Ollie Blacklock
United Kingdom
Lymington
Hants
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When the heavily damaged frigate Eisenstein dropped out of the warp near Terra, a considerable naval escort was sent to investigate. There were few signs of life, and the boarding teams that entered found the ship filled with a handful of dead and dying Space Marines of the loyal Death Guard Legion. Leading them was Captain Nathaniel Garro, and he had brought a grim warning of events on Isstvan III, and atrocities committed by the Warmaster Horus.
The Salamanders Legion was amongst those sent to quell the rebellion. The Imperial Navy gained orbit over Isstvan V and the Salamanders performed a full scale assault of the planet, alongside other Legions. Marines were deployed onto the planet surface by thousands of drop pods, bringing dreadnoughts, vehicles and artillery.
Assault, Tactical and Terminator squads of the Salamanders broke into the remains of the planetary governor’s complex, the new headquarters of Horus. Most of the levels above ground level had been devastated by orbital and planetary artillery. The Salamanders moved down through the subterranean levels using operational lift shafts.
It was not long before they came into direct contact with aggressive forces of the renegade World Eaters Chapter. Most World Eaters had already painted their armour red, as a sign of their new allegiance. But they also left parts of their armour showing their original colours, reminding their loyal enemies that they were once like them.
The first levels seemed evenly matched. Assault and Terminator squads of World Eaters clashed with Tactical and Terminator squads. Both sides were supported by dreadnoughts, as the complex interior consisted of relatively wide corridors and vast chambers.
The Salamanders appeared to have the advantage, using their heavy weaponry, and characteristic stoic methods. Casualties were high on both sides. As the Salamanders cleared the first few levels and continued to move lower down through the complex, their tactics improved, and they suffered fewer casualties.
[We played the same mission three times, the first two times using the forces described above, with the Salamanders winning both games, destroying all World Eaters. The third game added an extra squad to both sides, considerably evening the nature of the forces, and increasing the size of the slaughter.]
The Salamanders were meeting increasing resistance, and Assault teams were sent forward to provide extra support. Assault Marines from both sides used their jump packs within the vast underground chambers, and chainswords and axes clashed. The death toll amongst the assault troops was characteristically high on both sides.
Dreadnoughts moved up and continued the assaults, attacking Marines and Terminators with Lascannon, Storm Bolter and Heavy Plasma.
Tactical Marines followed the dreadnoughts, using grenades and medium range weaponry. The Salamanders favoured Meltas and Multimeltas, and used these to attack the heavily armoured World Eaters. But the World Eater Terminators replied with lethal quantities of Heavy Flamer, creating huge firestorms within the complex that took a heavy toll on the ranks of Salamanders. So many Salamanders were engulfed in flames.
Still the Salamanders pushed forwards, unwilling to be slowed. The command centre of the World Eaters had been identified, and a task force led by a Fury-class dreadnought stormed forwards.
The dreadnought came under a withering fire of Autocannon and Melta fire from ambushing World Eaters. A Salamanders Techmarine was nearby but the Salamanders became compelled to fall back.
But the World Eaters had anticipated this, and had the lines of retreat covered with an array of heavy weapons specialists. They destroyed the remnants of the Salamanders spearhead, and forced the beginning of the Salamanders withdrawal from the complex.
Order Of Battle
Salamanders:
Chaplain “Lawrence” (Force Commander)
Techmarine “Caldwell”
1 Furibundus Dreadnought “Leon”
Terminator Squad “Holt” (5 Terminators, including Heavy Flamer, Lightning Claws)
Assault Squad “Chambers” (10 Marines with jump packs, grenades, Bolt pistols and Chainswords)
Tactical Squad “Dunn” (10 Marines with Bolters, grenades, 1 Meltagun, 1 Multimelta)
World Eaters:
Possessed Marine “Tuarcan” (Force Commander)
Chaplain “Iantu”
Techmarine “Menangul”
1 Dreadnought “Rimotuld” (Heavy Plasma Gun and Power Claw)
Terminator Squad “Handrim” (8 Terminators, including Heavy Flamer, Autocannon, Lightning Claws and Thunder Hammer)
Assault Squad “Urim” (8 Marines with jump packs, grenades, Bolt pistols and close combat weapons)
Tactical Squad “Augbau” (8 Marines with Bolters, grenades, Melta gun and Heavy Plasma Gun)
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paul Weinbach
United States
Texas
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Love the 'Rogue Trader' era mini's! Its good to see the old ways and tiles getting some attention....keep it up!
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GÜNSTLING
New Zealand
Christchurch
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That must have been an awesome game to play. Massive forces for hulk, really a different use of the system than your standard mission.
What rules did you use for the dreadnought?
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Wasp Factoryman
United Kingdom
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Damn, those mini's bring back some time-lost memories. I remember having that first dreadnaught and being wowed by it.
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Ollie Blacklock
United Kingdom
Lymington
Hants
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hopfrog11 wrote: Love the 'Rogue Trader' era mini's! Its good to see the old ways and tiles getting some attention....keep it up!
Jonathan Ward wrote: Damn, those mini's bring back some time-lost memories. I remember having that first dreadnaught and being wowed by it.
Thank you. I appear to be stuck in the past with my GW figures collection, of which this is a small part. One day I want to devise a battle with *all of them* 
I distinctly remember going into Games Workshop when I was a boy at school, spending my hard earned pocket money on the very expensive figures - but they were all so cool! I wanted to play with them all!
The truth is, it's taken me this long to paint them all (ok, I've also picked up a few on ebay along the way, but only because I never had enough money while I was at school). Now I am able to get them on the table, I appear to be 32!
bolter wrote: That must have been an awesome game to play. Massive forces for hulk, really a different use of the system than your standard mission.
What rules did you use for the dreadnought?
It was awesomo. Jon (left) Malc (right) and I seem to have got a regular slot on Tuesdays at the moment, purely for Hulk. I like to come up with unusual missions (a-la Rogue Trader), but attempt to keep the rules as straightforward as possible (like Space Hulk).
We actually play with a set of house rules, and when there are 3 of us, I am GM. One of the changes is that you need to roll *low* to score a hit. So a 1 will destroy a Stealer or a Terminator. On the second shot, that becomes a 2, and so on.
But there's another good reason for this otherwise pointless change. You may have noticed the D8s of the table. Basically, I was unsatisfied with the way Genestealer / Campaigns handled alternative forces, all using a D6, but with loads of modifiers, that you can never remember.
In my system, a normal space marine rolls a D8 in close combat. Again, low dice wins, but he has a lower chance of rolling lower than a Termie rolling a D6. Simples!
My method means a given troop type always rolls the same type of dice, and always needs a 1 to hit a Termie/Dread/Stealer/Nob in power armour when shooting. A lascannon for example rolls 4D4, again, needing 1s to cause damage. The dread can take 6 damage points. Undamaged it has 6AP, and 3 D6 in CC. Each damage point it takes reduces its AP by 1, and each damage point over 3 reduces its number of attacks too.
It's a really simple system, and I enjoy taking it to the limit. I could forward you a copy of the rules if you're interested, but they're in progress 
Next week: Squats v. Gretchin...
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J D
United States
Clover
South Carolina
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Awesome looking RT marines! I like that you tied the classic minis to a classic battle. Put my on the list to mail the completed house rules to please!
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