The set up was a Meat Grinder scenario.  The planet had been heavily bombarded by the fleet prior to landing, so there was no vegetation.  There were several ruined and intact buildings separated by a wide open space representing a taxiway of the landing field.

The Chaos force consisted of 6 squads of Chaos Marines, 2 Havoc squads, an Obliterator group of 3, a squad of Raptors, 2 squads of Chosen and a Chaos Lord (Cassis Rex) and a Sorcerer in command.  The Fallen Angels were Cassis Rex and Maximus, assigned to Cassis.

The Dark Angels were divided into 4 commands, as there were a couple of new players.

Strike force Alacanon

Chapter-Master Alacanon, SoS, Artificer Armor, Bolt pistol, TH, St.

Command squad, Vet. Sergeant Callis, PW, Bolt pistol, TH, St; Apothecary Gaines, PW, Bolt Pistol, TH, St; Brother Bothor, Company Standard, BP, Th, St; Brother Malies, Meltagun, Brother Simms, CCW, Bolt Pistol.

Rhino.

Brother Tzadkiel, Dreadnought of the Third Company, Assault Cannon,

DCCW, SB, EA.

Tactical Squad Leonidas, Vet Sgt, PW, Bolter, TH, St, 8 Brothers with

Bolters, 1 Brother with Meltagun.

Tactical Squad Varius, Vet Sgt. PW, Bolter, TH, St, 8 Brothers with Bolters,

1 Brother with a Flamer.

Devastator Squad Demes, Sgt with CCW and Bolt pistol, 2 Brothers with

Plasma Cannons, 2 Brothers with Heavy bolters, 1 Brother with a Bolter.

Predator “Fallen Hunter”, Annihilator pattern, LC sponsons.

Vindicator “Hammer of the Emperor”, SB.

Strike force Lucian, Epistolary, FotA, FotD, Artificer Armor, Bolt Pistol

Command squad, Vet. Sergeant Thenes, PW, Bolt pistol, TH, St; Apothecary Xaiver, PW, Bolt Pistol, TH, St; Brother Carstars, Multi-Melta; Brother Acton, Meltagun, Brother Norns, CCW, Bolt Pistol.

Rhino.

Brother Raguiel, Dreadnought of the Third Company, Lascannon,

Missile Launcher, EA.

Tactical Squad Gannets, Vet Sgt, PW, Bolter, TH, St, 8 Brothers with

Bolters, 1 Brother with Meltagun.

Tactical Squad Haphestan, Vet Sgt. PW, Bolter, TH, St, 8 Brothers with

Bolters, 1 Brother with a Flamer.

Devastator Squad Emas, Sgt with CCW and Bolt pistol, 2 Brothers with

Lascannons, 2 Brothers with Missile Launchers, 1 Brother with a Bolter.

Predator “Deathbringer”, Annihilator pattern, LC sponsons.

Vindicator “Anvil of Might”, SB

Strike force Sariel, Resclusiarch, TH, Jump pack, Plasma pistol, Artificer

Armor Crozius Arcanum, Frags, Melta bombs.

Assault squad Voloris, Vet Sgt, TH, St, PP, PF, 2 Brothers with PP, 5

Brothers with CCW and Bolt pistol, Frags, Melta Bombs.

Assault squad Wallace, Vet Sgt, TH, St, PP, PW, 1 Brother with PP, 1 Brother

with Flamer, 5 Brothers with CCW and Bolt pistol, Frags, Melta Bombs.

Assault squad Bettis, Vet Sgt, TH, St, PP, PW, 1 Brother with PP, 1 Brother

with Flamer, 5 Brothers with CCW and Bolt pistol, Frags, Melta Bombs.

Ravenwing Tornado “Eye of the Lion”, Assault cannon, Heavy bolter.

Ravenwing Attack Bike squadron 3, Bike 1 Multi-Melta, Bike 2 Heavy Bolter.

