The Imperium was suspecting a second invasion, Imperial intelligence had rightly estimated that the first invasion was a reconnaissance in force to test the planetary defences.
As the Xenos ships approached to retake the Delta valley the Imperial ships lined up in formation to meet them. This would be the final to determine the fate of planet Scipio.
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| Xeno ships approaching in formation. |
The Eastern part of the Delta Valley is still held by Xeno forces after the Imperial troops failed to liberate the area following with a hasty counter attack. You can read about the battle here:
This game was played using Dropfleet Commander with 1250 points per side, the fleet compositions are as follows:
Close up of the Xeno fleet deployed in line ready for action.
The Imperial defenders have deployed to meet them while making sure the cities they control and their troops have cover from space.
The Xeno ships use their speed to approach quickly to keep the defenders off balance. They drop off reinforcements at Barca to shore up their defences.
Two Xeno Strix light cruisers and the Basilisk battle cruiser advance to use their close action weapons (CAW) against the Imperial troopship squadron.
The squadron disappears from one round of shooting, the Xeno CAW weapons are devastating. The Atlantis battle cruiser returns fire and shoots down a Strix damaging the squadron.
Meanwhile on the other side of the board the two Imperil light cruisers use their burnthrough lasers to seriously damage the carrier Hydra, but not before it launches it's bombers.
The Atlantis and Basilisk get into close quarters and exchange fire, the Atlantis manages to fire first and causes more damage, eventually taking the Basilisk down.
Meanwhile on the far flank, a Xeno battlegroup has managed to get around the Imperial ships and is heading for the undefended city of Flavius.
With the Xenos having lost their carriers and heavy cruisers the Imperials have a firepower edge in the middle of the board and they proceed to cut down enemy ships.
Meanwhile the Xenos make a last ditch effort at capturing Flavius and drop troops on the city. It is obvious that they are losing the battle and are becoming desperate.
However, the Imperial oversight and their exuberance to cut down enemy ships has cost them. A lone Hydra carrier that is badly damaged manages to get within range of Gnaeus and drops the ultimate weapon......
In an instant Gnaeus goes up in the flame of a mushroom cloud as the Xenos deploy their version of a nuclear weapon. Imperium command's oversight in has cost them thousands of lives and the entire city.
The shocked Imperium troops gather their courage and rush back to finish off the rogue cruiser while overwhelming the remaining Xeno ships.
The Imperial ships now surrounded Gisco which was Xeno held. Their last attempt at liberation of the city had failed and it was unlikely any civilians remained, to allow the Xeno land troops to remin entrenched would enable them to spread throughout the valley and eventually the planet....
This left only one logical conclusion for both Gisco and Barca..............
Gisco and Barca were immediately made inhabitable, the Imperial leadership is hoping that the nukes were enough to wipe out the bugs once and for all.
This left only the fate of the city of Flavius in doubt. Xeno ships were bombarding the defenders and began to drop their own troops.
The Xeno invasion was repelled once again but the Delta valley is in ruin, only Flavius and Theseus were left untouched. Both of these cities would eventually have to be evacuated due to the nuclear fallout but the valuable infrastructure could be salvaged in time. The only battle left to fight would be to save Flavius, if the defenders couldn't hold on here it would also be subject to nuclear extermination.
