Welcome back to Warzone: Damocles! Last time around we talked about the Taros Air War, which jumped us ahead 18 years to see the ending of the War for Taros (the Imperium came back and kicked T’au asses). This week we’re going back in time, to before the Air War, and one of the most important early conflicts of the Third Sphere Expansion.
Apocalypse War Zone: Damocles was published in March 2014 and was the third of four Apocalypse War Zone books released by Games Workshop (we’ve already covered Valedor but we’ll cover Damnos and Pandorax in future articles). These books were self-contained supplements designed to support the sixth edition Apocalypse rules, which governed running very large (and interminably long) games of Warhammer 40,000 by adding on even more additional rules around formations, strategic assets (basically Stratagems), finest hours, and hilariously large blast templates. The books also covered famous campaigns from the history of Warhammer 40K, though in the case of all four books they tended to cover “contemporary” events, in that these were not widely known and in the case of Damocles, were actively being written as the “current” lore at the time.
Apocalypse War Zone: Damocles takes place in 999.M41, one year after The Taros Campaign, as T’au forces had begun their Third Sphere expansion in earnest under the command of Ethereal Supreme Aun’Va and Commander Shadowsun. Hundreds of expeditionary forces were sent out, leading the inevitable war between the fledgling T’au Empire and the venerable Imperium of Man. Most of the fringe worlds fell quickly to T’au military might, and after a few of those victories planets just began to give up ahead of time. Things stalled a bit when the T’au conquest reached the world of Voltoris, home world of House Terryn. Patriarch Tybalt was not moved by the Water Caste’s petitions for peace, and would not forsake his house’s oath to the Emperor. But the real battle would occur on Agrellan, a hive world in the mineral-rich Dovar System close to an impassible region of the Damocles Gulf. It would be nearly impossible for the T’au armada to access the system without passing through Agrellan’s orbit, and because of this, the hive world had to fall.
As soon as the T’au had revealed Agrellan as their target, the Imperium sent their forces to meet them, using their superior vessel speed (via translation through the Warp) to arrive in time to meet the T’au fleet, resulting in a massive space battle which ultimately forced the smaller Imperial flotilla to disengage. Their forces would regroup on the planet’s surface – a mixture of Catachans, Imperial Knights and White Scars Space Marines, ready to fend off the T’au assault.
Welcome to Agrellan
Agrellan is an imperial Hive World home to more than 16.7 billion inhabitants across a number of massive hive cities. The planet itself was a toxic nightmare, the scarred remains of a virus bomb set off by the Inquisition following a daemonic incursion that even the Grey Knights could not stop. In the years following the planet’s atmosphere reacted violently, creating a toxic environment hazardous to life outside the hive walls. The surviving flora and fauna had mutated as well, becoming tainted by Chaos thanks to the thin veil between reality and the Warp on the planet’s surface.
So in other words, not a great environment for warfare.
Shadowsun’s first move was to test her foe: Her Fire Caste had yet to test their mettle against Imperial Knights and so sought to draw them out and expose them. Her formations probed the defenses of the planet’s hive cities, stretching Imperial forces to their limit. These hit and run tactics were very effective early on and would have broken the defenders if not for the speed and versatility of the White Scars’ forces. To counteract this, Shadowsun used her superior air forces, targeting the White Scars’ Thunderhawk gunships and forcing the White Scars to deploy in transports as a mobile reserve.
The initial T’au attack was focused on the capital Hive, where she drew the Knights stationed there out into the open, hoping to bring them down. However the knights’ ion shields held (sometimes you just roll hot), and soon they were crashing into the T’au lines, smashing up the T’au armor before Shadowsun personally intervened to drive them off.
Kor’sarro Khan was particularly impressed by Shadowsun’s tactics, and made it a personal mission to see her slain. He led a bike-mounted demi-company to track her down behind enemy lines, where they were spotted by a stealth cadre who relayed their position to Shadowsun. She played it cool, turning the Space Marines’ doggedness against them, repeatedly making small sacrifices to draw them into battlefields of their choosing, whittling them down piece by piece and cutting them off from support. Khan’s forces managed to escape a near-fatal trap at Blackshale Ridge thanks to the timely intervention of a Land Speeder squadron.
