Trajan Campaign - Interlude - Assault Inside the Asteroid

The Imperial expedition was nearly wiped out in the ambush by Xeno forces, however, their dropship was able to get through to the Asteroid Colony and successfully land an elite squad of Space Marines to complete the mission. 

The rules used for this scenario were Star Breach with the Legion of Mankind taking on the Hive Cult. I was testing the rule set and thought it would fit nicely with the campaign.

The Space Marines land near the generator and have to work their way through the winding tunnels of the asteroid.

The squad is deployed into the crammed quarters of their entry point with their leader, Amos, leading the charge.

Their target is the central computer that controls the asteroid communications, data storage and mining equipment. From this point they are hoping to deduce clues as to the fate of the colony and source of the Xeno threat.

The Miners have lined up to ambush the intruders, the Space Marines can see that these are no longer the industrious settlers that had set out but they have morphed in strange ways and their leader holds a banner of the Xeno worshiping cult.

There is no ambiguity about the Miner's intentions as they immediately launch a rocket at the intruders, the Marines were lucky to hit the dirt and allow their armour to absorb the impact.

A brute with a giant hammer follows this up with a charge against the nearest Marine, the exchange damages the Marine but he also manages to push the brute back.

Amos charges straight at the rocket launcher to cut him down before he can launch another salvo, his power sword makes quick work of the two Miners behind the barricades.

The Miners aren't fearful and throw a grenade at into the midst of the advancing Marines, the hurt Marine is taken out of action and the mech is also takes some damage.

But the damage isn't enough to stop the mech as he charges the grenade thrower and uses its crushing claws to take the miner out of action.

The Space Marines continue their advance, but are slowed down by a line gun that fires through the entire squad. The leader of the cult has developed psychic abilities which he uses to unleash a roar causing havoc among the Space marine ranks.

The Marines are elite soldiers for a reason, as they quickly recover and charge through to cut down the remaining Xeno lovers, eventually taking out the leader.

Amos makes his way to the computer terminal, downloads all of the historic data on the communications module and sends it back to through space for the Imperial relay stations and surviving ships to pick up.

As soon as the download and transmission is done, the Marines had back towards the extraction point. However, they hear noises coming from throughout the colony. There are more Miners than they had reckoned for and their escape path is covered with fresh enemy reinforcements.

The unsuspecting Marines are surrounded by more than double their number. While the data was transmitted successfully they were not heard from again..........

Trajan Campaign - Game 1 - Asteroid Colony

The asteroid mining colony orbiting the barren planet of Colona, lying just outside the edge of the Empire, went completely dark one Earth year ago. The Empire has sent an expedition  of the elite Space Marines to investigate, hoping it would lead to clues as to the origins of the Xenos....

The expedition force comes out of hyperspace in the orbit of Colona and begins their cautious approach towards the asteroid colony. They have brought along two civilian ships, one a research vessel for investigating anything abnormal and the other a supply vessel to sustain a presence on the colony in the long term.

Scenario objectives:

The first match in the campaign is based on the Civilian Liner Ambush scenario 

Empire - must cross the battle space and gains 2 VP for successfully scanning the asteroid, 2 VP for landing troops on it.

Xenos - come in on the flanks in distant formation, score 2 VP for each civilian ship destroyed.

Both sides will also gain VPs based on kill points.

The Xenos destroyers and frigates appear first, the Space Marines expected some kind of trouble and their fears were confirmed.

Space Marine Destroyers and Heavy Cruiser turn to face the new threat, both sides launch their bombers and fighters.

The Xeno light ships are specially armed with Close Action Weapons and so close the distance and carnage ensues

The Empire heavy cruiser launches fighters to fend off another round of Xeno bombers.

Meanwhile the remaining troopships and civilian ships continue towards the Asteroid

The second half of the Xeno ambush arrives and opens fire

Meanwhile the Xeno lights swarm heavy cruiser, causing a fire and eventually a complete explosion, but not before the heavy cruiser takes out some a destroyer and two frigates.

Another round of bombers from the new ambush attacks the lagging troopship, casualties on board are heavy as those troopships are packed with soldiers and crew.

The light cruiser Orion returned fire on the ambushers trying to give the troopships and civilians time to reach their target. A couple of well aimed shots blew up the Xeno carrier. 

The Xeno cruiser armed with burn through lasers got pas the Orion’s screen and zeroed in on the civilian research vessel. The ship’s destruction was a foregone conclusion but not before it was able to scan the asteroid and send detailed layout data to the rest of the fleet.

The Orion unleashed another barrage on the Xeno cruiser, trying to avenge the war civilians, but wasn’t as lucky this time around. The two destroyers also came over to also provide some relief unleashing a salvo on the enemy heavy cruiser. The Xenos returned fire and made the Orion a martyr. On the last turn the destroyers attempted to flee, seeing they were outnumbered and outgunned.

The sacrifices of the expeditionary fleet were worthwhile as the remaining troopship managed to reach the asteroid colony and drop off the Space Marine landing party. It will now be up to the Marines to finish the mission (here).

Both sides achieved 4pts for their objectives. The Xenos, however, won on kill points having wiped out almost the entire expeditionary force. The Xeno player will be awarded 2 campaign points and +1 admiral value.