Our little gaming group recently decided to give Warhammer 40K 10th edition another go. As most of us hadn't touched our 40K miniatures in the past year(s) it took a bit of speed reading to take in the rules again. We also decided to play with the Crusade rules from our almost mint (and by now out of print) Tyrannic War source books. This is a battle report of Operation Iron Siren, the first engagement in the Vox Arx Crusade.
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| Late is the hour in which these Eldar choose to appear. |
The campaign organizer sent us the following briefing:
+++ INTERCEPTED COMMUNIQUE +++ TRANSMISSION: 742.88.M42 SECURITY CLEARANCE: MAGENTA // CRUSADE AUTHORIZED EYES ONLY LOCATION: SANGUIS SYSTEM // SECTOR: TEMPESTUS STATUS: MULTIPLE HOSTILE CONTACTS
Begin Attached Briefing...
+++ OPERATION: IRON SIREN +++
MISSION THEATER: SANGUIS PRIME
OBJECTIVE
PRIORITY: RED THETA - HIGH VALUE ARTIFACT RECOVERY / HOSTILE DISRUPTION
ENGAGED FACTIONS (MISSION-SPECIFIC): Emperor's Children, Orks (one warband), Tyranids (Hive Tendril Gamma-44, bio-type: unknown mutation)
ADDITIONAL FACTIONS PRESENT IN SYSTEM: Orks (other warbands), T'au (expeditionary cadre), Death Guard, Eldar
MISSION CONTEXT:
Deep within the ruined manufactorum vaults of Sanguis Prime, echoes of a pre-Heresy sonic device—designated Vox Arx—have begun resonating through noospheric channels. A corrupted Machine-Spirit broadcast loop has drawn the attention of multiple hostile forces.
Imperial recon assets were lost upon warp breach entry. Partial data recovered suggests:
- Emperor's Children warband has begun ritual skirmishes, seeking to "tune" the vault’s defenses to access the Vox Arx.
- An Ork warband, having detected what they call "da loud singin’ box," has tunneled into the manufactorum via derelict slagpipes. Their goal appears to be... "makin’ it louder."
- A Tyranid sub-splinter has emerged from the under-foundry levels. Bioforms appear attracted to sonic vibrations, exhibiting mutations adapted to harmonic hunting.
CRUSADE INTEL:
An open warzone is forming around Vault Delta-9. Sonic emissions are intensifying. Sectors surrounding the vault are collapsing into chaos, with warp anomalies spiking every 3.33 cycles.
MISSION PARAMETERS:
[ ] Control of Vault Delta-9 by end of planetary cycle.
[ ] Recovery or neutralization of Vox Arx.
[ ] Secondary priority: Retrieval of sonic weapon schematics from Forge Cogitator Banks.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS:
Ambient Soundwave Harmonics: Units in cover may be affected by resonance effects (morale tests at -1).
WARNING:
DO NOT attempt to interface directly with the Vox Arx. Estimated 92.7% corruption rate on unshielded cogitators.
End Attached Briefing...
+++ TRANSMISSION ENDS +++ +++ NO FURTHER DATA AVAILABLE +++
Each faction got similar individual briefings. As four of the seven players could make it to the first engagement (Iron Siren), we decided to play a 2vs2 game. Before we got there, we picked our teams and made 1000-points lists. I use New Recruit for all my games and it worked like a charm for Crusade. I used the rename unit and notes to follow the Crusade rules (you have to name all your units and characters). I had a blast using an Abominable Intelligence (ChatGPT) to generate proper Eldar army names and some useless backstory for my units. My crusade army is called 'The Aria of Khaine' and all my units have a music-related name (The Black Ovation, Cinders of the Last Chord, etc.). As I got into the spirit of things, I decided to blast a proper response to the group through Signal.
+++ UNAUTHORIZED TRANSMISSION // SOURCE: UNKNOWN +++
+++ CHANNEL BREACH // COMMUNICATIONS NET ALPHA-PRIME +++
+++ TRANSLATION IMPRINT: AELDARI LEXICON – UNSTABLE PHRASE STRUCTURE +++
"You meddle with resonance that predates your flesh."
"The vault you seek was never meant to be heard by ears such as yours."
I am Eleniyr of the Second Veil, and I speak now across your crude comm-nets, through static and warpflame, into the hearts of your delusion.
You chase a whisper in the deep—a scream given machine-form, forged in treachery, bound by blood, and dissonant with madness.
We called it Kaelaen’darith, the Cry That Cannot End. You name it Vox Arx. That name will be your undoing.
The Aria of Khaine has awoken.
The Black Ovation waits beneath the fractured towers. Their silence is not mercy.
The Cinders of the Last Chord have found the path where flames do not cast shadows.
The Choir of Final Light walks the shadow-paths of the manufactorum vaults — they do not knock.