As the war drew on, Shadowsun became increasingly worried about a stalemate. In order to prevent things from grinding on too long, the T’au forces planned a massive and carefully orchestrated, simultaneous attack against every hive city on the planet. Their plan for dealing with the Imperial Knights was to roll out their newest Earth Caste Technology: The XV104 Riptide Battlesuit.
Cometh the Ravens
That would have been pretty disastrous for the Imperial Forces if not for the timely arrival of the Raven Guard. As the White Scars forces gathered at a hidden weapons cache, they were surprised by Shadow Captain Shrike of the Raven Guard, delivering a message from Chapter Master Corvin Severax. The T’au were preparing for a massive final strike – the planet would not hold. The White Scars were to head back to the capital and retreat off-world. A powerful Imperial Fleet was inbound to aid in the evacuation, including the Raven Guard strike cruiser, Stormshadow.Â
The White Scars were not particularly thrilled with this idea, calling the idea of retreating at this point craven. Khan mocked the Raven Guard for sulking in the shadows, and bristled at the idea that they only survived at Blackshale Ridge thanks to the intervention of Raven Guard forces. Unfortunately for him, Severax was now in command of the Imperial forces, and he had sent Shrike to talk Khan down due to their personal history. Although unhappy about it, the White Scars followed orders, falling back to the capital.
This was ultimately a good thing for the Imperium’s forces, who would otherwise have been completely decimated by the T’au assault. The T’au had meticulously analyzed the defenses of each city and brought them down in a matter of hours. A different plan was used against each city, ensuring no single defensive plan would work against the T’au onslaught twice. The fighting was hardest at the capital, where Imperial forces were bolstered by the Raven Guard 6th company. It was during this battle that the T’au unleased their secret new weapons: the XV104 Riptide battlesuits, transported to Agrellan just to lead this assault.
The assault proved to be a masterstroke, defeating Imperial forces in every hive city and nearly trapping the retreating Imperial forces. As Catachan and Kroot forces circled each other in the planet’s toxic jungles, Knights did battle with Riptides and House Terryn was only able to survive and withdraw thanks to the timely surprise intervention of the Obsidian Knight, a Freeblade veteran of the Damocles Crusade called to action by Severax for this battle.
An Encore Performance
As the Imperial Fleet broke orbit, the T’au had already begun to settle their newest T’au sept world, which they named Mu’gulath Bay. Meanwhile, the Imperial forces regrouped, holding a war council on Severax’s flagship. They chose to withdraw to House Terryn’s home world, Voltoris, where they hoped to draw the T’au into attacking the planet – its only inhabited area was a single stronghold atop a mountain named Furion Peak.
Shadowsun was drunk on victory at this point and looking to keep that momentum going. The Dovar system now lay open to the T’au, and their forces swept through the remaining planets in rapid succession. Shadowsun had her doubts, however – she wanted to know what had become of the fleeing Imperial forces. On Aun’Va’s orders, she was allowed to leave with a small force to hunt down her quarry. Her fleet followed the Imperial defenders to Voltoris, where they staged for an invasion. For their part, the T’au were keen to get revenge on the knights of House Terryn, for both rebuffing their negotiation attempts and the damage they caused on Agrellan.
Going into this fight, Shadowsun believed she had the upper hand in terms of force size and strength – but she was severely mistaken. The Catachan forces had hidden themselves in the dense jungles around Furion peak, while White Scars Stormseer Sudabeh had concealed the entirely of the Raven Guard forces with a psychic veil. As the T’au forces arrived and bore down on the Cadian 724th – left out there as bait – they moved right into a trap.
In the ensuing fighting the Raven Guard isolated and destroyed the T’au forces piecemeal, while marine forces targeted the Riptide battlesuits. In the thick of fighting, Shadowsun found herself fighting the Space Marine commanders. Although her knowledge of psykers was limited, she’d encountered Gue’la witches before and knew how dangerous they could be. She activated her stealth module and killed Sudabeh first with her fusion blasters, only to look on with dismay as the psychic shield he’d been holding up lifted and the full size of the Imperial force was revealed.
