Battle for Vogen 03 – Assault on 176th FOB

Previous battles:
Battle for Vogen 01 – embers
Battle for Vogen 02 – Rescue Mission

M40.852
Planet: Khai-Zhann (Agri-world)
Location: Southern Rim – Ashshore district 14

The disheveled inhabitants of district 14 came out in their hundreds to listen to the preacher. They had heard rumors about him, local agitators had spread the word of Von Guyen, the preacher, the savior, the man who dared to speak up against the tyrant Kadulus.

Flanked by big burly bodyguards outfitted in heavy armor with face-masks, a rugged handsome man pulled himself onto a flipped PDF truck.
“Listen to me, people of Ashshore!”
His voice was strong and powerful, silencing all chatter as all eyes turned to him.
“The abuse of power of our so-called governor Kadulus ends today! He has emptied our pockets for the last time!”
Cheers rose up closest to the podium.
“We demand that those that rule this world rules it for the people, not to stuff their corrupt pockets! We demand a better life for the common man!”
More cheers erupted as the mob ate up the words and as agitators moved unseen in the crowd. Von Guyen raised his voice, his words booming with power in the city square.
“Today is a historic day. Today is the day the workers, farmers, fathers and mothers of Khai-Zhann rise up and shake of the shackles of tyranny!”
He threw a PDF helmet into the crowd.
“We have already crushed the PDF henchmen that governor Kadulus sent to kill us, to kill you! Now is you chance to make history! Join us, join the peoples war against this tyrant! Throw his PDF henchmen out of your city!”

The mob exploded in jubilant cheers and shouts of support, those already armed fired guns into the air in support. His work done, the preacher jumped down and into a waiting armored limousine, which sped off quickly down the streets.
As the limousine left, several men in the mob pulled out large boxes of guns and ammunition from concealed stashes, while others started shouting orders with military precision, pulling the mob along towards their target. 

The disastrous charge of Captain Virko meant the end of 1st company of the 176th. With 3rd platoon defeated, and 1st platoon annihilated, 2nd platoon, already pressured heavily by the insurgent attacks, was enveloped and dissolved as morale plummeted.

The loss of the entire 1st company leaves the rest of the 176th regiment in a precarious position. Now, their forward operating base is becoming the frontlines, as insurgents flow through the streets of Ashshore.

The hastily fortified position is held by 3rd company, now the last line of defense for the imperials in Ashshore outskirts.

176th KZ-PDF, 3rd company (reserve)

1 commissar, power weapon
5 arbites and civilian survivors (veterans), 2 sniper rifle, lmg
2 veteran sergeant
10 infantry, 2x grenade launcher, gatling gun weapon team
3 HWS, mortars
5 infantry, grenade launcher
2x veteran sergeant, power weapon
2x 10 SWS, 2x flamer, 2x melta
2x Sentinel, heavy flamer
2x HMG turrets

Insurgents

1x commander, guerillia tactics, power weapons
3x commander, guerillia tactics, hidden tunnels, power weapon
4×10 strikers
10 rebels, 4x flamer
1 commander, guerillia tactics
10 rebels, 3x lmg, 2x missile launcher
5 rebels, 2x flamer
1 Exalted spawn, claws
3 Spawn, claws
1 Ogryn berserker
1 Technical, twin missile launcher

The insurgents got +200 points to offset the defensive wall and the fact that the imperials start with 3 of 4 objectives firmly in their control.

Sergeant Jaeger was tense. The last broadcast from 1st company had ended over half an hour ago, and now everything was too quiet. His men felt it too, the storm was coming.
He was about to ask Commisar Yalen about their next move when the insurgents decided for them. A rocket streaked out from the nearby buildings, hitting the forward guard tower right below the parapet, blowing the HMG turret sky high and making the tower tumble down.
“To arms! They are here!”  he screamed to his men. 

Turn 1

The battle takes place in the hastily erected fortifications of the forward operating base of the 176th. The scrap wall counts as difficult terrain, slowing down attackers.

There are four objectives. One in the middle on the roadway, signifying control over the main thoroughfare in the sector. Two more in the two remaining watch towers on the flanks, and one in the gas station, signifying the last line of defense of the base.

The imperials deployed defensively, with a strong fire base of heavy weapons on the objective in the gas station. The next line was formed of the special weapon squads and a sentinel, ready to beat back anyone scaling the ramshackle defensive walls and hopefully move forward late game to seize the road. The outer corners got a token defense force to stop enemies from ambushing inside the stockade, and to delay the assault. The towers both mounted a HMG turret.

The insurgents went for a refused flank, with only the lone Ogryn berserker on the left flank. They also had 3 units in reserve, waiting to ambush.

The insurgents opened the battle by charging out of the buildings into the open street in a human wave assault. The imperial response was brutal, with flamers, HMG, gatling guns and grenade launchers ripping huge holes in the attackers. The spawn were the main target and all but one were taken out, seriously denting the assault in the center.The lone Ogryn on the left flank was taken down by the HMG turret and heavy flamer sentinel. As a freshly painted miniature, I guess he could expect nothing less than an inglorious death. Next time he will probably hide amongst some mooks to survive a bit longer. The right side turret is taken out by rebel missile launchers.

