Scenery Showcase: Jungle Hive Fortress

Deep in the jungles of Pariah, the Jungle Men of Lapitar maintain hundreds of secret fortresses built around one or more landing pads.

The bases function as watchtowers, detecting enemy troop movements and quickly relaying them throughout the network.

The Jungle Men of Lapitar do not maintain a single headquarters base but instead distribute their command structure. In this way their organisation resembles more of a hive mind than a traditional top down framework.

Each Garrison Fortress holds a company of warriors, standing ready to quickly redeploy wherever they are needed or stand firm against an invading force.

The Jungle Men favour the Vendetta pattern gunship rather than the Valkyrie because of its heavier anti-tank armament. In these drop ship they can quickly drop in on grav-shoots to deal with enemy personal at the end of a flamer barrel.

Although on the surface, each fortress may seem small, most have tunnel networks beneath for additional command nodes and troop barracks.

Supplies are sourced locally on the whole but can be easily flown in.

Regular patrols pass out from the fortress every day both by air and on foot. In addition, the jungle for miles around each base is peppered with surveillance devices and traps. It is impossible for enemies to approach by land and not be spotted.

Each fortress is fortified to hold off attackers providing numerous parapets for occupying troops to fire from.

They are also equipped with emplaced heavy weaponry programmed to fire on approaching unfriendly personnel or vehicles. These can be manned directly in times of attack to provide greater accuracy of fire.

The Jungle Men of Lapitar are a secretive people and far more of them exist than Imperial records show.

These Hive Fortresses provide a perfect medium to keep numbers unknown, response time to threats low and dependability high.

Due to the devolved nature of the hive network, it is very difficult to deliver a crippling blow to the Jungle Men as a nation.

Destroy one or more fortresses and the highly manoeuvrable Lapitar forces will simply counterstrike with overwhelming force before disappearing into the mist-enshrouded jungles again.

Underground tunnels connect many of the larger base. These are set with demolitions in the case of enemy ingress with multiple redundancy systems to prevent them falling into enemy hands.

Hyper-charged underground transports are held ready within these tunnels for moving large bodies of troops at speed, either towards the front line or away from it as required.

In this way, if a major incursion were to occur in Lapitar, the enemy would suddenly face a force many times larger than anticipated as troops poured up from underground and flew in from the skies.

Including from the Tyranid assaults of the first Manticore War, Lapitar remains the most untouched and highly defended regions on Valorax Prime.

It remained relatively untouched during the planetary bombardment of the Scouring and continues to be so to this day.

The Jungle Men of Lapitar are aware of the menace of the Tyranids festering beneath the canopy in their realm and are already taking steps to combat it aggressively.

Ammunition and manpower are being moved into battle-ready positions and an alpha strike is being planed all across the hive network.

One hive mind will combat another as the Jungle Men sell their lives to eradicate all trace of these alien locusts.

The time to strike is approaching.

It is almost here!

Scenery Showcase: Wall of Martyrs Tempestus Firebase

Well after a couple of weeks of freenzied activity and a disaster where I ran out of black ink wash for ages, take witness of my brand new completed Tempestus Firebase & Fortresss of Redemption.

I tied all the buildings in with the same colours and used the same blend as on my war board (dark brown, light brown, mustard, cream).

Here's the Firestorm Redoubt and a Vengeance Weapons Battery.

And the other one. 

The Aquilla Strongpoint with Macro-Cannon... and a  Wall of Martyrs Defence Line

 And pretty soon I'll be posting the battle report of the Ork attack on this set-up...

The Trap: Part Three - Overrun!

Chaos vs Crimson Blades | Gill v Tim | 40k | 57 | 110.997.M41  

Chaplain Sank dropped down the back of the Pernicious Gate, narrowly avoiding the lascannon fire from the approaching Chaos Land Raider, making contact via com for fast reinforcements.

Even if he had been able to open the gate and take control of the daemonic horde beyond, the price would have destroyed him and likely the rest of the Crimson Blades.

The gate had fallen. All they could do now was try and mitigate their losses and strike back before the forces of Chaos could find their footing.

But even as he spoke, sorcerers of the Thousand Sons uttered the incantations to open the gate and gain control of the slathering horde within and the portal burst into fiery light.

Dozens of sinewy lithe female forms strode through; terrible and beautiful in their foul glory: the Daemons of Slaanesh - now under the control of the Chaos Space Marines!