The Wings of the Third Tone mark your movements from the storm-wracked skies.
The Verdant Conclave has woven the threads of this war into endings. Yours are written.
The Glittering Tempest rides. None outrun the storm they carry.
The Skyrhythm Blades dance above your blind spots. Look up, mon-keigh, and despair.
Dirgemarch advances. Every footfall counts down your last moment.
And Sael’Var... he remembers what the Arx did the first time it sang.
Children of Slaanesh, we remember what you did. You were not invited to this vault. Your notes are wrong. Your choir will be corrected.
You Kaela Mensha’Grox think to make it louder? Your Crude Symphony cannot comprehend what it hears. Even now, your ‘Mekboy’ tunes his own end.
Tyranid swarm of Gamma-44. We smell the disharmony in your flesh. The song you follow is not yours. It will consume you before you consume it.
T’au Observers, your silence is admirable. Stay silent. Interfere, and the veil will open before your time. You will not like what lies beneath it.
In-bound Death Guard. You walk the long decay. The vault does not rot — it devours. Your entropy means nothing to something that has already screamed for ten thousand years.
Turn back.
Leave the vaults in ruin.
Seal your ears.
Burn your maps.
Let the melody die in shadow; unheard and unremembered.
We will not suffer a rhythm born of ignorance.
There will be no second warning.
Let None Hear the Final Note.
+++ TRANSMISSION ENDS +++ +++ NO FURTHER DATA AVAILABLE +++
With the gauntlet thrown, others joined in on the fun.
[Interference static]
“...the vault... the vault is *singing* again... I can hear it in my dreams... it wants to be *opened*—”
[Signal abruptly terminates]
+++ UNAUTHORIZED FULL BANDWIDTH TRANSMISSION // SOURCE: ORK ROK +++
"Oi wot does diz button do?"
+++ STATIC NOISE +++
"LISSEN UP YOU GITS!"
"WE 'EARED DA BIG SPEAKA THINGY AND WE IZ 'ERE TO GET IT!"
"ANY OF YOU SODDIN' GITS MOVE AND WE KILL DA LOT OF YOU"
*Whisper in the background:*
"We was going to stomp them anyways wasn't we?
"Yes but dis is a kunnin plan to not let dem know stuff"
"Oi, why iz dat red light blinkin'?"
+++ Transmission terminated +++
+++PUBLIC TRANSMISSION // GOVERNORS PALACE OF SANGUIS PRIME+++
Rejoice my siblings, for the star children are here to bring us salvation!
Do not despair for they are here to bring us to the embrace of the four armed Emperor, blessed be His name!
Lay down your arms and welcome them as the angels deserve!
+++ STATIC NOISE +++
Rejoice my siblings, for the star children....
+++MESSAGE LOOPS+++
With a few hours to go until the game started, I was already having a lot of fun. At the table we decided my Eldar would join with the Tyranids versus the Orks and the Chaos Space Marines. My Farseer was obviously trying to exploit the Tyranids as a meat shield in an attempt to quickly and decisively strike down the threat to the Kaelaen’darith, or Vox Arx as the Mon'keigh call it. This was the battlefield on turn one.
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| I forgot to put (unreadable) labels on my |
Let's start with the big caveat that this is all based on my very flawed memory. Having said that, there were five objectives (purple circles). Each could be claimed for points each turn. Aside from that my army had a Crusade goal. We had to take out the enemy's Land Raider before the end of turn 3. I deployed most of my Eldar in a frightened cluster behind a wall, deciding to try a stupid ploy by infiltrating my Striking Scorpions (Choir of Final Light) in the open, just 9 inches away from the enemy. An important detail there is that the enemy had the first turn.
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| With the roar of speakers taken up to 11, Nickelback made everyone's eardrums burst. |
Turn 1: Chaos Space Marines and Orks
The Orks moved up their forces, their Truck (holding the Warboss and some Boyz) howled forward and two units of Killa Kan's jangled ahead of a grinning bunch of Loota's.
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| Engines roaring, the Warboss' Truck and the Land Raider leapt forward. |
Gilded Oblivion, the Chaos Space Marine Land Raider, drove forward alongside the Ork Warboss. A bunch of Daemonettes slunk off towards the center of the table. Meanwhile a unit of Noise Marines took control of a ruin and opened up with Heavy Metal blasts aimed at my poor Striking Scorpion. The amplified noise (I suspect they used unfiltered Nickelback) took out the unit.
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| Good night, sweet scorpions, as amplified Nickelback sings thee to thy rest! |
A las cannon fusillade from the Land Raider blasted apart Dirgemarch, my War Walker.