Turn 2

Just as the imperials are ready to breathe a sigh of relief, more rebels appear, as three infiltrating units join the battle.

One unit of crudely armed, but brutal looking civilians scale the walls.

2nd SWS are steadied by their commissar as they receive a different target.  They gun down several approaching rebels with flamers, making the remaining few dive for cover. “You have your orders!” The commissar threatens as the men nervously eye the incoming enemy.

Pistol fire from the charging civilians ravage 2nd SWS, but with the commissar in their midst, the men hold their nerve. Unfortunately, their problems are not over, as the rebel fire support squad turns their attention on them and gun down everyone except for sergeant Jaeger.

1st squad takes revenge on the attackers, raking their lines with the gatling gun and grenade launcher fire, taking out almost all of the attackers. Another rebel squad with four flamers appear near the walls. 1st SWS has to take the chance of moving up to take them out before the deadly flames can wipe them out.
The gamble pays off, as the entire insurgent flamer squad is wiped out, leaving only the squad commander, pinned down by the flames.
Other gunfire thin out more insurgent squads. On the right flank, 20 insurgents are reduced to 5. On the left flank, a newly arrived squad is brought down to half.

Turn 3

On the left flank, the insurgents charge the sentinel to take control of the objective. They do not have any dedicated anti-tank weapons however, and the sentinel holds after taking two telling hits. Imperial fire then rake the attackers, bringing down all but two.

In the center, the SWS charge out from the safety of the walls, gunning down the lone guerillia commander and getting in position to take the center objective.

The center sentinel get ready to join the charge to capture the road objective, but the rebel fire support squad spots the attempt, and two missiles streak across the battlefield, both hitting the walker, blowing it sky high.

On the right flank, the small squad of guardsmen move up to retake the tower, gunning down everyone but the enemy commander. Sergeant Jaeger makes his way over to join up with them.

Turn 4

On the left flank, the surviving rebels charge up the tower and knock out the turret. The sentinel tries to flame them out, but the commander is left standing, contesting the left objective.Fix bayonets! Sergeant Jeager joins the small holding squad on the right and charge into the enemy commander. The big brute is taken down, and the tower is once again in PDF control.

But not for long, as the fire support squad scales the walls and gun down everyone except sergeant Jeager, who for the fourth time passes his moral check. The right tower is contested.The fire support squad also guns down three of the arbites, leaving only two survivors, who are pinned. One surviving striker makes it into assault with those two, but luckily for the imperials, he fails to kill any of them, and has to back off. He is still in contesting range of the building objective, but the mortars quickly end that problem, securing the filling station for the imperials.In the center, the SWS grabs the objective, but their two meltas both miss the approaching technical, who proceeds to ram into the squad, killing one. They hold their nerve, but are unable to hurt it back, leaving the center objective contested too.

End of game

Even though the rebels took extreme casualities, the final score was only 1-0 to the imperials. It was fairly close to the insurgents being able to contest all four objectives, but it could also quickly have gone to a 4-0 for the imperials, as it was just a single model on both the left tower and the road objective that contested. The wall certainly helped the imperials a lot, slowing down the assault enough for them to be able to thin out the charging hordes before they got stuck in close combat. The imperials also rolled fairly well overall, something which has been decisively the other way around the last two battles.

Suddenly it was over. The rebels withdrew back into the twisted streets and dilated buildings surrounding the FOB. Sergeant Jeager allowed himself to feel tired at last, slumping down in the shadow of the watch tower, a lone survivor among the piles of dead. He was bleeding from multiple flesh wounds sustained in the fighting. Guardsmen were running up to reinforce his position now that the fighting died down elsewhere. They ran past, gunning at the retreating enemy. He knew the battle was won, but the war was certainly not. With the thin ranks of guardsmen that now manned the walls, it was clear that they would not survive another assault. They had to get out of the district before the insurgents could launch another assault. 

————–

Von Guyen observed the city passing by in high speed behind the dark windows as his limousine speed through the city. This was poor territory, rife with mutants and the dregs of society, a place where people had no hope, no aspirations other than getting themselves and their families through another day.  At least that made them oh so easy to incite. Just dangle a glimmer of a hope in front of them and they would cling to it, no matter what vile things they would need to do to reach that hope. He despised the ugly idiots, like he would care one bit about what happened to them when he was the governor.
He pulled up his comm-link.
“District 14 is done, on the way to 17th.”
A dark, metallic voice crackled back through the comm-link.
“Negative. You have new orders, burgundy level, your driver will take you to an Aquila lander for your next destination. You will be briefed en-route”
Von Guyen felt chills run down his spine as the message ended. He might be the next ruler of Khai-Zhann, but there were powers at play that even he did not dare to question.