Space Hulk - Dark Angels Campaign (Opening & Mission 1)

In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy and destruction of Caliban, the First Legion had desperately salvaged what was left of their home world to create The Rock.  Essentially a mobile fortress made of the remnants of Caliban and used as a base of operations for the Dark Angels, the sons of Lion El’Jonson began their holy quest to hunt down those they had once called brothers.  Where once they had fought side by side and would have gladly given up their lives for, now all that is left is bitter hatred that can only ever be quenched through retribution and blood-shed. 

The Dark Angels traveled tirelessly across the stars to see through any possible leads that may lead them to The Fallen.  Guided by the Legion’s Inner Circle, they mercilessly pursued those that had betrayed their gene-sire through treachery and deceit.  As The Fallen spread further away from Segmentum Obsurus, the Dark Angel’s hunt became ever more difficult.  Even with the aid of the Legion’s Epistolaries, it seemed as if their quarries had vanished, leaving not even the slightest psychic trail behind for them to track.

As the Angels will realize, most of The Fallen have taken refuge within the Eye of Terror.  The renegade Dark Angels waited patiently within the warp, guided by their Chaos gods.  They waited for centuries, anticipating for a sign as to when they may come out of their hiding.  Despite their newfound faith, the starships that carried the traitors were not immune to the Immaterium’s voracious powers.  As time passed, the Gellar Field Devices installed to allow starships and its occupants to survive the extremely hostile environment of Warpspace would weaken and eventually collapse, allowing the denizens of the Warp to tear inside the ship to reach and consume the souls of all living things aboard.  As for the ship itself, the adamantium hull and superstructure would be similarly distorted and warped into a mangled mass, floating lifelessly within the Warp until by chance it collided with another ship to create a space hulk, before returning to real space. 

c. 580.M40

Chief Librarian Ezekiel received a distressed call via astropathic communication signaling a massive space hulk sighting.  Traveling dangerously close to a commercial route used for industrial trading by the Imperium, complete annihilation through fire would be disastrous as the debris left in its destruction may hit and destroy numerous merchant ships not built for space warfare.  The most disturbing aspect was that the communication was immediately lost after transmission and never recovered, despite the combined efforts of the Chief Librarian, senior Epistolaries as well as the other astropaths and psykers aboard The Rock.  Not only was psychic communication rendered impossible, but the use of their latent powers became more difficult by the minute. 

Mission 1 - Contact

The psychic disturbance was immediately brought to Supreme Grand Master Azrael’s attention, who promptly decided it was in the Angel’s best interest to investigate the matter directly, via dispatching a number of squads from the Deathwing Company.  With the interior visual/layout of the space hulk impossible to unveil from The Rock, Azrael’s command was for the squads to breach the derelict vessel via boarding torpedoes directly.  Once inside, their primary mission were to establish coordinates that were deemed safe enough for teleport homers to be set up such that members from the Deathwing Knights may join force and provide some much needed close-combat support and on the ground leadership.

Deployment and forces

Dark Angels:

The Dark Angels player has two squads:

Squad Dominus:

-          One Deathwing Sergeant armed with a Storm Bolter and Power Sword

-          One Deathwing Terminator armed with Heavy Flamer and Power Fist

-          One Deathwing Terminator armed with Storm Bolter and Chain Fist

-          Two Deathwing Terminators armed with Storm Bolters and Power Fists

Squad Ulciscor:

-          One Deathwing Sergeant armed with a Storm Bolter and Power Sword

-          One Deathwing Terminator armed with Assault Cannon and Power Fist

-          Three Deathwing Terminators armed with Storm Bolters and Power Fists

Genestealers:

Refer to Space Hulk Mission Book: Beachhead. However, Genestealers player will receive one reinforcement blip per turn, between Turn 4 and finishing on Turn 12.

Victory:

Dark Angels:

The mission ends at the end of Turn 12.  The Dark Angels player wins by setting up at least four teleport homers (up to a total of five teleport homers maybe set) and surviving to the end of the mission with no less than five Terminators.  To set up a teleport homer, a Deathwing Terminator must be in the center square of a room (the room must not be occupied by Genestealer models) and spend 4 APs to set up.  While setting up a teleport homer, the model cannot be on Overwatch or Guard, and if the model is attacked by a Genestealer then the action is aborted and must attempt to set up again in the Dark Angels player’s next turn.  The confined area within a space hulk means that only one teleport homer may be set up per room. 

The Genestealers player wins outright if the Dark Angels player fails to set up at least three teleport homers or have less than five remaining Deathwing Terminators by the end of the game.

Any other results will be a draw.