Strike force Valaris, Master Valaris, TDA, SoS, SB, CS, TH, St.

Terminator Command squad, Deathwing Sgt. Davis, PW, SB, CS, 2 Brothers with Assault cannons, CF, 1 Brother with PF, SB.

Brother Uriron, Dreadnought of the Deathwing, Assault cannon, DCCW, EA.

Squad Arites, Deathwing Sgt. Arites, PW, SB, CS, 2 Brothers with Assault

Cannons, CF, 2 Brothers with SB, PF.

Squad Grimes, Deathwing Sgt. Grimes, PW, SB, CS, 2 Brothers with Assault

Cannons, CF, 2 Brothers with SB, PF.

Squad Kalian, Deathwing Sgt. Kalian, PW, SB, CS, 2 Brothers with Cyclone

Missile Launchers, PF, 2 Brothers with SB, CF.

Epistolary Claudius, FotA, TDA, SB, TH, St.

Assault squad Gladius, Deathwing Sgt. Gladius, Thunder Hammer, Storm

Shield, 6 Brothers with Lightning Claws, furious charge.

Land Raider Crusader, “Vindicus”.

As this was a scenario the points were not a big issue, and force organizations were slightly bent.  Extra relics and a few extra troops were not an issue either.  The Dark Angels also had Sustained Attack, allowing any squad that was wiped out to resurrect at the baseline.

The Chaos player set up first, in entirety, mostly in the buildings and other cover.  The Dark Angels set up with Alacanon on the far right, Lucian next to him, Valaris in the center with most of his command waiting aboard the Praetorian of Caliban to deep strike, only Claudius in the LRC, Squad Gladius and Squad Kalian were deployed on the table.  Sariel was on the far left.

The Dark Angels got the first turn.  And so it begins.

The comms officer ran into the main passageway and was almost trampled under the feet of the Marines as they ran out.  He saw Lord Cassis walking behind the mass of armor.  He dropped to a knee and addressed the Lord.  “My Lord Cassis, Colonel Sykes cannot be found.  It is believed that he was outside when the last bombardment hit.  There seem to be no survivors.”

Cassis knocked the lieutenant to the ground with a backhand blow.  “I don’t know why I even consider you as useful.  You cannot even perform the most menial of tasks.  Go back and crawl into whatever holes you have dug.  You and your ‘soldiers’ are of no use to me now.”  

Cassis grabbed the Sorcerer Lazerus and pulled him off of his feet.  “All your machinations and those of your master have failed.  You have been abandoned here with the rest of us.  I hope whatever he promised you was worth it.  Now go, take command of the left and do what you can.  Take the Raptors with you.”

“His promise has been kept, Lord Cassis,” Lazerus spat back.  “I shall live through this, and all that was yours will be mine.”  He stalked out of the cavern as Cassis fumed.

“You and your master will pay Lazerus!  If I didn’t need your skill here I would kill you now!” Cassis roared, then became suddenly calm.  There was a whispering in his mind.  The voice was dark, insidious and very compelling.

The voice whispered darkly, “Cassis, you have been betrayed.  I know this because I did this to bring you to me.  You will die today, of that there is no doubt.  But in that death you will achieve that which few of your kind have.  Accept my gift, slay as many of your hated enemies as you will and you shall live again.  I promise you the revenge you seek, and the power to have it.  What say you, Cassis Rex?”

“What other choices have I?” Cassis growled.

The Dark Angels Armored columns rolled through the second pass and down into the outskirts of the ruined city.  It probably had a name once but that was lost to time now.  The scouts had marked the clear paths through the rubble so they quickly moved into their positions.

Alacanon stood on the top of the command Rhino and surveyed the battle field.  He saw a Traitor Predator moving to his right and taking a position behind one of the intact buildings.  A second one moved off to his left and nestled itself into some ruins.  Chosen in Terminator armor paced behind the tanks.

