Saturday, August 27, 2016

Glory for the Emprah!

I frigging love Warhammer 40K Soulstorm with the Apocalypse Mod. Having a plethora of new infantry, weapons and vehicles to utilize on the battlefield as well as expanding the volume of units you can field at any time really gives this game some punch.

It was yesterday that I used this mod to engage in one of the most intense battles witnessed by man, mutant, heretic or xeno. My regiment of Imperial Guard, aided by another regiment, landed upon a battlefield known only as Dread Alley. Bombed out buildings smoldered around us as our bases were erected. We didn't know who or what we would be facing. We knew only that we had to reclaim this city in the name of the Emperor of Mankind. Through some fouling of our strategists our regiments were separated, each of us holding a small chunk of territory on opposite sides of the city. I was unable to lend him aid in the event of attack, nor could he aid me.

Undaunted, we swiftly began fortifying our positions and ushered in squads. Imperial Conscripts, young men and women barely having completed basic training were our first on the field. When serving the Imperium one must use all tools offered. Unfortunately our initial position was not advantageous. It had few resources and space. The one saving grace was that the entrance was a bottleneck, which would soon prove to be our salvation. By concentrating our firepower on this narrow entrance the enemies of mankind were unable to attack us without receiving a withering hail of bolts, artillery shells and blisters lasgun blasts.

We established a number of heavy bolter turrets and attempted to expand our territory whilst we built up our forces. But to our horror our left flank was beset by one of the worst enemies of mankind: The Ruinous Powers of Chaos. But like us they had not yet build up a sizable force. Gathering what men I had I beat back their initial wave and attacked their base which was only a hundred meters away from my own base of operations. How the Ruinous Powers could have been so close without our noticing I do not know, and it troubles me greatly. Even so we lost our initial advantage, for they had enough weapons in place to beat back our light infantry. Then as fate would have it we met another foe upon our right flank, almost equally repellent to Chaos if such a thing were possible. The Dark Eldar.

Their wretched ships sailed across the once sacred streets of the human city and their hideous soldiers marched on us, quickly destroying what little area we had secured. I realized that unless we reacted swiftly our base would be quickly be overwhelmed. Utilizing the expertise of the techpriests I built a wall of heavy bolters and summoned the true might of the Imperial Guard, our artillery. We deployed Medusa and Basilisk artillery units which then began to lob their shells with devastating accuracy. Soon heretic and xeno alike were sent skittering back under our devastating fire. Our bolters rattled unceasingly, sending streams of lethal bolts into their ranks.

Realizing that we didn't yet have the ability to fight enemies on each flank, I erected a wall of barriers across the bottleneck, effectively barring all entrance to our base. From here our bolters and artillery delivered scathing fire to our foes as they sought to break our defenses or attacked each other. Their mangled bodies piled high outside our walls. Rivers of blood soaked the soil. Daemons were shot to tatters. Our lasguns burned the flesh from their bones. It was no wonder that none of their assaults lasted for long. Not even a Tyranid horde could have withstood our withering fire.

North however our allies were in dire straights. They fought the horrendous Necrons, those soulless machines that moved without haste or emotion, coming with the same relentless inevitability as death itself. They unleashed their arcane weapons upon the regiment and slaughtered hundreds of brave guardsmen. In fact, even with some air strikes I delivered to assist them, their base was crushed under the weight of the Necrons and only a small enclave of barracks and a listening post managing to hold on in the far corner of the city. Being unable to lend them any true support and knowing they couldn't build any vehicles, I gave what resources I could to them and wished them luck. Had I the capacity to do more I would have done it. But with heretics on my left and xenos on my right, I had no ability to do anything else.

I began building more artillery, as our deep scans revealed that the Chaos base was close, and knew that with proper positioning and dedicated fire our long range guns could reduce their foul buildings to rubble. This process presented its own problems however. Being constrained in our small cell of city we had little room to build the necessary batteries. But build them we did and delivered the righteous wrath of the Emperor. Better still, we managed to construct a nuclear weapons silo. After many long minutes of repairing our barricade and firing countless rounds at the enemy, our nuclear weapon was ready. We calculated the target carefully, for the enemy's close proximity to us risked the blast damaging our own troops and buildings. With some careful planning however this was achieved.

With a single press of a button we bathed the traitors and daemons in atomic flame. A cheer went up from our soldiers as we watched them burn and turn to ash. But this was not enough for scum like them. We launched airstrikes and had our artillery annihilate what little was left, until there was not a single scrap of their foul tech or flesh left. Everything within range was bombarded relentlessly. We were determined to purge their taint from the planet. But to our disappointment, they were not entirely expelled from the city. Somewhere they still held barracks, as their forces continued to fight, albeit at a far lesser intensity. Even so we were overjoyed, having beaten them back and swiftly moved to seize their now vacant territory. We were in desperate need for additional space.

After an initially terrible attempt at securing it, the first party being slaughtered by another attack party, we barricaded the entrance and constructed much needed barracks and vehicle depots. We planned to unleash titans upon your foes, for none could stand before our full might when we launched our armored behemoths. Our forces were bolstered by a Baneblade we had fielded. Few things inspire Guardsmen or strike fear into the heart of the enemy like those mountains of armor and swiveling guns. It's plasma bolts burned earth into glass and vaporized heretics, leaving not even charred skeletons.

It was then that disaster struck. Before we knew what doom had befallen us our primary base was suddenly engulfed in a piercing light, and an explosion rocked the earth. Entire squads of infantry were vaporized in but a moment. Vehicles were burned to slag. Buildings were reduced to rubble. As my ears rang I realized to my horror that we had just been hit by a nuclear weapon. Almost half of our combat force had been wiped off of the battlefield, crippling our regiment. Worse still, our defensive walls had been knocked down and our turrets either badly damaged or destroyed. Somehow, my lieutenant survived the blast, even though her entire squad of weapon specialists had been devastated. I can only believe that she was protected by The Emperor.

Then the Dark Eldar came after us. They poured through the hole in our defenses and what little we had left was swiftly destroyed. It was fortuitous that we had established our secondary base, otherwise we would have surely met our doom. Our Baneblade roared to life and rumbled down the street, rubble crunching under its mighty treads. The Dark Eldar were soon blasted to bloody pieces under its mighty guns. They were unable to sustain the assault and were forced to retreat to lick their wounds. Although we were badly hurt, we were not dead, and the moment the assault ended we began rebuilding what we had lost. Our walls were again erected. Bolter turrets were mounted. Earthshaker platforms were placed. Techpriests repaired and rebuilt. Hundreds of Imperial Guardsmen and Karskins marched onto the field. We were the vanguard of the Imperium, and we would not falter.

Unfortunately our northern regiment faltered. Only able to field normal guardsmen and cavalry, they were crushed under the foul foot of the Necrons. We were alone amidst a hostile warzone. It was a dreadful stain on the history of the Imperium.

But we were not to be stopped! I fortified our ranks, bolstered our defenses and summoned our General's personal titan! A war machine of unparalleled terror and destruction, towering above even our largest buildings and boasting an arsenal that put even our mighty Baneblades to shame. It was our time to strike back. It was time to show the heretics and xenos the true power of the Imperium! So great was our resolve that even after we endured FOUR more nuclear strikes, we didn't falter. We moved forward, now finally ready to bring death to the enemies of the Imperium!

Then my sodding game crashed. Sigh. The one enemy that the Emprah can't protect me against.

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