Gambit of the First Heretic

The Echoes of Thracia was a War Head Horus Heresy campaign, fought over three years and five narrative events. In the grand finale we laid siege upon the feudal world of Thracia Rex. This is how the campaign day unfolded!

The Final Echo

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.

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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!

Special Ops Intel - The Final Echoes of Thracia

+ INCOMING TRANSMISSION +

+ Establishing connection...

+ Comm-Link activated...

+ Recon element authorized...

+ Picture feed buffering...

The Final Echoes of Thracia Siege Primer

02.04: Ammunition, Fuel, Supplies and Medical resources waiting for an airlift. Coordinates encrypted and transmitted.

04.04: Possible identification of an enemy explosive ordnance laboratory. Civilian hub proximity - air strikes ruled out.

06.04: Thracian southern rail network, Jarran's intersection - potential interception site for the primary target.

07.04: The last intel picture sent in by a remote recon element - accompanying message described undeciphered whispers echoing in the empty ruins.

08.04: Continental missile silo identified - Legion technicians deployed for takeover.

10.04: Clandestine meeting between Thracian underground cells documented by local spies.

11.04: +++ CLASSIFIED +++

The Final Echoes of Thracia

War Head Horus Heresy

Sotavasara.net

March for the Eternity Gate

A couple of weeks ago we marched to Kuopio, where the local gaming crew KuoFi had organized a narrative Horus Heresy event centered on the drama arc of the Eternity Gate during the Siege of Terra. Before the journey I had been hard at work pushing the World Eater roster to 3000 points, adding another Assault Squad and (a bit reluctantly to fill the points...) a Contemptor Dreadnought to the existing army. Unfortunately my painting time just ran out before I got to convert the Lascannon sponsons on my Javelins, but these will for sure feature in the next army list iteration. When we reached the event venue the World Eaters got to perform violent drop operations against two robust Imperial Fist armies and the knightly Dark Angels in the asymmetric scenarios during the weekend, recording to wins and a narrow defeat. Good times and the siege for the Imperial Palace has now begun! 

Player: Teemu Valve

Army: XII World Eaters 308th Void Assault Brigade

Rite of War: Berzerker Assault

Allegiance: Traitoris Perdita

HQ1: Khârn the Bloody, Gorechild, Warlord [210]

HQ2: Legion Warmonger, Berzerker, Twin Lightning Claws, Meltabombs [150]

HQ3: Legion Master of Signals, Chainaxe [95]

ELITE1: The Red Butchers, Add Terminator, Chainfist, Twin Lightning Claws [315]

ELITE2: Contemptor-Cortus Dreadnought, Power Fist, Conversion Beam Cannon [195]

ELITE3: The Red Hand Destroyers, Add 2 Destroyers, Jump Packs, Artificer Armour, Lightning Claw, Thunder Hammer, Chainaxes [225]

TROOP1: Despoilers, Chainaxes, Power Axe, Artificer Armour, Power Fist [130]

TROOP2: Despoilers, Chainaxes, Power Axe, Artificer Armour, Power Fist [130]

TROOP3: Assault Squad, Chainaxes, Power Axe, Power Sword, Artificer Armour, Power Fist [180]

TROOP4: Assault Squad, Chainaxes, Power Axe, Power Sword, Artificer Armour, Power Fist [180]

TROOP5: Recon Squad, Chainaxes [85]

FAST1: Javelin Attack Speeder, Chainaxe, Multi-melta [100]

FAST2: Javelin Attack Speeder, Chainaxe, Multi-melta, Hunter-Killer Missile [105]

FAST3: 2 Proteus Speeders, Multi-Meltas, Grav-Guns, Hunter-Killer Missiles, Chainaxes [200]

HEAVY1: Legion Caestus Assault Ram "Commodus" [350]

HEAVY2: Legion Caestus Assault Ram "Coliseus" [350]

The narrative missions really put the pressure on the brave Loyalists defending the Eternity Gate and Traitors took the upper hand in many occasions. My first game against the Imperial Fists was especially memorable and we had a proper nail-biter in a scenario where renewing waves of Traitors tried to take over the defenders' deployment area. The battle culminated in the final rolls where the World Eaters would have earned a round victory for the Traitor side if the last two Imperial Fist Tactical Marines would have either died to three missile launcher shots or failed their Leadership 7 Morale Check. This time luck was on the Terrans' side and the brilliant game ended in a draw!