He watched as squads of Traitors moved into the buildings to the right and left, and several more squads into the towers before him.  He hit the control stud on his binocs to increase the magnification and saw that two of the squads were carrying heavy weapons.  So far there was no sign of Cassis or the any other Fallen.

The second command Rhino pulled up beside him.  Lucian poked his head out of the hatch.  “Ready Brother?”  He asked with a whimsical smile.

Alacanon jumped down from the Rhino.  “Yes.  We will dismount and advance behind the armor.  Deploy your men to my left.”

Lucian pulled his helmet down over his head.  “May the Emperor protect us Brothers.”

Sariel and his assault group moved into position behind a small hill.  He made certain his men were as heavily armed as possible.  Frag grenades and Melta bombs hung off of every piece of harness, ammo packs were draped over all the belts and plasma pistols glowed as they were charged.  Even the Brothers with the Flamers had extra canisters.  He was prepared for a fight to the death!

The Predators, Vindicators and Dreadnoughts formed a wall in front of the Brothers.  The Devastators formed up on the flanks and prepared to lay down covering fire.

The Crusader of the Deathwing deployed in the left center of the table, the Dreadnought to his right, and the CML squad between. 

The Assault squads formed a ‘V’, with the Tornado and Attack bikes behind them.

The entire line of Dark Angels surged forward.  The Predators, Vindicators and Rhinos advanced slowly on the right, searching for targets.  The Predators concentrated their fire on the squad of Havocs in the ruins ahead of them, and brought down one of the Traitors.  The rubble provided excellent cover.

Devastator squad Emas fired on the other Havoc squad to little effect.  Again the rubble seems to be piled high.  Squad Demes found themselves out of range, but waited in the cover to see if the Chaos scum would come out and play.

Vindicus rolled forward at top speed, knowing its precious cargo needed to be delivered quickly.  Uriron moved to his left to support the Crusader and squad Kalian followed in between them.  The Cyclones managed to miss everything they fired at.

Sariel had no targets and so he advanced as quickly as possible.

The forces of Chaos hunched down into the rubble as deeply as they could.  Their plan was to wait until the enemy was close before they revealed themselves.  They knew their firepower was not enough to destroy the False Marines until they were close.

The incoming fire from the tanks found one of their number and vaporized him.  But most of their fire struck the chunks of plassteel and ferrocrete piled in front of them.

They returned fire, all weapons focusing on the vehicles.  The Predators rolled out from behind the buildings, guns blazing.  Crusader Vindicus was hit 3 times by the Lascannons of the first Predator, losing his Assault cannons but protecting his cargo.

The other Predator fired its Autocannon and Heavy Bolter at Brother Tzadkiel but he laughed as all the rounds bounded off of his thick armor.  The Havocs concentrated on the two Predators but their armor held.  But Brother Raguiel lost his Lascannons to Plasma cannons of the other Havoc squad.

The Obliterators tried to breach Uriron’s armor with their Lascannons but had no luck.

The first turn over, both side assessed their options.  Neither side had done much damage.

Brother-Master Alacanon strode forward, ignoring all the plasma and laser bolts flying overhead.  “Stay with me Brothers.  The traitors are poor shots.  Let the Emperors hand shield you.”

“We commend our lives to him and trust in his guidance” intoned the Brothers as they stepped up behind their Chapter-master.

The tanks continued their advance.  One Predator fired at the Traitor Predator and it flew apart in a spectacular explosion! (A ‘6’ on a penetration!)  The other Predator brought down another of the Traitors cowering in the rocks.  Squad Emas found the mark and another Havoc went down.

The gunner aboard Vindicus fired the Multi-melta at the Predator be its armor held.  It rolled forward and the front ramp opened.  The Traitors saw their worst nightmare, the Assault Terminators of the Deathwing, come pouring out of the Crusader.  Brother Claudius raised his force axe and gathered the warp to it.  The Fury of the Ancients tore into the back squad of Traitors, killing one.

