebus's powers grew - the daemonic entities feasted on the lost souls and a massive tear in reality appeared in Thracia Rex's suburbs. Iron Warrior defenses on the Wall of Barbadus suffered massive damage from the bomb tremors, and as the final fire missions by the Iron Hand tanks were enacted, the colossal fortification came crashing down. The Loyalists had made the breach.
The board was now set and all pieces were in motion for the final push. All Special Forces directed their march routes to Erebus's location, joining forces to stop the heretical ritual and save Thracia from becoming a daemon world. The Iron Hands attempted to storm the demolished wall and to conquer the city streets, with their warlord personally assaulting the 18th Keep on top of the massive Siege Engine. The remaining Battleline forces formed hasty alliances and charged to activate final assets - booby-trapped resource tokens and two great weapons - a continental Atomantic Missile Silo and the hibernating Warhound Titan, The Sentinel of Hell Sinai.
Ultimately the forces of the Warmaster were able to take control of both the Atomantic Missile and the Titan, further reinforcing the spirit of their Iron Warrior siege specialists. The determined IV Legion was able to thwart the Iron Hands advance, as their armoured reserves, newly-installed Thracian Antimatter Mines and dominant control over the subterranean pathways proved too much for the Loyalists to take on. The final X Legion charge spearheaded by Contemptor Dreadnoughts and Legion Automata came short, halting just outside the breached walls of Thracia Rex.
Over at the ritual site the uneasy alliance between Loyal and Traitor Special Forces was honoured (more or less) and the combined arms were able to take control of all of Erebus's six warp portals, crucially sealing them shut. In the dying moments of the battle it was a Sons of Horus Assault Marine sergeant who delivered the final blow against the High Chaplain himself, forcing Erebus's retreat from the Thracian system for good.
Thracia Rex laid in ruins. The Loyalists had been unsuccessful in driving the Traitor presence back and the icons of the Warmaster still flew over the remains of the feudal city, vexatiously binding remaining Loyalists to the sector for a prolonged time. With their domain brought low, Traitors could only regroup and cower in wait for new orders. What would later develop into months and years of guerilla operations and splintered positional war was now hard to be seen as a sound victory for either allegiance. Erebus and his daemonic allies had however been banished - a triumph for the denizens of the feudal world, although quite possibly unrecognized by themselves.
+++
The collective hobby spirit of our great Horus Heresy scene is what drives these projects and we're privileged to be able to share these experiences with you all. We hope this adventure created together has sparked new projects in character and unit additions, and possibly in completely new army concepts - there's nothing like events that make things happen on the painting desk! The campaign finale was a significant push from our event team in story writing, scenario planning and the terrain & accessories workshop, filling the calendar of the first annual quarter completely - a brief respite is now in order. Massive thanks to all of our players and participants of all five Echoes of Thracia campaign acts!
