Want to listen to an audio version? Click here!
The Dark Angels had retreated from the Tyranid horde after failing to stop them. Crippled, the horde took up residency in the ruined cathedral. The Cadian Shock rolled up their recon unit to demolish the desecrated shrine and avenge the fallen. A squadron of three Baneblades rolled up out of the river in a deafening rumble and crashing waves. Their sponson weapons and turrets had been replaced by additional armour plating, making them harder to flank effectively. The Command Baneblade lead the assault with its company banner billowing in the wind. Three intense spotlights lit up the cathedral, their intended target. The Imperium only deals in absolute firepower, and the Imperial Guard was ready to bring its most powerful formation to do so. Each Baneblade had a squad of Veterans with antitank weaponry. The Lord Commissar coordinated the assault from the Command Baneblade.
The Tyranids in turn were deployed in an occupation pattern, spread out over quite a bit of territory. They had Termagaunts on key objectives with an Exocrine on each flank. Their massive weapons emerged from the ruined structures with intimidating scale. In the center, a full unit of Tyranid Warriors with Monstrous Claws and the Hive Tyrant held firm. Six guards accompanied the Tyrant, half with shields and the other half with Crushing Claws.
As the Baneblades rolled into position, they Hive Tyrant realized their predicament out in the open. They rushed head long into the cathedral for cover. The Exocrine quickly found that their weaponry was unable to penetrate the mighty Baneblades and could only do minor damage at best. The Rest of the horde either hunkered in place in key objectives or rushed forwards, heedless of the danger.
The Baneblade Commander gave an order to fire on the cathedral’s position. All three Coaxial Autocannons targeted the Hive Tyrant, who had nicely placed itself in the center of the congested xenos in the lower floor. Multiple rounds hit but did no damage. That however was not the gunner’s goal. Their main weapon now sited in, they fired a coordinated crescendo of Baneblade Cannons and Demolisher Cannons, backed by Linked Heavy Bolters and the Commander’s Heavy Stubber. Devastating shells battered the cathedral as all three titanic tanks blasted into the Tyrant’s unit. The Warriors by proxy lost five of their number to the bombardment. Their going to ground thwarted by the order to saturate fire the location. The bodyguard unit threw themselves in front of the Tyrant. Despite their shields, they were horribly maimed, and several fell.
The Tyranids spread their Warriors out on the top floor to try and get some reprieve. A small unit of gaunts was already nestled upstairs as well. Everyone spread out and attempted to find the best shelter they could find. The Exocrine continued to fire and only did minor damage despite some excellent marksmanship.
Those Exocrine would have to die at a later time, as the true threat to the Baneblades was in the cathedral, as was their objective for the Dark Angels. Again, the Commander ordered concentrated fire on the cathedral’s bottom floor. Wave after wave of pounding shells that shook the countryside for miles hit the building in force. The damage was fairly limited this time, but the top floor collapsed. Gaunts and Warriors rained from the upper floor in disarray as the cathedral began to collapse in on itself.
Frustrated, the Hive Tyrant ordered the shell shocked unit into action. The Baneblades were holding their group and pounding them with heavy shells, and they were on the brink of obliteration. They came pouring out of ruined doors and windows in a mass of angry teeth. A Maleceptor also pushed up the flank to lend aid. The Maleceptor failed to make the short charge, its bulky body struggling to keep up with its stubby legs despite its close range. The others slapped into the first Baneblade and inflicted enough damage to be concerning. As they came in, the Commander landed every single round into the last Tyrant guard with crushing claws using his Heavy Stubber. It survived by a miracle, but then was hit with massive amounts of ordnance and was obliterated. The concentrated effort was adding up on the Baneblades and one was in danger of imminent loss of function. They ground back, crushing most of the Termagaunts and held their ground.
The Cadians held their ground and stagger fired into the Cathedral, collapsing the building with Demolisher Cannons. As the last of the building was obliterated, the gaunts inside began to be hit with shells. With nothing but tiny piles of rubble, they curled into the fetal position. None survived. Other Termagaunts further back with an Exocrine were hit hard and a handful managed to make it. The colossal tanks being used as scouts pushed back, finishing off the gaunts as the Commander ordered them to grind them to dust. A warrior was injured as the Hive Tyrant used him as a shield.
The Tyranids in the back now had no safe target to fire at. They hunkered in place knowing more shells were coming in. the partial unit of gaunts that were hit were no longer in synapse range, and failed to follow the will of the Hive Mind. A spunkier unit of gaunts on the north flank raced to the center objective that was the cathedral before its demise. The melee fight soured for the Imperial Guard, and a Baneblade was finally destroyed.
In response to the loss of firepower, the Lord Commissar jumped out of the Command Baneblade and approached the melee with the intent to by time. The heavy shells could not be fired at the close range still, so the tanks made the enemy afar suffer terribly. The unit in the center was hammered nearly out of existence. The need to make room was becoming apparent to the campaign advisor, and one Baneblade shifted slightly to crush an adjacent building to make more room. Some Veterans had disembarked earlier to claim an objective next to this place. Only the Sergeant had survived. The objective needed presence again to exert dominance in a losing fight for battlefield supremacy. The Sergeant hoped out again and made a defiant last stand, claiming the objective for Cadia. The Lord Commissar issued a Challenge to the Tyranids, his surprise Power Fist to the face of the Tyranid Prime. In turn, it shredded the Lord Commissar badly, but failed to kill him.
The Tyranids slowly stacked up damage on the second Baneblade. The tanks were relatively boxed in but were still bastions of fire power. The dual continued with both the Prime and the Commissar reduced to the brink of death. Miraculously the Commissar stayed alive, his faith in the Emperor saving him. The Tyranids continued to gain steady ground for overall victory.
The Baneblades shelled again and more Tyranid forms died. One of the Veteran Squads fell back to the trench line and prepared an ambush style attack. The Lord Commissar dispatched the Prime with his Plasma Pistol, then challenged the Hive Tyrant himself. The Lord Commissar was instantly shredded, and the second Baneblade fell to the relentless assault.
The Tyranids pressed on their attack, though their numbers had all but been reduced to nothing across the entire field. They were no longer able to claim additional battlefield dominance and began the slow process of dismantling the Baneblade Commander.
Seeing the potential and sudden end to the battle, the Company Commander employed his final trap. His Veteran squad joined the others in the Trench line as the Baneblade abruptly went into full reverse. All fire was concentrated into the hive tyrant and handful of warriors. One of the Veteran squads had three plasma gunners assigned to them. Each one melted their own face simultaneously but did manage to bring down a Warrior at the same time. Krak Missiles sailed into them as well as Meltagun shots and shotgun shells. The Baneblade contributed its own fire power as well, leaving the Hive Tyrant barely alive. The campaign commanders ordered a break from battle. The Tyranids did still own the battlefield in a Moderate Victory, but the goal of destroying the shrine had been completed.
Tyranids win 9 to 6! This battle was a stress test of the Imperial Guard Codex. One of the options we came up with was for Traditional Baneblades to be brought in squadrons of 1 to 3, and one of them can be upgraded to a Tank Commander. This is only possible in a 3000 point battle minimum, and they will have very few upgrades. While the fire power is absolute, the force brought minimum objective capable units and paid the price.
Alternate 40k Rules 