The Invasion of Scipio - Chapter 3A - Preparations in the Eastern Delta Valley

After the surprise invasion by the Xenos captured many key cities in the Delta Valley:
http://micromegasatwar.blogspot.ca/2017/07/invasion-of-scipio-chapter-1-planetary.html

The town of Gnaeus was liberated, by the Imperial troops who managed to secure superiority in air and space:
http://micromegasatwar.blogspot.ca/2017/08/the-invasion-of-scipio-chapter-2.html

Now it's time to launch the counter-offensive on the eastern section of the Delta Valley to liberate the cities of Gisco and Barca and finish off the remaining invaders . Time is of the essence to launch this offensive while the defenders are isolated and without reinforcements from the hive fleet. The Imperial troops have gathered their Planetary Reserve forces supplemented by the heavy troops of the Imperial Rapid Response force.




The Imperial troops gather in their staging areas, while the titans conduct live fire drills in the background

 

This will be co-ordinated attack focused on liberating the eastern zone of the Delta valley, highlighted in red below. Xeno troops from Gisco and Barca will be able to support each other, therefore it is imperative to isolate each of these key locations and conduct the attack simultaneously.

 

 

The Imperial troops use dropships to quickly surround Gisco, however, during the invasion the xenos landed defence batteries in Barca preventing troop drops in the vicinity. Therefore the approach on Barca will be from the north by troops travelling overland.

 

Picture of the table set up based on the map above.

 

The scenario has 5 objectives, each is worth 1 victory point for the side that controls it at the end of Turn 3.

• If the game is tied after Turn 3, regular EpicA rules apply for determining Turn 4 and a tie breaker
• The Imperial troops have the initiative in this battle having complete air and space superiority, to represent this:
• They can deploy anywhere in the designated blue areas, 15cm from the table edge.
• Imperial troops can keep up to 1/3rd of their formations off-table and arrive on any table edge at the beginning of each turn. They don’t need to mark this in advance.
• They have been given a 150 point advantage for an Lunar class orbital bombardment.
• The Xenos are defending and can deploy anywhere in the infested areas highlighted in purple.
• The defensive battery is immobile, and has a 45cm, AA5+, MW with the stats: DC2, 4+, RA. It is deployed next to an objective and is able to count towards capturing it.
• Other rules follow the regular EpicA deployment procedure.



The hive mind has learned from the defeat and Gnaeus and is putting their troops into position to ambush the attackers

Army lists used for this battle are as follows:

Steel Legion, NetEA 3150 POINTS
==================================================
REGIMENTAL HQ [525] - Supreme Commander, 12 Infantry, 7 Chimera, Chimera
TANK COMPANY [650] - 10 Leman Russ
SUPER-HEAVY TANK COMPANY [500] - Baneblade, 2 Shadowsword
STORM TROOPER PLATOON [350] - 8 Storm Troopers, Valkyrie Transport
WARHOUND TITAN [275]
ARTILLERY BATTERY [250] - 3 Basilisks
FLAK BATTERY [150] - 3 Hydra
ORBITAL SUPPORT [150] - Lunar Class
THUNDERBOLT FIGHTERS [150] - 2 Thunderbolts
THUNDERBOLT FIGHTERS [150] - 2 Thunderbolts

Steel Legion Infantry mustering for battle

Armour checking their comms and last minute maintenance checks.

 

Stormtroopers are ready for boarding onto the Valkyries

Tyranids, EpicUK, 3000 POINTS
==================================================
NORMAL ASSAULT SWARM [225] - 2 Tyranid Warrior, 8 Termagant
NORMAL ASSAULT SWARM [225] - 2 Tyranid Warrior, 8 Termagant
NORMAL ASSAULT SWARM [225] - 2 Tyranid Warrior, 8 Termagant
BIG BRUTE SWARM [350] - 2 Hive Tyrants, 6 Exocrines
DOMINATRIX SWARM [500] - 1 Dominatrix
GENESTEALER SWARM [150] - 6 Genestealer
GENESTEALER SWARM [150] - 6 Genestealer
SPORE MINE SWARM [150] - 6 Spore Mine Clusters
SUBTERRANEAN SWARM [250] - 1 Trygon and 2 Raveners
SUBTERRANEAN SWARM [250] - 1 Trygon and 2 Raveners
SUBTERRANEAN SWARM [250] - 1 Trygon and 2 Raveners
NEST SWARM [275] - 4 Termagant, 4 Biovore

The hive is ready for upcoming onslaught

The report and results of the battle are given here:
http://micromegasatwar.blogspot.ca/2017/09/the-invasion-of-scipio-chapter-3b.html