In the face of overwhelming superiority, Shadowsun made the call to fall back, focusing on saving as many of her kin as possible. In the final moments of the battle she ended up face to face with Kor’sarro Khan, seeing to fulfil his Oath (of Moment) to destroy her. He’d end up failing as her bodyguard stepped in to protect her, and Khan only managed to scar the chest plate of her suit.
The defeat was a disaster for Shadowsun – one of the first of her military career. Her depleted forces returned to rejoin Aun’Va’s expeditionary fleet, newly humbled but filled with determination to redouble their efforts.
Dramatis Personae
There are a number of pretty big names in War Zone Damocles, and it’s worth looking at who they are, because we’re going to see them again over the next few articles.
Ethereal Supreme Aun’Va
The oldest of the Ethereals, Aun’Va is venerated above all others in the Ethereal caste, celebrated wherever he travels. He’s the mastermind behind the Third Sphere Expedition, and chose to personally lead it with Commander Shadowsun at his side. Aun’Va inspires an almost fanatical devotion among the T’au, and it was said that none could deny his will or even so much as show disagreement with him.
Commander Shadowsun
The successor to Commander Farsight and the recognized master pupil of Commander Puretide, Shadowsun is the master of the Kayon way of warfare. She’s led T’au forces against Orks on countless occasions and is the commander of the Third sphere expansion, leading T’au forces along side Aun’Va.
Kor’sarro Khan
The Captain of the White Scars’ Third Company, Kor’sarro Khan is also the Master of the Hunt for the chapter, honor-bound to hunt down those who have wronged his battle-brothers. A fierce and savage warrior, Kor’sarro met Shadow Captain Kayvaan Shrike while on the hunt for Daemon Prince Kernax Valdorius on the Hive World of Modanna – they put aside their differences and worked together to slay the Daemon Prince.
Shadow Captain Shrike
The captain of the Raven Guard third company, Shrike is a master of hit and run attacks and guerilla warfare. When he and Kor’sarro put aside their differences to work together on Valdorius, he earned the Third Company Khan’s respect.
Corvin Severax
The Chapter Master of the Raven Guard and the Lord of Shadows, Severax is seldom seen, even by his own chapter. He led the chapter during the Damocles Gulf Crusade, and was instrumental in bringing the Freeblade Obsidian Knight to Agrellax to fight the T’au once more.
The Rules
The rules in this book focus primarily on the battle for the capital, Agrellan Prime. The Apocalypse books tend to go a bit harder on the historical aspects of these, going so far as to provide a complete list of forces on both sides of the conflict. The forces listed represent very large games of Warhammer 40k but still relatively small battles when it comes to the scale of actual Warfare. The Forces of the Imperium are mostly vehicles, though they include three battle companies of space marines and a Catachan Ambush Patrol. The first mission covers the T’au assault on the Hive as Imperial defenders hold them at bay in hopes of evacuating allied forces off-world.
In addition to this main mission there are rules for three additional missions. The first – A Caged Tiger – sees an Imperial Force dispatched outside the walls of Agrellan and attempting to strike and return to the city before the T’au forces could retaliate. The Hunt for Shadowsun follows Kor’sarro Khan’s attempts to take down Shadowsun. And Raze and Ruin covers a T’au mission to overrun an Imperial stronghold, which had to include a Grand Redoubt formation.
As a late sixth edition/early seventh edition release, the majority of the rules here are formations, special groups of units which, when fielded, would gain special rules. For example, if you took the Armoured Vanguard Squadron for space marines, you’d need to run 3-5 Rhinos and/or Razorbacks in any combination, but if you did, they’d gain the Assault Vehicle (charge after disembarking) and Tank Hunters rules. There are Detachments here to represent the Raven Guard and White Scars forces, some for Astra Militarum and Imperial Knights, and a host for the T’au.
Final Thoughts
As has become the custom with these things, we kick off the campaign with a T’au victory. Imperial retaliation at Voltoris might have been a humiliation for Shadowsun, but the T’au forces captured Agrellan decisively, and Mu’gulath Bay would be the site of future conflict throughout the campaign. The lore in the Apocalypse War Zone books is relatively straightforward compared to later books, taking only a dozen pages and covering the major events without out-staying its welcome.
Join us next time when we move to seventh edition and kick off that Damocles campaign with the dual release of Operation Shadowtalon and Burning Sun.
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