All in all the event was well organized and the amazing spirit of the Finnish Horus Heresy scene was ever present - the "hobby first" attitude in army painting and the relaxed, casual army lists made sure all participants had a great time. Thanks to all participants and the hardworking KuoFi crew for a quality wargaming experience. The World Eaters will return!

Contemptor-Cortus "Crossbones", enslaved by the 308th Void Assault. I combined a classic Chaos Space Marine sarcophagus with the modern Contemptor kit for a ramshackle, field-repaired look. A couple of unfortunate Assault Marines have also lost their chainswords trying to bring the Dreadnought down.

I wanted the mechanics of the Contemptor appear unconventional and like the construct was put together in haste, with all kinds of wiring and inner workings exposed on the backside. The Conversion Beamer felt like a proper space warfare gun and not as optimized choice as some of the other Contemptor loadouts.

The Assault Squad was built with a dual purpose in mind, our thinking was that they could also be used as World Eater Rampagers in the future. The sergeant is probably my favourite model in the unit.

We kitbashed the modern Khorne Berzerkers with Necromunda Corpse Grinder Cult armament to create Caedere Weapon specialists with a bit of a gladiator feel.

The Berzerker kits combined with angled basing elements made for quite dynamic poses. The excess chaos trim was scraped off from the armour surfaces before the primer went down.

The entire unit had to be painted in one sitting to meet the tournament deadline, so I relied on our usual army painting techniques powered by airbrush basecoats, strong contrast colours and oil washes.

These warriors can't wait for the next deployment, and neither can I! Luckily the traditional War Head Civil War looms in the horizon.

Latest from Thracia Rex

We've been playing our Feudal World Horus Heresy campaign "The Thracian Insurgency" since 2021 and finally celebrated the finale some time ago! This was by no means the end of the narrative, but the conclusion of the Insurgency story arc which saw the Legion comrades turn against each other and ultimately burn in the fires of Heresy. We had many story hooks to explore in the various campaign episodes and we were able to wrap most of them up in the final battles. Many corners of Thracia Rex were left unexplored however, so there are still secrets to unfold!

Our in-house campaign finale happened simultaneously on four separate tables - the Renegade Governor was trying to escape the town on a separate "Outer Walls" tile, whereas the grand battle was fought on the main Feudal City table. On the countryside board the Loyalists were trying to protect their automated Artillery providing fire support to the cityfighting forces. In the underground tunnels the defenders tried to hold off invaders from reaching their combat-controlling HQ bunker. I really enjoyed putting the Loyalists under pressure and seeing them divide their strength between the different tasks - which part was deemed more important than the other and which units were trusted with which task. Our Traitor forces were almost like NPC adversaries, playing their part in the narrative with Dark Angels and Salamanders in the center of it. This made for good drama and memorable moments, especially when newly-finished surprise reinforcements kept rolling in.

Albeit having their resources stretched thin and suffering losses on all fronts, the Loyalist forces were able to hold their own and keep the emergency beacons transmitting - their only hope was to get the word of Thracia Rex's tragedies off-world and hope for distant reinforcements to arrive. Noa's Salamanders led by Praetor Barbados Khes were the unshakeable anvil all Loyalist efforts leant on, and Eric's Dark Angel elites performed surgical strikes with pinpoint efficiency.

I've been calculating some new World Eater rosters and have a couple of unit builds on the way - the game is in such a good state that it's exciting to add to the playable force. New tournaments are popping up monthly in Finland and the scene is growing, I think a lot of it is due to Horus Heresy hitting that sweet spot of balance between ("historical") gaming and universal hobby appreciation. Cool models don't hurt either!

Noa's Salamanders were always standing where the fighting was fiercest. Glory to Vulkan!

Unearth the Betrayal

It was once again our collective hobby inspiration that sparked the idea for our latest gaming day - Ollie had created the insane Night Lords Apothecary some time ago and we knew the model deserved a proper story arch. Unfortunately the Chief Medicae Consul is quite a rare unit choice and Ollie's scratchbuild is a bit too epic to be run as a regular Apothecary - sadly he hadn't seen any gameplay. Therefore we wrote him a secret narrative of his own, incorporating the villain into Thracian Insurgency as a non-player character.

Since the early days of our gaming table build we'd been toying with the idea of creating some underground features for the terrain. These ambitions were boosted as the final construction took shape and we decided to use Ikea Kallax grid shelves as the legs for the table. These have been holding some of our studio armies and literature, but the shelves would also be perfect for some terrain integration - this way the underground terrain pieces would actually be stored underneath the streets and could be used in gameplay as a separate, modular scenery setup.

