The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5

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Battle Details

Date Commenced: 499.010.M31
Date Concluded:
Outcome: Ongoing
Sub-Sector: Kaerimon Sub-Sector
System: Fuschal System
Location: Empusa

Forces involved in the Battle:

Loyalists Involved In The Conflict

Traitors Involved In The Conflict

Battle Summary

By the start of the second day of the Liberation, their initial successes had come to a grinding halt. The loyalist forces had failed to establish a strong beachhead, and the traitors failed to drive them off. The confusion in low orbit had dispersed, at least, as wounded traitor warships and civilian craft scattered, but that simply meant that over half the Liberation Fleet had to break orbit to pursue.

Adding to the frustration. the overall commander of the occupying Traitor forces - the Word Bearer Chaplain Norek Ull - continued to evade retribution. Somehow he was moving from battlefield to battlefield - from the Dusan Jari to the Widow of Colchis to Fuschal itself, even when the lack of teleportariums and shuttle craft should have made such movement impossible. One loyalist strike force did try to intercept him and the Traitor command at the Larack Fortress on Fuschal, but Norek Ull wasn't even there. Instead of Word Bearers, the fortress was occupied by traitorous Blackshields - apparently because something in the the fortress was deadly to mortal troops.

Worse, the months of round-the-clock sermons broadcast to the population also proved their worth. Propaganda, sweet lies, and brutal indoctrination had convinced many of the Fuschalese that working and dying for the Warmaster was their duty and an honour, and the traitors used tens of thousands of them, and their even more fanatical offworld troops, to blunt the Loyalist assault. Happily, not all the Fuschalese joined the traitor cause, and many took up improvised weapons to turn against their brutal overlords. Less happily, it was difficult to distinguish between mobs of cultists and vengeful civilians.

One unexpected development was noted by the loyalists, although the import of it was not realised until later. The traitors opened a number of salvation bunkers on the densely populated Great Cloister Atoll, for use by the civilians and not their own command. These islands, site of the heaviest fighting on Fuschal, roughly encircle the Larack Fortress, and vast numbers of unarmed and terrified Fuschalese crowded into the eight underground complexes.

Decapitation Strike

Eliminating Norek Ull and the rest of the traitor command structure was a priority for the Liberation Fleet. At the very least, the death of the Word Bearer would be a serious psychological blow to the traitor forces. Loyalist armies earn Double XP rewards for Slay the Warlord.

Extirpation Orders

By dawn on the second day loyalist forces were still largely confined to a few landing zones. Naturally, the occupying forces did all they could to eliminate them, before reinforcements could arrive from orbit. Traitor armies earn double VP for every Loyalist unit completely eliminated.

The Lost and the Damned

The vast majority of traitor troops consisted of indoctrinated and press-ganged Fuschalese, and the myriad militia and cultists the traitors had brought to the system. Militia and Cultist allied detachments may take four troop choices, to reflect the number of cultists compared to Legionaries. The Sacrificial Offering Rite of War is ideal, as the traitors used the militia and cultists as completely expendable troops.

The Fuschalese Uprising

Despite the fact that many of the Fuschalese resisted indoctrination well-enough to grab improvised weapons and attack their overseers, these vengeful mobs were largely indistinguishable from those converted to the Warmaster’s cause - gaunt from privation, barely trained, and equipped with whatever tools were to hand. This complicated many skirmishes on the atoll, as mobs emerged from side streets, and only then turned on loyalists or traitors.

Either player, in their turn, may roll to bring a free 20-man mob onto the board as a reserve. These mobs, usually armed with improvised melee weapons at best, enter from the sides of the table. That player then rolls a d6 to determine their loyalties - 1-3 and they’re loyal servants of the Emperor, 4-6 and they’re despicable traitors to Terra. Levy Auxilia squads are suggested for troop stats.

Profile Summary

Unit          Unit Type             WS  BS  S  T  W  I  A  LD Save  Ref
Custodian     Infantry (Character)   3   3  3  3  1  3  2  7  5+    HH5: Tempest p194
Levy Auxiliary Infantry              2   2  3  3  1  3  2  6  6+    HH5: Tempest p194

Flak Armour
5+ Armor Save

Sub-flak Armour
Confers a 6+ Armour Save.

HH5: Tempest p182

Weapon               Range  St  AP  Type    Ref
Close Combat Weapon    -   User  -  Melee   HH: AoD Rulebook p42
Laspistol             12"    3   -  Pistol  HH: AoD Rulebook p178

Disposable: This unit doesn’t confer victory points for being killed, but are no longer scoring.

Skirmish Reports

Skirmishes Added

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

Skirmish Designation	Victor	Opponent	Outcome
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1530711936	I-ARMY-3407	I-ARMY-3365
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1530712408	I-ARMY-3620	I-ARMY-3548
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1531389710	A-MECH-6429	I-ARMY-3548
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1532080531	A-MECH-0478	I-ARMY-3365
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1532080810	A-MECH-0478	I-ARMY-3365
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1532472170	I-ARMY-3365	I-ARMY-3620
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1532511645	A-MECH-6429	I-ARMY-3438
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1532605210	I-ARMY-3365 , L-XVII-2572	L-VII-2023
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1533122702	I-ARMY-3365	L-VII-2023
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1533801492	A-MECH-6429	L-VII-2023
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1534424784	A-MECH-6429	L-VII-2023
The Liberation of Fuschal~Phase 5~1534858625	L-VII-2023	L-XVII-2572 , I-ARMY-3365

Battle Pictures