Squad Arites stepped onto the transporter platform.  The Techseer hit the stud and squad disappeared in a shimmering glow.  Captain Valaris and his command squad moved to step to the pads but were warned away by the Techseer.  “I’m sorry Lord, the warp has become unstable.  It shall clear up in a few moments.”

Attack Bike Squadron 3 rushed forward to assist the Land Raider.  Their Multi-melta hit the Predator but only stunned it.  Good enough for now thought the crews.

The Assault squads rushed up to the building but fell short of gaining entry.  They prepared themselves for a counterattack.  Chaplain Sariel took the leading position.  He could see movement deep inside the building.  It was only a matter of time.

Squad Arites appeared next to the Predator.  Seeing it was already out of action they turned their Assault cannons on the squad hiding in the building next to them.  Three of the Traitors fell at once, the rest hid in the rubble.

Squad Kalian fired into the Havocs again, scoring 2 hits but were unable to penetrate the rubble surrounding them.  Brother Uriron found everything out of his reach again.

Cassis saw both of his tanks were out of action.  He saw that the greatest threat was the Terminators.  They were also his closest foe.  He directed two squads to engage them. 

The crew of the Chaos Predator saw the Terminators appear right in front of them.  Their armament was out of action and the gunner was working frantically to repair it.  The driver slammed the Predator into reverse and backed as far away from them as he could.  The Champion of the Chosen just laughed and said “We’ll take care of this” right before he charged.

The Obliterators slid to their right and took the Deathwing in their sights.  All of the fire only managed to take down one Terminator, the blessings of the Emperor saved the rest. (Pair of 6’s for Invul saves).  The Chosen only had bolt pistols and these bounced harmlessly off of the Terminators.

The commander was determined to kill something and moved his two squads from the ruined building forward to engage the Assault squads.  The 2 squads’ combined fire killed 9 Marines!  Since there were only 8 in the squad…

The Havoc squads continued to fire at two strike forces.  Their lascannons, missiles and plasma still could not penetrate the tanks heavy armor but they managed to stun Brother Raguiel.  The Sorcerer was beginning to worry!

In the assault phase the Chosen charged into the Deathwing.  By a combination of great rolls on his part and poor ones on mine 3 more Terminators fell, to only 2 of the Chosen.  Stubborn Terminators do not fall back!

The end of turn 3 was not looking good for the Dark Angels.  Though the Battle force was advancing, they were going to slow.  The Deathwing had suffered a set back, but all was not lost.  The sustained assault saw the assault squad appear at the baseline, ready for more action. 

Alacanon and Lucian continued to pour fire into the Chaos lines.  Four more Havocs fell to the Lascannons of the Predators, and now the Vindicators added their weighty firepower to the barrage.  A round drifted into a squad hiding in the ruins and more Traitors fell.  But the rubble continued to save the Traitors for the death they deserved.

Lucian gestured with his force sword and launched a construct into the squad hiding behind the tower and on into the squad behind them.  Alas, no casualties ensued.

“You may step onto the transporters now Lord Valaris.”  The Techseer pointed to the waiting pads.  Valaris and his squad stepped onto the pad and disappeared.  Squad Grimes quickly followed, with the blessing of the Techseer and the Emperor.

Valaris appeared closer to the mountain, but with many Traitors in sight.  Grimes and his squad appeared right behind Valaris.  Their combined fire tore into a squad of Traitors, killing half of them.  The Assault Terminators swept into the Chosen with their Lightning Claws flickering with power.  The Chosen were decimated, and the Assault Terminators moved toward another Chaos squad.

The Assault squads wanted revenge.  The Third squad moved into line in front of the building backed up by the Attack Bikes.  They tore into the squad at the front of the building, but their fire had little effect on the entrenched Squad.  One Traitor disappeared in a Melta ray.  The Eye of the Lion swung around the building and raked the rear squad with Assault cannon and Bolter fire.  Three more fell.  Then the first squad jumped next to the building and fired into the squad.  Both squads then charged.  Chaplain Sariel joined the third squad and lent his Crozius to the weight of the charge.  Combined, only 6 of the traitors survived.

