Mechanicus Experiments on Gideon Fields

The third stage of the second phase of the Gydisk Sigma continued today! I was hoping to get more people to play, but some things happened, so we didn't have our usual crowd. Nonetheless, the battle between the Imperium and the Tyranids came to a head in the second phase, on the vast plains of Gideon Fields.

Amidst the ruins of Gideon Fields lay an abandoned Adeptus Mechanicus research facility. Apprently, the tech-priests have been conducting experiments on the Tyranids, which led to...catastrophic consequences. Hive Fleet Leviathan, drawn by the promise of biomass as well as the psychic screams of imprisoned Tyranid organisms imprisoned within the laboratories, sought to burrow beneath the fields and past tons of rockcrete and ceramite to add to their burgeoning genetic material.

Unbeknownst to them, as well as the Imperium at large, a renegade tech-priest - Archmagos Cecile - had also landed a massive maniple of Skitarii and combat servitors at Gideon Fields to recover the lost research on Tyranid bioforms. Obsessed with xenos' technology and archeotech, Cecile desired to reclaim the forgotten facility's data on heretical experiments. A borderline Heretek himself, Cecile had no qualms raiding the sacred laboratory of Gydisk Sigma and bringing its secrets back to his forge world of Raetia. To his dismay, he found his route blocked by countless creatures from the hordes of the Great Devourer, ravenously feeding on the native fauna in Gydisk Sigma.

Employing Raetian Skitarii and heavy Kataphron battle servitors, Cecile launched a holy crusade to reclaim the data, burning through the teeming hordes of chitin. Unfortunately, Hive Fleet Leviathan was not to be denied its meal and they tore through cyborg soldiers and hover tanks alike. Despite suffering heavy losses that saw his once glorious maniple reduced to a handful of ragged survivors, Cecile was eventually able to break free from the ferocious swarm, fighting atop a severely damaged Skorpius Disintegrator to make it back to his aircraft that took the beleaguered tech-priest and surviving Skitarii to his Ark Mechanicus in orbit.

Despite nearly annihilating the Adeptus Mechanicus maniple, the denizens of Hive Fleet Leviathan were denied the opportunity to add to their burgeoning pool of genetic material and evolve further. The horde had also lost countless biological soldiers to the cold and calculated slaughter of the Skitarii, or devastating volleys from the Kataphron Destroyers. Nonetheless, after withdrawing from the casualties they sustained, the Tyranid swarm began to reabsorb the biomass from the dead and fallen, reconstituting their numbers and massing for yet another attack.

For the battle on Gydisk Sigma was not yet over. As long as even one synapse creature remained, Hive Fleet Leviathan would continue to scour this world of biomass until nothing was left.

Phase 3 of the Gydisk Sigma Campaign will begin next week, as we transition to Onslaught sized games. Currently the Defenders hold the advantage, having narrowly won phase 1 and seized phase 2 decisively, tallying a total of 3 Strategic Points. However, the Attackers still have the opportunity to turn things arund for phase 3 is also worth 3 Strategic Points. Will the Imperium be able to hold onto Gydisk Sigma and drive out the Tyranids and traitors? I guess we'll find out.