Inferno Campaign~Battle at Autur

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Battle Details

Type: Battle
Date: 047.007.M31
Sub-Sector:Cambrius
System: Inferno
Planet: Inferno
Victor: Unresolved
Draw: y
Influence: 5


Forces:

Loyalists Involved In The Conflict

Army:L-XIII-1313

Army:A-MECH-666

Army:L-VII-3460




Traitors Involved In The Conflict

Army:Death Guard

Army:L-XIV-3980




Battle Summary

+++ACCESSING ARCHIVE+++

+++ARCHIVE ACCESSED+++ +++ OPENING COMBAT FILE+++

--047.007.M31 - Planet: Inferno-- --Campaign Phase: One--

--Battle at Autur: Day One--
Felix Salvius Otho, 13th Company Legatus, gives orders to his men during the counter-ambush.

During the opening conflicts between loyalist and traitors on the planet Inferno, loyalist and traitor forces alike focused their initial battle plans on holding or capturing (respectively) the vital spaceports dotted across the main continent. One such spaceport, the northern "Auturaxis" spaceport, was one of many that came into direct conflict during the very first conflicts soon to engulf the entire world. Its location however meant rapid and direct paths of attack by traitor forces could only be undertaken from large plateaus to the east, limiting the number of forces the traitors could bring to bear, quickly, against the Loyalists defending the port. The strength of the loyalist defenders requires a join assault on two fronts against the spaceport, however due to the limitation imposed by the terrain, reinforcements to the main eastern assault had to pass through the immense ruins of the hive city Autur from the south.

It is in the ruins of Autur that one of the very first battles of the Inferno Campaign took place.

Having intercepted the traitor plans to send forces from the south, elements of L-XIII-1313 were dispatched under cover of night to ambush the Death Guard detachment travelling via ground to aid their fellow traitors in the Auturaxis assault.

The opening shots were fired during the early minutes of dawn, as the Death Guard launched a surprise counter ambush on the dug-in Ultramarines. --Later intelligence would reveal that the traitor forces had deliberately leaked information of their movements to draw forces away from the spaceport, into the ruins, where they could be divided and crushed.--

The surprise attack on the Ultramarines inflicted severe casualties, halving the defender's strength almost instantly. Capitalising on this, Death Guard forces lead by the traitor Morturg, surged quickly, surrounding the surviving XIIIth in the ruins of the Tartacio Administratum building. Punishing fire inflicted greater losses on the Loyalists, largely preventing any meaningful response in kind.

It was a second push by units of Death Guard terminators that, through a mixture of luck and the careful direction of Legatus Felix Otho, the Death Guard assault stalled. As the remains of Tactical Squad Cobalt Triarii engaged in a strategic redeploy, harrying the terminators inside the building, Otho lead a meagre force of assault marines in a counter charge on the northern edge of the encirclement. Despite their advantage, the Death Guard terminators struggled to displace the remaining tacticals, while the northern assault succeeded in breaking through the Death Guard line.

Regardless of the brief reprieve, only a handful of the XIIIth would have managed to retreat through the temporary gap before the numerically superior Death Guard closed in for the killing blow. During the precious few moments as Cobalt Triarii fell back from the ruined building towards the escape route, Loyalist Armour --REF: Sicaran; Invictus ++ Spartan; Daelus--arrived in support. The timely arrival of the Utramarine armour blunted the Death Guard attack and the traitor forces fell back rather than chase a Pyrrhic victory.

The loyalists, too crippled to continue the battle and pursue the retreating Death Guard, also retreated, back towards Auturaxis Spaceport, leaving the Hive City Autur uncontested and uncontrolled land. Despite the cunning ploy of the traitors to lure loyalist forces to the ruins, the eastward assault on the spaceport failed shortly after the counter ambush, though arguably causing comparable damage in kind to the XIII legion's strength through the rest of the Inferno Campaign.


The 13th defend against the Deathgaurd forces during the Battle at Autur.

--Campaign Phase: One--

--Battle at Autur: Day Two--

Having successfully fallen back to the relative safety of Auturaxis Spaceport, the weakened 13th company forces were able to resupply and replenish their numbers now that a safe link had been made with the loyalist vessels in orbit.

Hoping to seize the initiative and strike back at Deathgaurd forces in the region, a strike force was dispatched to engage and displace the Deathgaurd forces now based in the Halimar forest to the south of Autur. However, under the cover of night, the 13th were engaged by elements of the Night Lords legion L-VIII-3110.

Using darkness and aerial support in the form of a storm eagle to their advantage, the traitor forces launched a surprised attack on the convoy of Ultramarines. Within moments, open combat erupted between both forces. desperate to conserve their numbers, Legatus Otho led a solitary strike force of assault marines to eliminate the Night Lord heavy support, while the rest of the force focused on trying to bait in the traitors and catch them in a cross fire.

The traitors took the bait intentionally, their leader --SEE FILE: Traitor, Sevetar-- ignoring the left flank and instead pouncing assault forces from the storm eagle directly into the right. Reacting quickly, the left flank of Ultramarines collapsed on the assaulting VIII legionaries, inflicting severe casualties, though not before losing the vast majority of the forces on the right flank. With luck, the Ultramarines armoured unit successfully brought down the harrying Storm eagle with concentrated fire. The night Lords were successfully repelled, however Ultramarine losses numbered approximately half of the force's fighting strength.

It is expected that losses would have been more pronounced, perhaps crippling, had Legatus Otho's assault not succeeded, wiping out the Night Lords heavy support. Additional information collated after the battle indicates that a second wave of traitors had intended to arrive, including elite terminator units, but were deterred by the successful counter attack to the rear of their battle line.


--Campaign Phase: One--

--Battle at Autur: Day Three--
Elite forces of Deathgaurd prepare to attack the assaulting Ultramarines.

Undeterred by the carnage wrought on them in the night, the loyalists continued to their destination, arriving on the edge of the Halimar forest several hours after dawn. Setting up their command post on the edge of the forest, advance forces were dispatched further in to locate and engage the elite Deathgaurd units, hoping to kill their force commander, and force the Deathgaurd to give up the position leaving Autur (and Auturaxis in turn) relatively safe from future attacks.


The advance force eventually came into contact with the elite terminator units under the designation L-XIV-3980, lead by the traitor Calas Typhon.


(WIP, more to be added)

Skirmish Reports

Skirmishes Added

Skirmish Designation Victor Defeated Faction Victor
Inferno Campaign~Battle at Autur~1422448960 L-XIII-1313 L-VIII-3110 Loyalist
Inferno Campaign~Battle at Autur~1422449163 L-XIII-1313 Traitor Auxilia Loyalist
Inferno Campaign~Battle at Autur~1422449359 L-XIII-1313 Death Guard Draw


(Press the CREATE button to lodge a single Skirmish report, do not modify the name)

Battle Pictures

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