Our idea was to write a classic "mad scientist" story for the Night Lords Chief Medicae (now called Dr. Norman Bramm) and have this renegade character lead a clandestine operation from his makeshift underground laboratory. His hideous creations (inspired by both Horus Heresy Raven Guard tragedies as well as Fabius Bile's Enhanced Warriors project) would be too imposing for the Loyalist alliance to ignore and this would result in a subterranean manhunt. At first we discussed with Scott that it would be cool to build a simple dungeon corridor to surprise the other players with, but as per usual, we couldn't stop there...

Check out the entire subterranean terrain build and story arch via War Head Instagram or Facebook Gallery below!

+++ Thracia Rex Underground: Unearth the Betrayal +++

Chronicles of Thracia Rex

Starting to get hyped for our next Horus Heresy campaign day, the third episode in the Thracian Insurgency! A month from now we'll witness some fresh troops march in to experience completely new narrative in the feudal world of Thracia Rex!

In our previous story-driven scenarios we've left several plot devices open and provided many clues to the future events - it's soon time to start tying the strings together. All-out war seems inevitable and the campaign experience points the players have accumulated will be put to the test...

To recap the story so far we'll be posting "Chronicles of Thracia Rex" updates on Instagram and Facebook as we head towards the next campaign adventures in March. Check out what has happened on the feudal world so far!

Meteoric Descent - Horus Heresy Campaign Day

It's been a while since we last assembled our crew for a proper narrative gaming day, and last Saturday we finally made time for the special occasion! It feels like events such as these are too few and far between, even though the hobby is constantly in the back of our minds and we keep planning for the future all the time. Our friend Jesse recently had to take a break from his day job as an actor due to an accident, but during this downtime the life-long Warhammer Fantasy Battles fan had dived headlong into the Black Library material of Horus Heresy, developing a serious enthusiasm for the vivid background story and its characters. Therefore we arranged a three-staged Horus Heresy campaign for us all to enjoy, mixing 30K rules with a few elements from our favourite skirmish games.

Oli mahtavaa saada jengi kasaan pelipäivää varten pitkästä aikaa - luvassa oli kunnon Horus Heresy -maratoni pääosissaan War Headin parin vuoden sisään valmistuneet 30K-figut. Kuten tavallista, fiilistelimme jo etukäteen peleille narratiivisen viitekehyksen ottaen huomioon osallistuvat legioonat; linnoittamisen ja puolustussodankäynnin ammattilaiset Imperial Fistit, sekä aggressiiviset, lähikantaman murhatöihin erikoistuneet World Eaterit. Kampanjan miljöönä toimi muuan Segmentum Solarin kaivosplaneetan puolustus ennen Terran legendaarista taistelua, panokset olivat siis kovat.

Ensimmäisessä pelissä Imperial Fists Centurion Koscielny oli juuri saapunut kaivossektorille tehtävänään vahvistaa sen puolustuksia Rogal Dornin nimissä, sekä turvata ase- ja raakamateriaalikuljetuksia kotiplaneetta Terralle. Komentaja sai kuitenkin heti saapuessaan havaita, että heresy oli saavuttanut tämänkin järjestelmän ja käynnissä oli täysi kriisitilanne - sadanpäämiehen vaivoina olivat samaan aikaan asteroidiyhdyskuntiin katkenneet viestiyhteydet ja laajamittainen vankilapako, joka uhkasi koko kaivostoiminnan turvallisuutta.

Imperial Fist -veteraani potkii raivokkaita vankeja alas tuliasemaksi muutetulta lastauslaiturilta.

Skenaariona oli turvata pakokapselilla kiertoradalta pelastautuneen astronautin pako turvaan elintärkeiden tiedustelutietojensa kanssa, ja pysäyttää niin monta pakenevaa, vaarallista elinkautisvankia kuin suinkin. Imperial Fistien iskujoukkoon kuului Centurion itse, neljä veteraania sekä Koscielnyn henkilökohtainen kisälli, joka oli juuri valmistunut Dornin jalkaväkikoulusta ensimmäiselle tehtävälleen. Kentällä oli kuusi hot spotia, joista ilmaantui joka vuoro kentälle epävakaita ja kaltoin kohdeltuja elinkautisvankeja. Mönkijällä kurvailevan astronautin tuli ajaa kentän halki ja saavuttaa keisarillisten joukkojen tukikohtana toimivan luolan suu kuudessa vuorossa - ja välttää murhanhimoiset vangit, joille kaikille kaivosmönkijä olisi kelvannut pakoajoneuvoksi.