Each had a pair of vicious crab-claws. Each displayed their curvaceous but distorted bodies seductively as a caramel aroma filled the clearing. And around them the consolidated Chaos forces drew in, preparing to depart.

This was the second gate now that had fallen to the Traitor Marines. Only three more remained - three more legions of daemonic fury, waiting to be controlled.

But before the dark forces could make their departure, a dozen bolts flew into their ranks and exploded; then a dozen more.

The Crimson Blades weren't out of the fight yet. A Strike Platoon had manoeuvred into place in response to Chaplain Sank's call and more reinforcements were on the way.

Without a need for command, Seekers of Slaanesh danced away from the clustered forces.

They struck the marine gunline with seductive violence, tickling out the souls of the loyalist marines as they flayed open their armour and flesh.

The Seekers fell, still smiling in the ecstatic throes of battle, but Daemonettes took their place, leaping into action with their great claws snipping at the faces of their enemies.

Assault marines jumped forward powered by the jet packs but Night Lords ran to met them, gaining the initiative and eviscerating them where they stood.

Answering the call from space, a drop pod smashed onto the battlefield, blowing its door clamps, and a command squad emerged, letting fire with plasma weapons.

But the mighty exalted Keeper of Secrets K'Syarta materialised behind them and ripped apart both them and their drop pod.

The attacking force of Crimson Blades were routed and then annihilated. The forces of Chaos were simply too powerful now.

The last two members of the command squad fought on but there was no hope anymore. They were hopelessly outnumbered.

The forces of Chaos were legion now and perhaps nothing could stop them.

The Trap: Part Two - Reversal

Chaos vs Crimson Blades | Gill v Tim | 40k | 56 | 110.997.M41 

The Crimson Blades fell back to the Pernicious Gate, forming a defensive gunline. 

 

 It was absolutely critical that the gate be held. If it fell then the dark host of the Chaos Space marines would gain another swell of power, this one taking them even closer to true indomitability. 

A complete Termination Platoon beamed into position, the Sternguard Veterans taking station on the steps of the mighty gate.

Then suddenly the forces of Chaos were upon them: deathly silent Rubricae letting fly with arcane bolt rounds; slavering gore-red Bloodletters sprinting across the packed earth; huge clanking Chaos Terminators, raking the line with autocannon shells... and a mighty Daemon Prince on leathery wings that plunged into the ranks of the Crimson Blades, slashing back and forth with its mighty blade.

The Sternguard fell immediately to fire and sword. The Bladelords swung round in their Land Raider and leapt from its assault ramp, charging into the fray.

But the Daemon Prince was unstoppable. It carved them in twain, one by one, laughing maniacally.

All they could do was fight on and hope to lower the attacking numbers sufficiently to drive them off.

But fully twenty hardened veterans were spent before the Daemon Prince fell and the loss had a crippling effect on the rest of the line.

More reinforcements of Chaos funnelled into the clearing: a Land Raider churning mud, letting off Lascannon blasts, and the mighty scythed arms of a Daemonic monster. each fall of the scythes impaled another Terminator. The defenders were running out of time and men.

Then the Chaos Land Raider fell open and out poured Night Lords, their winged helms disguising leering features as they charged into close quarter combat, taking losses but bringing down more Space Marines than could be spared.

The gate was being swamped but the Bladelords fought on, Chaplain Sank leading them into the Bloodletters, desperately fighting to hold back Chaos.

They managed to eliminate the Daemons but the Night Lords had dispatched their enemies and now charged up onto the gate steps to throw open the portal.

Only two loyalist marines remained: Chaplain Sank and the last Bladelord. Their bodies shook with their exertions then they became suddenly calm, stilling their thoughts, and leapt to battle once more.

The Bladelord fell but Chaplain Sank smashed his Crozius Arcanum back and forth, pulverising bone and flesh inside the corrupt power armour. The huge Daemonic monstrosity reached his Land Raider, its scythes tearing its ceramite to shreds.

Chaplain Sank withdrew up to the gate.

 

He was the only one left now and he had a choice: open the gate himself if he could; take control of the Daemonic legion - damning his soul - or withdraw and muster what little forces they still had nearby for a counterstrike - one last attack to knock the head from the shoulders of this invading force at least. 

The choice had to be made now.