Cassis saw his right flank crumbling.  The Deathwing were taking a toll on his troops.  He directed the Obliterators to deal with the Terminators and rushed 2 squads to block their advance.  The Obliterators fired all they had only to see the shots go wide or bounce off of the heavy armor.

The Predator crew got the guns working and fired 3 Lascannons into the Terminators.  Again the Blessings of the Emperor caused the bolts to miss or bounce off.  Alas, one stray shot from a bolt pistol found a weak joint and one of the brothers fell. 

Two plasma cannons hit Brother Uriron and penetrated his armor.  Luckily it only blew one of his legs off.  This left Brother Uriron out of action for the rest of the battle.

Now the Lascannons and missiles found their mark, and Deathbringer suffered a fiery death.  The Raptors revealed themselves, with Lazerus jumping in with them.  They struck squad Leonidas head on without bothering to fire.  Two Brothers went down to one Raptor, but the Iron will of Sgt. Leonidas held them firm.

The Assault squads lost 3 more Brothers, and only dropped 2.  But their stubborn Sergeants refused to allow any retreat.  Chaplain Sariel seemed distracted and missed all of his attacks.

Things were looking better now!

Valaris saw the Chaos Lord, larger than normal, pushing his way through the Close Combat squads in front of him.  But there were other target to consider.  He directed all squads to fire on the Obliterators.  The Assault cannons took down 2, the Storm bolters finished the job.  Squad Kalian still suffered from bad rolls and missed the other squad.  The Assault Terminators moved up to the first squad, and then charged into them.  The butchery was absolute.  The Terminators moved to the front of the building and waited for the next wave.

Vindicus finally got back into range and showered the lead squad with the Multi-melta and Bolter fire.  Two more Traitors fell.

The Eye of the Lion swung around behind the last Predator and emptied the Assault cannon into the rear hatches.  Two rounds penetrated the weak armor and shredded the crew before detonating the ammunition.  That makes one more Traitor tank gone.  The Assault squads finished off the last of the squads in the building and moved to be available next turn.

Squad Leonidas brought up more troops to engage the Raptors, and Brother Tzadkiel charged into the melee as well.  Two Raptors dropped as well as 2 Marines.  Squad Varius moved to try and cut off their retreat while squad Demes moved forward to bring the building under fire.  The rest of the squads began angling towards the towers.

The Devastators and the remaining tanks kept up the fire on the Havocs and killed 3 more.  The Rhinos rushed forward to cover the Tactical squads advance and sprayed their storm bolters to little effect.

Cassis saw his chances were dwindling.  His right flank was gone and he saw the Assault squads rushing to aid the Deathwing.  It was now or never.  “Forward and into the scum.  Death to the False Emperor!”  He roared again and charged into the Deathwing.

The Raptors used their hit and run to get out of the battle with squad Leonidas.  Lazerus left with them.  He tried to use his psyker powers but Lucian foiled him with his Psychic hood.

The Havocs fired again but the Tanks armor held.  The rest of the squads held back out of the line of fire.  The left flank was soon to crumble.

The last squad in the center charged into Lucian and his command squad.  Lucian lost 1 brother to pistol fire, but the Apothecary saved the Brother.  Then 2 Brothers fell to 3 of the Traitors.  Lucian was terrible in close combat and it showed, as he killed no one.  The battle raged on.

Cassis led his squad into the Assault squad.  Cassis was wild and took down 4 Brothers by himself.  His furious charge gave the whole squad an advantage and suddenly Claudius was standing by himself!  He killed 2 of his attackers though.  Cassis laughed as the blood covered him.

They killed 7 terminators!  Ouch.

Squads Haphestan and Gannets rushed to aid Lucian and surrounded, then charged the last Chaos squad.  No Traitor was left standing.  The tanks crushed the last of the Havocs and the Devastators took down the remaining Raptors and wounded Lazerus.  No other targets were left!