Käytimme tavanomaisen I go, you go -systeemin sijaan Bolt Actionista tuttua aktivointijärjestelmää, jossa pussiin laitetaan molemmille osapuolille yhtä monta tunnusnoppaa kuin näillä on yksiköitä jäljellä. Noppien satunnainen nostojärjestys määräsi kuka sai toimia ensin, mistä tuli hyvää jännitettä pelin kulkuun ja koko ajan muuttuvaa tilannetta tuli uudelleenarvioida monta kertaa yhden vuoron aikana. Yksikön saattoi myös jättää overwatch-tilaan, jolloin se saattoi reagoida näkökentässään tapahtuviin vihollisaktivaatioihin. Muuten peli toimi 40K-säännöillä ja eteni tosi sujuvasti - oli mahtavaa jännittää astronautin pakoa ja seurata Space Marineiden elokuvamaista väkivaltaa heikompia vankikarkureita vastaan. Mönkkäri jäi pari kertaa jumiin vankeihin - viimeisillä vuoroilla niitä pursusi toden teolla juuri pakoreitin tukkivista hot spoteista ja Space Marineiden tuli venyttää resurssinsa äärimmilleen. Lopulta astronautti pääsi onnistuneen Advance-heiton ansiosta juuri ja juuri turvaan ja Imperial Fistit onnistuivat tehtävässään; myös haavoittuneen Centurionin siiven alla toimineen Rookien oli onnistunut selvitä monta combat -vuoroa elossa ja ylensimme sen veteraaniksi seuraaviin peleihin!

Kaivosastronautin hektinen pako on melkein päätöksessään - onneksi Astartes-joukot sattuivat paikalle!

Vedettyään henkeä pelastunut astronautti sai kerrottua, että kehäkuiden ja asteroidikaivantojen Voidsmen-klaanit olivat nousseet kapinaan, katkaisseet kaikki viestiyhteydet planeetalle ja alkaneet kuljettaa paikalle varastokontteja täynnä salaperäistä aseteknologiaa. Komennon ottanut Alexis Polux pelkäsi, että puolustusringin aseet käännettäisiin planeettaa uhkaamaan ja että se muutettaisiin Horuksen asevarastoksi Terran piirityksessä Keisaria vastaan. Imperial Fistien oli lähetettävä iskujoukko soluttautumaan asteroidikaivantoon ja ottamaan selvää, mitä kaivosyhdyskunnassa oli tekeillä.

Toisessa pelissä taktisen ryhmän tuli väistellä 40K:n kolmosedikan sentry-sääntöjä käyttäviä servitoreja ja pyrkiä ahtaalla avaruusasemalla tunkeutumaan huomaamatta läpi sen sisäänkäynnistä. Molemmista combat squadeista lähetettiin matkaan tunnustelija, jonka olisi pimeyden turvin ollut mahdollista eliminoida liian lähelle tulleita servitoreja. Katastrofin ainekset olivat kuitenkin kasassa, kun toinen tunnustelijoista otti riskin ja hyökkäsi kapeaa kulkusiltaa pitkin partioineen servitorin kimppuun onnistumatta tappamaan tätä - tuloksena oli hälytys ja koko aseman Voidsmenit koottiin torjumaan tunkeutujia.

Space Marineilla oli kuitenkin selvä yliote heikkoihin ihmistaistelijoihin ja Fury of the Legionin sekä Imperial Fistien bolter drillin turvin Astartes-joukot lähettivät osaston toisensa jälkeen elottomina kylmään avaruuteen. Ainoastaan kulkusillalla hälytyksen tehnyt servitor pidätteli terralaisia asemissaan kuin ihmeen kaupalla, eikä suostunut antamaan tietä. Vaikutti olevan ajan kysymys, kunnes Marine-osasto murtautuisi läpi ja valloittaisi avaruusaseman... kunnes Voidsmenit käyttivät salaista asettaan.

Kun jäljellä oli enää pari puolustajaa, nämä vetäytyivät asteroidin harjanteelle ja avasivat läheisen varastokontin sähkölukot. Lyhyen hetken jälkeen sen teräsovet lennähtivät auki ja avaruuden aavemaisessa hiljaisuudessa kontin uumenista ryömi kalliorinteille kammottavia xenos-olentoja. Horukselle lojaalien astronauttien oli onnistunut vangita hengenvaarallisia hirviöitä käytettäväksi keisarillisia puolustuksia vastaan. Lähimmäksi avaruusaseman ovea edenneiden Imperial Fistien ei auttanut kuin asettaa tehtävä toveriensa hengen edelle ja paeta asteroidikaivannon sisuksiin veljiensä jäädessä pidättelemään Genestealereita kohtalokkain seurauksin.

