Race for the Gate

Tyranids & Crimson Blades v Dark Eilte & Pernicious Host | Tim v Peter | 40k | 55 | 133.997.M41

Erasmus Bachmann grinned. The Pernicious Gate was within his grasp at last and this time nothing was going to stop him.

The jungle gave way under the tracks of his Predator and Land Raider as he strode alongside the monstrous Daemon Prince Bel’Akor. Drawn perhaps to the psychic reverberations of the Pernicious Gate, the Tyranids lurked close by it, not infesting the jungle at every step as they had on previous expeditions. This was going to be too easy, especially with the secret power Erasmus commanded.

He threw up his arms and scorched the air with the brazen syllables that spewed forth from his mouth and suddenly reality curled and tore as dozens of daemons poured out from the warp into the jungle. Muscular Bloodletters charged through the underbrush in front of gargantuan scuttling Soul Grinders, massive daemon engines on metallic crab claws, and in response the Tyranids came forward to meet them.

A huge Broodlord led the assault at the head of a swarm of Genestealers, bringing down two hulking Bloodcrushers of Khorne before the mighty beasts could react. The daemonic horde was led by a huge Bloodthirster that leapt into the air on pinioned wings and crashed into the Tyranid Hive Tyrant, ripping it limb from limb with a mighty war. Skarbrand, an even taller Bloodthirster, this one wingless, ripped into a unit of Tyranid Warriors and quickly dismembered them with its mighty metallic claws.

Meanwhile, the advancing Dark Elite took long range pot-shots with their vehicle-mounted heavy weapons, gravely wounding the larger monstrous creatures. The Bloodthirster landed next to a mighty Carnifex and ripped that apart too before it could strike back. There was still a long way to travel through the jungle but the resistance was crumbling. With the support from the daemons, the Pernicious Gate would be theirs!

Then there was an energy spike and suddenly sections of foliage caught fire as three squads of Space Marine Terminators materialised near to the Pernicious Gate.

The Crimson Blade had been monitoring the Chaos Space Marines since their assault on the Fortress Bastion in Escavar and they and quickly realised the intention of this mission. Stopping the Chaos forces taking the gate was absolutely critical and they had committed their most valuable asset to stop them.

It was an impossible situation. With only limited space to land, the Terminators had been forced to teleport in deep in the infested area for fear of being enfiladed by the Dark Elite. Now they had to fight the Daemons and the erstwhile “allies,” the Tyranids.

Bachmann commanded the Daemons to devour them but he quickly realised the mistake he’d made in deploying so far from his objective and gave the order to accelerate. The transport vehicles went into overdrive, pushing through the dense terrain as the Crimson Blades let fly with Storm Bolters, Assault Cannons and Cyclone Missile Launchers.

The Daemons were falling and although every faction fought a war on two fronts, the Tactical Dreadnoughts were simply too tough to be taken down. The last of the Daemons were taken down and shortly afterwards the remaining Tyranids were picked off as well.

Bachmann gave the order to halt and roared in frustration. There was simply no more time to recapture the Pernicious Gate and more Space Marine drop ships were coming down from the cloud cover to consolidate their prize. He had risked everything to take this potent weapon under his control and he had failed again. All he could do now was withdraw.

Chaplain Kato and Captain Knot watched the vehicles of the Dark Elite circle and pull away from them from the raised dais of the Pernicious Gate.

“Should we go after them?” asked Kato.

“No,” replied Captain Knot. “We’ve got what we came for. They did the hard work, clearing the jungle of Tyranids; we reap the rewards. That’s a good enough day for me.”

“Well,” said Kato, looking up at the sizzling stone of the Pernicious Gate. “The question now, is what are we going to do with it? If we can open it then we gain the power to control a vast swarm of daemonic creatures.”

Kato narrowed his eyes and looked into the dark pits of his friend’s skull mast. “Tempting, isn’t it?”