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| Eldar can move at extreme speeds if they want to. I was quite sure they could run away after shooting as well, but I wasn't able to discover an actual rule that allowed me to do that. |
Turn 1: Eldar and Tyranids
It was at this point that my Farseer should've realised the Tyranid hivemind had outplayed him. Instead of a sizeable bio-organic meat shield, there were only a few measly hordes of Termagants and Hormagaunts that seemed to be intent on using the Eldar as their meatshield. |
| Annihilating the Gilded Oblivion revealed several piqued Chaos Space Marines and their lord. |
Deciding to ignore that little mistake, the Farseer pulled some Eldar shenanigans (Battle Focus boosts), making the Fire Dragons leap forward around 15 inches, followed closely by the Shining Spears. This put most of the unit of Fire Dragons within half range of their melta weapons. Judicious use of tokens helped me blast the Gilded Oblivion off the table in turn 1, revealing the (by now) very grumpy passengers that had been riding it into battle.
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| This is not the shadow of the photographer, but the Shadow in the Warp. We're just that dedicated when it comes to modelling special effects. |
On the far flank a unit of Hormagaunts charged a unit of Ork Boyz. The Orks proceeded to smash the poor bio-organic unit into a pulp. The lack of hivemind oversight may have played a part in this as well.
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| Do not take the right flank too seriously, I was so absorbed in getting shot by Slaanesh, that I missed most of the action there. |
Turn 2: Chaos Space Marines and Orks
The second turn started with a small victory for the Eldar and Tyranids. First the hive mind manifested its Shadow From the Warp, stopping most of the enemy units from claiming victory points that turn. The Ork Warboss managed to avoid this fate, but a cheeky trick by the Farseer robbed him of his victory. To add insult to injury, the Fire Dragons blasted the Ork Truck apart with overwatch, leaving the angry Warboss stranded on foot. |
| The passing of the Grey Company... |
At that point the second turn was all about revenge for the destruction of the Gilded Oblivion and the harm done to morale. With a hail of bolterfire and harsh language, the Slaaneshi Space Marines blasted at the Shining Spears and Fire Dragons. Following up with a charge, the units were completely obliterated. The Noise Marines made short work of the Dark Reapers. Advancing on the flanks, the Orks slowly crept up the field, blasting apart a unit of Wind Riders that had just taken a few pot-shots at a Loota' unit.
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| I'm so happy with this explosion marker I found. I can't use it enough. |
Turn 2: Eldar and Tyranids
At the start of turn 2, having used up their Eldar meat shields, the bulk of the Tyranid forces arrived by burrowing up from the ground with a Mawloc, Trygon and a few more units. The appearance of the Big 'Nids and Genestealers took the advancing Orks by surprise and tore through their flank.
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| The 'Nids arrived in turn 2, making it look as if the Eldar's plan to use them as meat shields had been switch'a-rooed by them. |
On the Eldar side of things, things looked decidedly grim. Most of my units were gone and my Wraithlord, Sael'Var, was down to its last two wounds. Luckily my Swooping Hawks picked that point of the turn to make an appearance. Historically, they've never been useful; this marked the first battle ever that they weren't obliterated on arrival. They shot at the Noise Marines and rejoiced as the number of enhanced guitars playing Nickelback got reduced.
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| As the rainbows fade away, the purple of the Hive Mind grows, it's almost as if there's a hidden message there... |
Turn 3: Chaos Space Marines and Orks
The Slaaneshi disciples decided to continue a reckless charge into my lines in their final turn. The commander of the army stormed into the ruin where my Swooping Hawks perched, ready to take them out if he could. Meanwhile a frightening array of Ork artillery took aim at Sael'Var. Through sheer luck, and the power of wraithbone, the construct managed to stay in one piece. |
| In a fight of Big 'Nids versus Killa Kans, the odds tend to favor the Big 'Nids. |
Aside from the Ork shooting most of the action was concentrated on the Warboss. Nids had eaten their way through the rest of his unit, but the green boss somehow managed to keep fighting. He was helped by a fresh unit of Chaos Space Marines that I had lost track of from turn 1. These marines took most of the 'Nids attention during this turn.
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| I'm not sure if the move with the long arrow is possible, this is how it looked from my perspective. |
Turn 3: Eldar and Tyranids
On my final turn the Swooping Hawks tried to kill the Chaos Space Marine lord with their handy grenades. It was at this point they discovered that throwing the pins at the enemy and the grenades over your shoulder doesn't do much. Luckily a passing 'Nid showed them how to kill with grenades. It popped up from (as far as I could tell) the other side of the table to point this out. |
| "Just the two of us..." *Nickelback screaches* "Nevermind, it's just me now...." |
At the final tally it turned out we had (by the skin of our teeth) managed to win enough victory points to score a win. My two surviving units silently blinked out of existence, into the webway. Safely ensconced in our mini-craftworld, we could finally figure out how our brilliant scheme had seemingly backfired, with the hive mind using our precious Eldar as bait. Give it a few more days, and I'll come up with a good explanation (and another arrogant vox-cast).
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