Sunday 5 August 2018

Wurrshuv's Revenge - Week 13

Wurrshuv's Revenge - An ATT Campaign 

Week 13 



The end is nigh on M-88. The titanic struggle between the Tau and Orks is now in it's final blood-soaked twilight, and both sides launch their final decisive blows. Rising from the heart of the Greenskins' settlements and fortresses, the Ork tellyporta arrays are now fully functional, and the Tau now fight frantically to destroy them before they are activated. The Orks, in turn, are now confident with the knowledge that massive reinforcements are imminent, and have emptied their reserves into shattering the Tau once and for all. Millions of Greenskins have now surged from their settlements and strongholds to rampage across the surface of M-88, and the Tau have been thrown into retreat in multiple sectors. 

In space Ork warships continue to flood the inner system. Freeboota fleets have succeeded in shutting down one of the Empire reinforcement corridors to M-88, and continue to maintain a stranglehold on one of the two Enclave reinforcement corridors. This has effectively halved the Tau reinforcement and resupply capacity for the conflict. Tau fleet elements mount counter-attacks where they can, but there seems to be no end to the number of Ork vessels overrunning the system. Kor'vattra fleet K-42 continues to see success at intercepting further Roks. 

Situation Updates - All Sectors 

He'Sho Seas - ORK CONTROLLED 

With no sign of imminent relief and in the face of spiralling casualty rates, the Tau commanders in the He'Sho Seas have determined that their remaining resources are insufficient for the task set them, and have ordered a withdrawal from the region. In response surviving Tau elements in the He'Sho Seas have ceased offensive operations and begun falling back to the Tau landing sites around FFG355Y for evacuation. The result has seen a growing concentration of Tau forces around FFG355Y as Tau elements filter back to the landing sites and await evacuation. 

The Orks have offered no respite for the spent Tau air-landing forces, and continue to mount vice-like pressure against the Tau incursion. The Ork settlements within the He'Sho Seas have dispatched many of the reserves stationed there to reinforce the already immense Ork armies hounding the Tau, whose advance has been slowed only by a series of desperate rearguard actions by Tau troops. Although these rearguards have prevented the Orks from overrunning the Tau evacuation zones thus far, they have failed to stop the Orks from surrounding Tau positions. Ork airstrikes under Linebakka mercilessly strafe and bomb the landing sites during spells of fair weather, and Ork artillery has begun relentlessly hammering the Tau while they wait for transport to arrive. 

Ork Points: 83 
Tau Points: 17 

Mo'Hav Plains - ORK CONTROLLED 

Determined to prevent the local tellyporta arrays from ever coming online, Operation MONSOON continues to sweep through the Mo'Hav Plains with its campaign of 'Settlement hopping'. With the tellyporta arrays functional, the Tau are able to distinguish the genuine tellyportas from their replica decoys by analysing the energy signatures as the tellyporta arrays begin to power up, allowing them to concentrate all force on the devices. This has drawn the Tau into a seemingly endless cycle of blood-soaked and horrifically bitter street fighting within the Ork settlements and fortresses housing tellyporta arrays. Losses have been extremely heavy on both sides, with the Tau's growing experience in combat within the confines of an Ork settlement being offset by the defending Orks' intimate knowledge of the layout of their strongholds and a fanatical drive to defend their homes and livelihoods. The veteran core of the Gretchin Revolutionary Komittee forces fighting on M-88 have proven particularly effective here, with their experience in Orkish street-fighting on Gorkamorka giving them a decisive edge while being able to match and even defeat Tau in close quarters combat. 

As Operation MONSOON continues to push east, Ork counterattacks from Test Range Ekko keep its southward progress checked, allowing Greenskin forces to continue to move through the Mo'Hav Plains into Tau territory. Ork fighta-bommers flying under Linebakka continue to pummel Operation MONSOON's supply lines and rear echelons during periods of fair weather. Worst of all, however, is the events in the north, as the lead elements of the Gargant mobs deployed to the Mo'Hav Plains have finally made contact with Operation MONSOON. The initial attacks from the Ork titans have proven devastating on Operation MONSOON's northern elements, and all Tau attempts to resist them have thus far ended in failure. It is feared that the Gargants may be unstoppable... 

Ork Points: 72 
Tau Points: 28 

Wurrshuv's Krunch - ORK CONTROLLED 

Operation IO's fate has been thrown into jeopardy. Shas'O'T'au Kais'ka'Eoro'Da'Anuk has been forced to abandon his carefully laid exit strategy for his troops after their escape route into the Saal'vesa training grounds was compromised by Tau weapon strikes. The Guards Cadres were able to detect the biological weapon attacks before they could run into the contaminated areas, and have managed to avoid any exposure to the biological agents, changing their route of march to take them due west towards Fio Starport. This is expected to delay the breakout of Operation IO, but much of the original withdrawal plan has been able to be salvaged. 

This has been the only consolation for the Tau forces involved with Operation IO. The delay brought on by the diversion has enabled the Ork forces pursuing the Guards Cadres to overtake and encircle the Tau, and the Guards Cadres now face the very real proposition of being cut off and surrounded by Wurrshuv's most fearsome armies. Supplies are beginning to run low and casualty rates continue to rise. Nonetheless, Operation IO has succeeded in drawing away most of the Ork forces In a position to attack Operation MONSOON from the north-west, and the ATT Shas'ar'tol is considering the possibility of exploiting this vulnerability with a follow-on offensive into the Krunch region to relieve pressure on Operation IO and allow the Guards Cadres and their support to escape. 

