Nimbosa Crusade

=The Nimbosa Crusade=

When Hive Fleet Kraken began to threaten worlds on the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium (c.992.M41), the High Lords of Terra responded by stripping the worlds on the border with the Tau Empire of Imperial forces. The Tau Empire was quick to recognise this redeployment and soon moved to take advantage, beginning the period known as the Third Sphere Expansion. The Tau had soon annexed a whole swathe of Imperial worlds along the border. Nimbosa was one of the most important of these worlds.

The Invasion
The Tau forces under the command of O'var (Commander Brightsword), began the invasion with a landing of overwhelming numbers. They soon controlled most of the world and started a systematic extermination of the populace.

First Phase: The Defence
The only Imperial force left able to resist after the First phase of the expansion was the Vostroyan Firstborn IX under the command of Graf Toschenko. Graf moved quickly to fortify the Factory city of Polia. Brightsword's first thrust used Krootwarriors to identify Imperial Guard strong points to be bombarded by the Tau armour. Kroot auxiliaries suffered heavily in the push but the strategy was successful and the Tau eventually gained a foothold in the city. The Tau foothold began to grow. Graf Toschenko authorised a desperate counter attack; he had come to realise that the Tau policy of isolating and reducing each stronghold would soon break his hold on the city. The main blow fell in and around the central Cathedral.

At first the counter-attack was a complete success, Kroot auxiliaries were caught by surprise and fled from the blow, falling back towards the Tau armour. Graf Toschenko committed his last reserve of men and his few remaining tanks to exploit the gap made around the Cathedral, However the discipline of the isolated Tau forces held, and the salient turned into a trap. The spear tip and reserve was decimated by ambush and bombardment directed by stealth suit teams spotting for artillery and guided munitions fired from Tau rear areas. At the vanguard of the advance, Graf Toschenko's command squad was caught out in the open and destroyed by hidden Tau Fire Warriors. The Graf took up the regimental standard and desperately called to his men to rally. Imperial resistance hardened around the Graf and the fight degenerated in bloody and close street fighting. But by now Imperial resistance was all but broken and with the death of the Graf fighting finally ceased.

Second Phase: The Crusade
In the Nimbosa Crusade, the Black Templars fought alongside other Space Marine Chapters to reclaim the world of Nimbosa from the Tau after the third sphere expansion.

The initial battles with the Tau took place in space; aboard the orbitals the aliens had locked in geo-stationary orbit around Nimbosa. The Black Templars' Strike Cruiser Dorn's Wrath used its speed to evade the incoming fire and closed to attack range. Using boarding torpedoes and Thunderhawk gunships it penetrated the hull of the target, designated Orbital Primus, and allowed the household of Castellan Folkert to be the first to fight the enemy.

The Tau Fire Warriors stationed abourd Orbital Primus turned the corridors of the space station into killing grounds and a warren of deadly ambushes. The Black Templar force countered this by splitting up into small squads and attacked the defenders from multiple directions, using grenades and chainswords to smash their way through the bulkheads. This enabled them to outflank the defending Tau forces who were pitiful at close combat, and crush the resistance.

After fighting their way through to the gunnery controls of the orbital, the Marines were able to turn the guns of the station on the other orbitals. This combined with the assaults of the Imperial Navy, was too much for the remaining orbitals to withstand.

Finally Castellan Folkert destroyed the geo-stationary anchors of Orbital Primus and let it fall through the atmosphere of planet, thus destroying the space station.

Meanwhile, the Ultramarines first company smashed into the defending Tau garrison, eliminating the Tau's anti air turrets and making short work of the Tau leaders.

Outcome
The campaign ended with the successful recapture of Nimbosa and the destruction of the entire Tau garrison.

Cosmo 438 12:17, 24 November 2008 (UTC)