Mission Briefing: Race for the Gate

Erasmus Bachmann stood in front of the tactical console on the bridge of the Litany of Jeopardy. Before him towered the being known to him as Bel' Akor - millennia ago and light years distant known as the Butcher of Ere k'or [1V]

"You WILL activate the Portal. It is requested by the Master"

Bachman had to use much of his tremendous willpower not to cower before the Daemon Prince. Each syllable hit him like a concussion grenade. He had actually flinched when the monstrous creature had first spoken. "I have insufficient forces, great one. Those accursed Tyranids have taken too many of my troops."

Bel' Akor drew his brass axe; as big as Bachmann himself; gently across the edge of the console, creating multi-coloured sparks of psychic energy. "It is not a request Sorcerer, your very existence depends on it!"

A small bead of sweat formed on the Chaos Sorcerer's brow and rolled slowly down his face. If the Comms officer sitting silently nearby had not lost the use of his eyes he would have seen the droplet bounce gently on the plasteel floor and then scuttle away on three pairs of tiny, newly sprouted legs.

"We must wait, there are other ships arriving in this system, I ..."

"Prepare to teleport NOW! Bring whatever of your forces remain" The Daemon turned away sharply with blurring speed and proceeded towards the exit.

Backmann hesitated, then barked the order to his Comms "Prepare for Planet-Drop immediately" He joined Bel' Akor at the turbo-lift. A single tear formed in Eramus's eye and rolled slowly down his cheek, finally falling from his chin to the deck.

If the Comms officer had retained his eyes....

Lord Ubel of the Good People has finally accepted that the only hope of taking the second Pernicious Gate is to dedicate a massive amount of resources to it, whatever the risk. The Dark Elite under his command have failed to break through the hordes of Tyranids twice now but their sacrifices have pinpointed the gate’s exact location. Now they will go in a third and final time but this time the daemons will go with them; dozens of slavering Bloodletters of Khorne: the fruits of the last Pernicious gate they captured.

However other shrouded eyes are watching the activities of the Chaos Space Marines and are preparing to take action. If the Dark Elite take possession of the second Pernicious Gate then the balance of power will shift in their favour. That cannot be allowed to happen.

Board Layout

• The board is covered in woods and jungle. At one end if the Pernicious Gate, placed close to the centre and near to the edge.

Deployment and First Turn

• The Tyranids are deployed first. All Tyranids must be deployed within 24” of the short board edge nearest the Pernicious Gate.
• They have 1,500 points worth of models available.
• The Dark Elite are deployed second. They may be deployed anywhere on the board more than 24” from the edge of the Pernicious Gate.
• They have 3,000 points worth of models available: 1,500 Chaos Space marines and 1,500 Daemons of Khorne.
• The Daemons deploy using Deep Strike as normal.
• The Space Marine Terminators of the Crimson Blades First Company arrive as Reserves via Deep Strike anywhere on the board or moving on from any board edge more than 36” from the Pernicious Gate.
• They have 1,500 points worth of models available.

Turn Sequence and Allies

• The Chaos Space marines move first in this mission.
• The Tyranids and Space Marines are allied in so much as they both have the same objective: Stop the Chaos Space Marines. The controlling player moves both in his turn.
• Crimson Blades will only attack Tyranids if they are assaulted, even if ignoring them is tantamount to suicide.
• The Tyranids will target the closest non-Tyranid unit.

Game Length

• The game lasts for six turns or until the time limit is reached.
• If an even number of player turns have been played half an hour before the time limit is reached the game will end without a new game turn being started.

Victory Conditions

• Victory is determined by who controls the portal of the Pernicious Gate at the end of the game.

Return to Lapitar

Tim (Tyranids) vs Peter (Chaos Space Marines)

Deep in the heart of Lapitar, the jungle canopy lay still.

Then came the roar of jet engines as the dropship fell from the dense cloud cover and swept low and the branches and foliage rattled under the pressure.

Erasmus Bachmann and his Dark Elite had returned.

