Stormtroopers Overkill

Sorry for the long absence (it's been 2 weeks!), I had been busy. I needed to make minor amendments to my thesis and still am in the process of applying for my visa.

This might be trouble because it means I have to sell away my collection before I leave overseas, and as a graduate student, I might not have enough money to buy a new army in Minnesota. Oh well.

Anyway, who cares about my personal problems? Let's get back down to the awesome universe of Warhammer 40K. Today, I've finally procured the White Dwarf magazines that I need to in order to write articles for my blog. This one will be about the Militarum Tempestus...argh, I'll just call them Stormtroopers, in Deathwatch: Overkill. I also bought the issue on Imperial Knights: Renegade, but I'll elaborate more on that in another article.

As you probably already know, White Dwarf has an exclusive new mission for Deathwatch: Overkill, where you use Stormtroopers in place of a Deathwatch Space Marines Kill Team. And boy is that more fun! It covers the missions of Inquisitor Chaegryn, who led his inquisitorial stormtroopers into Ghosar Quintus. Being grimdark, we all know how that's going to turn out...well, they got wiped out. Ouch. That's why Team Excis went in and also got eradicated, before Team Cassius finally came in. Oh well. Anyway, the rules for the missions are the same, except that you have 10 Stormtroopers instead of 5 Space Marines (or 8 instead of 4 if you're using the missions from the Overkill box). Nothing much to say here, except that it should be fun. For me, who prefers Stormtroopers to Space Marines, anyway.

I can think of a new story now...Deathwatch: Underkill.

The Kamikaze Troopers, the highly respected Stormtroopers of the Draconis Armored Defense Force Imperial Guard Regiment, are the first to respond to a distress signal from the world of Phantos Sextus. Upon arriving with an inquisitor from the Ordo Xenos, they discover the butchered remains of the Deathwatch Kill Team...uh, Killian.

When the superhuman Space Marines of the revered Deathwatch chapter succumbs to the insidious claws of a Genestealer Cult, it is up to the brave men of the Imperial Guard to step up and cleanse the galaxy of Xenos scum!

If I ever get around to writing it, I'll post it on Fanfiction.net. Otherwise...oh well. You know. Life happens.

Oh yeah, as a tidbit for buying the White Dwarf issue, I found this Codex: Apocrypha Extra at the back of the magazine. Kamikaze Troopers BANZAI! Note that these are stories about the infamous actions of the Militarum Tempestus, found on a small column on page 31.

Stubborn unto Death

The 196th Iotan Gryphonnes were deployed in their entirety to kill every single Earth caste scientist, researcher and student on the Tau world of Bork'an. Whilst the action began promisingly, the Tau counterattack was overwhelming as the Earth caste deployed experimental battlesuits and prototype weapon systems that annihilated the Scions with ease (ouch). The Earth caste having fled, the Iotan Gryphonnes found their repeated requests for extraction denied and were hunted down by the vengeful Fire Warriors and XV25 Stealth Teams.

My own addition: However, the 196th Iotan Gryphonnes were able to exterminate every Fire Warrior and XV25 Stealth Teams by relying on brutal cunning and carefully planned ambushes. Salvaging the superior technology and weapons from their dead enemy, the Scions continued to wage a guerilla war against the Tau military units stationed on that world, causing massive collateral damage and disrupting key research institutions. Okay, so maybe that didn't happen...but it should have, damn it...

The Lost Patrol

Having repelled an Eldar raid on a far-flung colony world, the 47th Thetoid Dragons began to investigate the mysterious xenos ruins uncovered in the attack. They discovered a network of shimmering unreal tunnels that defied geometry. Inside, they were harried for days by Eldar Harlequins for reasons that made sense only to the capricious aliens, leading the 47th to a rune-covered portal. The Thetoid Dragons passed through, finding themselves trapped on a Daemon world, surviving against the legions of Khorne for a full two days before being slaughtered to a man.

First Blood

A full six regiments of Tempestus Scions were tasked with breaching the infamous Eye of Terror to determine just where the first strike of Abaddon's Thirteenth Black Crusade would take place. But just as soon as they left the light of the Astronomican they vanished, never to be seen again...

My own addition: ...until now. As Abbadon the Despoiler strikes at the heart of Cadia, the full six regiments of Tempestus Scions emerge from the Warp, having been misdirected and swept away by the fickle currents of the nefarious realm to appear in a much later time. They land near Kasr Gallan, reinforcing a faltering defense that was being assaulted by Chaos forces. Their appearance turned the tide against the forces of Chaos, buying Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed the time he needed to counterattack and retake a significant portion of Cadia from the hands of the Great Enemy. Okay, so maybe this didn't happen...but it should have, damn it...