Ork Points: 100 
Tau Points: 0 

Training Ground Saal'vesa - TAU CONTROLLED

In a desperate bid to stem the unstoppable Greenskin hordes pouring into the Saal'vesa training  grounds, Tau ORBIT forces have resorted to the use of weapons of mass destruction. ORBIT forces have launched biological weapon strikes along much of the border between the Saal'vesa region and Wurrshuv's Krunch, contaminating large swathes of land with 'smart-virus' agents developed under ORBIT supervision. These biological weapon attacks have been employed in conjunction with a number of heavy-duty fusion charges placed at strategic points by ORBIT engineers and detonated to restrict Ork troop movements. 

In response the Orks already present within the Saal'vesa region have dug in around the ORBIT positions, creating a formidable network of fortifications that has proven highly resistant to attacks. Infantry-based counterattacks by ORBIT forces have achieved a limited penetration of the Ork defence lines, but at the cost of staggering losses. This has in turn lead the ORBIT commanders to requisition superheavy units to support further offensives, and subsequent ORBIT offensives have been supported by experimental superheavy walkers deployed by the Tau. These assets have proven successful in combat, most notably engaging and destroying a number of Ork stompas in several pre-dawn engagements. The aftermath of one such engagement has been captured on film by an embedded Water Caste journalist and gained notability as part of a renewed propaganda campaign, however the ORBIT forces still retain a reputation for excessive force, with images of the desolation wrought by their biological weapon strikes and extensive demolitions sending just as strong a message amongst the more moderate elements of the Tau Empire. 

The Ork retaliation has been swift. Ork aircraft flying in fair weather periods have staged bombing missions on Tau support facilities in the area, destroying the Tau superheavy walkers in their bases. Ork fighta-bommers have also mounted interdiction missions on Tau superheavy walkers travelling between battles, destroying them with tankbusta rokkits. A number of Tau observers, analysts and veterans have noted a grim irony in seeing their superheavy units being countered by air attack. These air raids have been employed in conjunction with a renewed Ork ground offensive from Test Range Ekko in the south-west that has managed to flank the ORBIT positions entirely. Led by a Grotzkreig of Gretchin Revolutionary Komittee Republikan Guard armoured formations supported by thousands of Ork warbands, the offensive has managed to encircle the ORBIT forces, trapping them against the Ork defence lines. Gargant mobs also continue to roam the Saal'vesa region. It remains to be seen whether the ORBIT forces can manage a breakthrough from their isolated pocket... 

Ork Points: 24
Tau Points: 76

Training Centre Or'vesa - TAU CONTROLLED

Enclave forces counterattacking in the region surrounding Training Centre Or'vesa have begun to make increasing headway against the Orks. Most notable of these successes is the destruction of a number of Ork Gargants and Great Gargants, among the first Ork titans deployed to the northern Or'vesa region, with repeated tracer missile strikes. Enclave forces have managed to push back the recent Ork advances in several sectors, but thus far remain unable to penetrate Da Fang. 

The reason behind the recent Tau successes around Training Centre Or'vesa lie in internal strife amongst the Greenskins, which has now finally come to a head. Chafing under the increasingly repressive methods of Wurrshuv's Tech-Nob enforcers, disenchanted with Wurrshuv's obsession with technology and convinced by their recent success that the Big Mek has outlived his usefulness, the Northern Raiders have declared themselves independent of Wurrshuv, and established Da Fang as a Free State. Wurrshuv's Tech-Nobz have locked down as many settlements as they can, but vast swathes of Da Fang have erupted into open revolt against Wurrshuv. Countless settlements and fortresses have been engulfed in mass rioting and brawling, caused as much by Orks celebrating their new freedom as they are by clashes with those Greenskins who remain loyal to Wurrshuv. Worst of all, Northern Raider rebels have seized the tellyporta array constructed in Da Fang, and are preparing to use it to bring forth reinforcements for their cause. 

In response, the vast armoured formations massed on the edge of Wurrshuv's Krunch have crossed over the border into Da Fang, and Tau orbital and aerial surveillance shows vast numbers of Wurrshuv-loyal armoured forces advancing on the renegade settlements and fortresses at speed. It seems that internecine Ork confrontation in the Or'vesa region is now inevitable... 

Ork Points: 35
Tau Points: 65

Fio Starport - TAU CONTROLLED

Over three months since the beginning of the conflict, the scenario most feared by the Tau has finally come to pass. Acting as part of the latest and most ambitious offensive by the Orks, conventional Ork forces have launched an incursion into the region surrounding Fio Starport. This attack has exploited the lack of defences surrounding Fio Starport in the aftermath of the grav-smasha strikes on the region, as well as the efforts of marauding Spekta mobs that continue to roam the area, and is at least in part an attempt by Wurrshuv to prevent any escape for Operation IO. Like the Spektas before them, the Ork warbands mounting this offensive have taken fierce pride in having the honour of leading the first major assault on the Tau's main planetside stronghold, and morale remains high. The Tau stealth cadres deployed to the region to counter Spekta activity have been optimised for operations against special forces and are ill-equipped to face the large well-armed and highly motivated conventional forces they now find themselves confronting, and the ATT Shas'ar'tol is desperately searching for a solution to halt the Ork incursion. 

More positive news has come for the Tau in the air. The Earth Caste has now completed their new network of airbases, and Tau combat aircraft numbers in the theatre of operations have grown large enough for the Tau to begin combat operations in fair weather conditions. These sorties have been limited in scope so far, and the Tau remain a long way from achieving air parity in the face of the Ork advantages in numbers and pilot skill among veteran flyboyz, but the Tau have nonetheless been able to achieve a handful of aerial wins in the brief periods of fair weather while retaining the advantage in poor weather conditions. 

Ork Points: 0
Tau Points: 100



Ork Campaign Points: 4 
Tau Campaign Points: 4 

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