A xenos strike force had been sighted just hours before by Hearts-Queen Card pushing fast towards the 24th's perimeter. All that stood in between the combined force of Tau and Eldar was a single squad and armored sentinel from the recon company, not nearly enough to hold the enemy at bay. Remy's squad, a small mechanized squad of Black Jacks and one of Queen Card's scout sentinels were all that could arrive to provide assistance. No other forces would be able to reach the perimeter in time. The Inquisitor's response had been clear and to the point. "Do not let the xenos interfere. Perform the summons."
Remy shivered again. Just remembering those words sent a chill down his spine. He had done as he was ordered- the cards were laid out in concentric circles of power, blood and sand had been sprinkled over them as the intonations had been chanted. He had reached out to and through the cards, calling out into the void.
And They had heard him.
Their voices, screams, howls and shrieks had echoed- STILL echoed through his mind, furious at the binds that had been placed upon them. These had increased in strength when he had whispered the forbidden words into the maelstrom:
"Blood.
Pain.
Souls.
Come and reap."
The fiends cackled, took reality with a forceful grip and clawed their way into the world.
---
That was 15 minutes ago. As the Chimera barrelled into position, the battlefield was filled with the roar of grav engines, the buzzing of energy weapons, the crack of railguns... and the screams. He would never, had never, forgotten those screams. He, after all, heard them all the time.
The scream of metal as crab claws sheared through armor.
The scream of dying Eldar as reality warped and twisted around them.
The scream he later learned unleashed from his own throat as he came close- too close- to losing control.
And the screams of impossible creatures, beings forged of dark myth and sin, singing praises to their masters as they slew and were slain in return.
Despite the horrors surrounding them, his men had performed bravely. The lone squad on the scene had managed to neutralize the lone Devilfish that had broken through the daemonic onslaught. On the far side of the battlefield two bound servants of Tzeentch ran down the opposition while the Hearts-Queen's sentinel had broken the Tau and driven them off their firing position. The armored sentinel, piloted by none other than Steven "Stompy Jr." Marlow himself had lent his firepower to victory while keeping a close eye on the summoned "allies."
He would later report that it was an almost flawless victory- only an immobilized sentinel marred the otherwise impeccable outcome, the enemy broken, bloodied and running. The Tau had lost everything, their few remaining troops captured for interrogation. The Eldar had fled the battlefield after the last of their aspect warriors had been slain by the rampaging Daemon Prince.
Remy had held the line. His cards, as always had done their job. Yet still he shivered, looking out into the growing twilight, wondering for how long before even the cards would stop holding the screams at bay...
I set up my defenses with little cover on the field. There were three of my bastions and one of the attackers (in the picture below shown as a forest, though this was later replaced with a more suitable building). I also activated two of my assets: extra ammunition for the central bastion, and Force Pylons guarding the front of the bastion on my left flank. Force Pylons are great buys against Tyranids because only vehicles and units with assault grenades can cross them, meaning that the only unit I had to worry about from my friend were his genestealers.
The Nids player soon revealed that he had chosen the asset that allows him to roll 2d6 for preliminary bombardment strikes and set about smashing my defenses. With 10 blasts he shattered my central bastion and began his assault.
My force pylon guarded bastion had survived with little damage, but a problem arose that I had not considered before- I had no one in either of my remaining bastions! Most of my army outflanks due to Al'Rahem, so I actually had no one in either bastion, meaning I needed my reserves to come in quick in order to seize some ground!
My turn 1 my reserve rolls failed for the most part, though Marbo and Al'Rahem's platoon managed to find their way to the board. FRFSRF destroyed a squad of genestealers while Al'Rahem's command squad destroyed a Carnifex that was threatening to destroy my last remaining bastion. Marbo showed up and squashed most of the Broodlord's retinue before being slaughtered in turn.
The next turn's reserve rolls both went well and poorly for the 'Nids, with the rest of his forces coming in. Unfortunately one of his Carnifexes landed in my massed infantry platoon and promptly died, while his Tyrant landed on top of my bastion. We weren't sure how to rule this as I had no units in the bastion yet, so we decided to say that he was standing pretty on it (though he lost a wound to Dangerous Terrain test).
Nid shooting decimated my infantry who were standing around without cover. He also revealed his second asset: Supply Drop, granting his Gaunts offensive and defensive grenades and meltabombs. They made short work of Al'Rahem's chimera even though my Minefield asset managed to kill fully half their number.
Turn three saw my infantry decimated even more on the right flank while accurate Zoanthrope fire on the left flank stunned my command Chimera. Al'Rahem was assaulted by Gaunts but barely managed to hold them off. My turn three saw my few remaining guardsmen run desperately for the safety of the bastion, but failed to make it thanks to a pair of sergeants stuck in barbed wire. More infantry ran to support Al'rahem, defeating the bugs with bayonet and power swords.
Turn 4 saw desperate battles on both sides of the board. Genestealers flung themselves at the Commander's chimera but were unable to stop him from breaking through and onto the objective. On the other flank a lucky scatter from one of the Tyranid Warrior blasts took a wound off the Tyrant, allowing Al'Rahem to finish it off with a plasma pistol shot.
My commander and his retinue disembarked on turn 4, slaughtering another genestealer brood, leaving two zoanthropes and the Brood lord as possible threats.