Planeetan yllä uskaliaan iskujoukon oli onnistunut suorittaa tehtävänsä, vaikkakin karmein miestappioin. Sadanpäämiehen oli nyt aika järjestää rivinsä ratkaisutaistelua varten.

Selviytyneiden asteroidinvaltaajien onnistui vakauttaa tilanne planeetan ilmakehässä ja myös vallata kriittinen teleportaatiokammio Imperial Fistien valiojoukkojen operaatioita varten. Hyvät uutiset eivät olisi voineet kantautua Alexis Polux'in korviin hetkeäkään liian aikaisin, sillä petturilegioona World Eaterien avaruuslaivaston oli havaittu tekevän tuloaan keisarillisen tutka-alueen reunamille. Poluxin joukot tekivätkin nyt sitä, mitä parhaiten osasivat ja linnoittivat puolustuksiaan kestämään petturien väkivaltaisen maahanlaskun. Molemmat Imperial Fists -pelaajamme saivat valita kuusi yksikköä varsin mittavasta figupoolista ja deployata ne mielensä mukaan erilaisten Fortificationien taa. Armeijan komentajina toimivat Alexis Polux ja ensimmäisestä pelistä selvinnyt Centurion Koscielny.

Viimeinen peli pelattiin Heresy-peleille epätyypillisesti Maelstrom of War -objektiiveista täysimittaisessa parin tuhannen pisteen taistelussa. Ensimmäisillä vuoroilla Imperial Fistien kenttätykistö ja eteen työntyneet, mekanisoidut boltgun-yksiköt nuijivat vimmalla vähälukuisia ja reservejään saapuvaksi odottaneita World Eater -etujoukkoja. Näiden kultistien massa ja nopeasti liikkuneet Assault Marinet onnistuivat kuitenkin rynnäköimään jalkaväkikohteisiin ja sitomaan ne taisteluun lentävien reserviensä iskiessä ympäri kenttää - Land Speederien ja Javelinien outflank-operaatio hävitti muiden muassa Imperial Fistien kullanarvoisen Sicaranin. Toisaalla Caestus Assault Ramista jalkautuneet Red Butcherit ottivat erää Imperial Fistien laskeutumisalueelle teleportanneita Terminatoreita vastaan molempien legioonien taktisten joukkojen painiessa keskenään. World Eaterien mobiili kentänhallinta toi näille Maelstrom-korttijohdon, mutta viimeisillä vuoroilla tapahtui jotain dramaattista: itse Rogal Dorn Phalanx Warder -henkivartiokaarteineen saapui vahvistamaan legioonansa kriittistä rintamaa. Lopulta koko taistelun ja sitä kautta kampanjan lopputulos kulminoitui yksittäisiin heittoihin Primarchin koettaessa suorittaa Priority Orders -> Overwhelming Firepower -tehtävää erikoisbolterillaan, ohjaten taiturimaisesti koko käytössään olevan osaston tulta epäonniseen World Eater Tactical Squadiin. Lopulta savun keskelle jäi eloon yksi petturi ja tehtävä jäi traagisesti täyttämättä, eikä Imperial Fistien ollut onnistunut kuroa kiinni vihollistensa Maelstrom of War -piste-etua.

Horukselle lojaalien joukkojen matkaa Terralle ei siis onnistuttu tälläkään kertaa pysäyttämään, vaan Imperial Fistien oli vetäydyttävä suojaamaan järjestelmän kruunuplaneettaa ja Keisarin Palatsia. Monivaiheinen 30K-päivä jätti hauskojen pelimuistojen lisäksi kampanjahiittiä sekä maalausmotivaatiota itse kuhunkin pelaajaan ja puhuimme jo alustavasti pienestä maalausmiitistä seuraavia skenaarioita varten. On ylipäätään mahtavaa päästä fiilistelemään ystävien kanssa jotain tiettyä aihepiiriä ja panostaa sitten yksissä tuumin yhteisen kokemuksen eteen - sillä juuri tästä yhteisöllisyydestä ja inspiraatiosta koko harrastus elää. Kiitti kundit!

Campaign Result: Traitor Breakthrough

Rogal Dornille jäi vielä todisteltavaa, mutta Imperial Fistien kuningas palaa!