Valaris charged into the melee to save Claudius.  Claudius stood up to the Chaos Lord Cassis and swung his Force Axe.  The axe bit in deep and Claudius focused the warp through it.  Cassis vanished in a vortex of warp energy.  Maximus, standing next to Cassis, fell to a blow from a powerfist.  The rest of the squad dropped under the powerfists and swords of the Sergeants and Brothers.  They didn’t even charge the powerfists!

The battle ended with the death of the Chaos Lord.  Overall the Dark Angels took light casualties.  Maximus was given to Brother Sariel, who oversaw the transfer to the Deathwing.  Sariel got his second pearl.

Epilogue

Sariel made it his personal quest to deliver Maximus to the Deathwing.  Maximus was dragged in chains to the waiting Thunderhawk.  Sariel looked into his eyes.  “You will suffer for your sins and then you will confess them.  There are no other options.”  He signaled to the pilot to take off.

Grandmaster Gabriel walked along with Brothers Alacanon and Lucian.  They watched as the servitors maneuvered Melta torpedos and tons of explosives into the various rooms and caverns of the base.  Alacanon spoke, “Brother Gabriel, we will obliterate all trace of this base and the stain the traitors left.  There will be nothing for the Inquisition to find when they get here.”

Gabriel clapped Alacanon on the back.  “Good.  I shall leave this operation in your hands.  The other strike forces will leave with me.  Chaplain Sariel will also come with me, Maximus is his to interrogate.  You are ordered back to the Rock for refit.  We will see what we can find for you to do then.” 

Lucian asked “Shall we continue to scour the planet for the rest of the Traitors?”

“”No” answered Gabriel, “we detected a small shuttle leaving the other side of the planet.  It slipped through our cordon and disappeared.  The rest of the cowardly scum were on that ship.  My choir feels no more Chaos presence here.  We have other, more pressing things to attend to now.”

Alacanon and Lucian looked to each other.  They both thought that nothing could be more pressing.  But Gabriel was already walking to his Thunderhawk.

It was 3 days later when all the preparations were completed.  Alacanon stood on the bridge of the Praetorian of Caliban as the last Thunderhawk lifted off.  As it cleared the atmosphere he looked at Captain Martin.  Martin nodded to the weapons officer.  He pushed the firing stud and the torpedo was on its way.  The resulting explosion leveled the mountain and buried the city and the landing field under several thousand tons of rock.  It would take anyone years to uncover anything down there.

“Captain, prepare to enter the warp.”  Alacanon sat in the command chair and closed his eyes.  Many Battle-Brothers had died in this campaign, and much geneseed was stored in stasis.  He was thankful that the Emperor and the Lion had watched over them and guided their actions.  Now he could rest.

Icarnatius, a Demon Prince of the first order, laughed at the pitiful movements of the Space Marines.  His ship sat at the rim of the system, cloaked by swirling fields of warp energy.  He watched as the Dark Angels prepared the planet.  He watched as their ships left the system.  He smiled as the base was destroyed.  This system was of no consequence, but he would make sure the Inquisition would come here.  Anything he could to cause trouble was another thing that pleased him.

In his 10,000 years of Princehood he had never had a plan go so successfully.  Many Marines, Eldar and Humans had suffered and died.  Even more were doomed by the Inquisition.  It would be many more years before anyone would even suspect his involvement.  And he had time to deflect those who looked for him.

Lazerus walked up to the command dais and waited to be acknowledged.  When he saw the Lord was aware of him he spoke.  “We have taken all who were left and brought them here.  What are your orders?”

“In a few weeks we will rendezvous with a Chaos fleet out of the Eye of Terror.  Until then keep them below.  Make them comfortable and give them what they need.  Any that wish to remain aboard may do so.”

“And what of me, of the reward you promised?”

“All in good time Lazerus, all in good time.  You will have what you were promised.  Now go.”