Their previous visit to the dark bowers of Lapitar had been fruitless in every way but one: the location of the Pernicious Gate was still not known exactly but its general location had been verified. And now they knew what they faced. This time there would be no surprise attack.

The area was relatively clear of Tyranids when they made landing. The heavy bolters on the landing craft picked what stragglers there were off then withdrew as the landing party fanned out to take position off the bastions and landing pad available. This time their strategy was different: lure the Tyranids in to a defensible position then eradicate them, cutting their numbers down sufficiently to allow them to search the jungle freely.

The Dark Elite found their positions and readied their weapons. And then the Tyranids came, surging out of the foliage, scything talons flashing and jaws bared.

The Dark Elite levelled their bolters and opened fire, eviscerating the first wave. They reloaded calmly as the second wave approached then eviscerated them as well. They reloaded a third time. Now the third wave was closer. Armoured fingers worked quickly; efficiently; but no longer perfectly calmly.

Then the Tyranids were on them. Genestealers swept up onto the landing platform and ripped into the power armour of their enemies, peeling it open. The Broodlord at the fore froze one of the marines under his powerful gaze then gutted him and half a dozen of his brethren.

The Chaos Defiler fired blast after blast from its battle cannon, ripping termagants and hormagaunts apart but then from the ground rose the gargantuan form of a Trygon Prime, towering even over the trees. Giving out a roar, the Defiler scuttled forward, charging into it but the vast claws of the beats tore it into blood-soaked pieces before it even had the chance to strike back.

Erasmus Bachmann summoned his vast psychic powers to scan outwards while his Terminators readied themselves to take the assault of a cluster of Genestealers and a Hive Tyrant, searching for the Pernicious Gate’s exact location. The Hive Tyrant charged closer, its hoofed feet pounding the soft earth but Bachmann couldn’t respond or prepare himself. He had to focus only on his objective.

The Tyrant was closer. It was almost upon him. But he still couldn’t find the gate!

The Hive Tyrant and genstealers struck simultaneously. The Terminators stepped in to meet them but against the combined assault they had no hope. Still Erasmus searched for the Gate but to no avail. There could be no failure this time. Failure meant death. He strained his senses into the ether, probing as his Terminators were cut down one by one.

Then the last of the terminators fell and the Tyrant was on Bachmann himself but a split second before its talons could impale him to the ground he caught the gate’s exact location and hit the activation rune of his personal teleporter.

The Hive Tyrant roared in anger, cheated of its prey as the rest of the swarm tore into the remains of the landing party. The remaining troops stood little to no chance but that didn’t matter anymore.

Erasmus Bachmann had the exact location of the Pernicious gate. Soon it would be his!

Mission Briefing: Return to Lapitar

Erasmus Bachmann took stock of the present situation in his Battle Barge "The Litany of Jeopardy". The loss of his elite Terminators was slightly irksome, but there were plenty more available to take their place. What was more challenging was the large force of Tyrannids where none had been predicted and the psychic interference they created. The Chaos Sorcerer turned slightly to his "Comms" officer, or more accurately to the console incorporating what had once been his officer - Sub space message to Sorcerer-aspirant Damian Ergo, I have a little task for him. Erasmus allowed an almost invisible smile to crease his mouth, the use of another Sorcerer would certainly help against the alien psychic energies and if Ergo instead of he, became the primary target of the cursed Tyrannids then so much the better! 

In a sequel to The Lost Gate, the Dark Elite are going back into the jungle to find the second Pernicious Gate and take control of the daemons held within. The woods are infested with Tyranids but this time the Chaos Space marines know approximately where they’re going…

Board Layout

• The board layout is duplicated exactly from the previous mission.

Deployment

• The board will be divided into six equal sections.
• Each Chaos squad will roll 1d6 to see which section they deploy in.
• Because they are fairly sure of the gates approximate location they will be allowed a single reroll for each squad. This will enable them to take full advantage of the bunkers and landing pad and also enable them to maximise the distance from the board edge to prevent first turn charges by the Tyranids.
• The Tyranids will move first and enter play from the board edge. Each Tyranid squad will roll for which section it is to be deployed in.

Game Length

• The game lasts for six turns or until the time limit is reached.
• If an even number of player turns have been played half an hour before the time limit is reached the game will end without a new game turn being started.

Victory Conditions

• Both sides are attempting to gain or maintain control of the jungle area. Victory is determined using the rules for Kill Points.

The Lost Gate

Tyranids v Chaos | Tim v Peter | 40k | 53 | 130.997.M41

The sorcerer, Erasmus Bachmann, looked down from the observation window of his dropship at the dense jungle canopy of Lapitar and gave the nod to the Chaos renegades checking their equipment behind him. They were almost in position.

Erasmus and his Dark Elite had been given the mission target of securing the second Pernitious Gate, the second portal into the chaos realm that would allow the Chaos Space Marines of the Good People and the dark master to take control of another vast force of daemonic minions. The only thing stopping them reaching the gate was determining its exact location and whatever secrets the jungle might be hiding.

The opening of the first gate had weakened all of the others. Raw chaos was leeching through and infecting the planet in localised areas. This made things… easier. The touch of the warp had open great fissures in the ground and from these spewed torrents of blood. From the blood rose gigantic skulls, gaping with sightless eyes into the sky. The taint was like a signpost, showing if not the exact coordinates, then at least the general location.

The Dark Elite made landing close to an abandoned Guard staging post made up of a pair of bastions and a landing pad and fanned out into the jungle, searching for indications of the gate’s locale. The bubbling blood pools were everywhere, the taint visibly spreading. But there was another indication of infestation that caused Erasmus Bachmann to pause, wondering if they might have come unprepared. Tyranid spore chimneys stretched up everywhere. They had landed deep in the Lapitar Infestation Zone!

He called for his men to close in toward the complex but it was already too late. From all sides, they came, racing from the bushes and pouncing without warning on the renegades. Every part of the Dark Elite force came under immediate attack. There was no withdrawal; only frantic fighting. Bachmann’s terminators hacked down the horde of Hormagaunts that leapt at them but a few hundred yards away a gigantic Trygon tore their Predator apart and maries were being caught and torn to pieces in every direction.

A Carnifex charged from the undergrowth and two rhinos and a squad of marines carefully opened fire, trying to maximise the damage before it could engage them. It looked at first like they might bring it down but it wasn’t enough. The Carnifex pounded into their line and crushed them all. All across the search zone, marines were being cut down, trying to regroup and being hunted until they were eliminated.

But at one point in the battlefield the Tyranids were balked. Erasmus Bachmann and his terminators crushed the last of the Hormagaunts in their power fists. Erasmus checked his auspex. The source of the warpleak was appearing on the screen now he was on the ground. He was close. They just had to get to it.

Before he could move the trees were smashed apart and a towering Hive tyrant came through. It roared and pounded toward them. Erasmus frowned, conjuring a warding. If he could get to the gate and open it, they would have a vast daemonic force intantly fighting for them but the monstrous creature was blocking his way. They had to take it down.

Erasmus and the Terminators met the Hive Tyrant head on but in its first thundering blow it killed one of them. They were the elite of the Elite but it was a perfectly designed apex predator and Erasmus realised straight away that there was little hope. All he could do was strike a blow then focus his will through his force weapon and hope to slay it. They fought on, no blows landing on the indomitable thing and the terminators being knocked down one by one. Soon only Erasmus remained but still he didn’t surrender. At the same tiem he simply could not land the killing blow and it was slowly grinding him down.

He still didn’t have the gate’s exact location but he knew it well enough. There was no time to reach it, which was incredibly frustrating, but his survival now was paramount. Blocking one last slashing blow from the Tyrant he activated his homing beacon and teleported back to the dropship.

Not a single member of the Dark Elite landing party remained alive.