First Nurglite Invasion

## Ground Plan

“Denizens of this world REJOICE for the Grandfather has taken notice of your revolt aganist the corpse emperor and saw fit to reward you by bestowing his putrid gifts and divine pestilences upon this world. We are the Pale Plagues, here to bring forth a new age of decay and despair”

This message was broadcasted this morning on all vox frequencies , intended not only to cause panic and disruption but also carried chaos spreading memetic properties that would have corrupted who knows how many people had it not been for the new vox security measures. Still several areas were put on high alert and the Auxilia are quelling attempted cult uprisings.

Vox corruption roll : 3d100=177(-15)(-10)=152. Bare Failure

This leaves no doubt that the Nurglites are due to arrive anytime now. With that in order you have gathered your military and naval advisors to prepare a strategy as Atlantean citizens are evacuated underground.

The forces available on Atlantis are as follows :

210 Skittari regiments

Cyberus Auxilia :

* 820 infantry regiments
* 75 Mechanised regiments
* 30 Armoured regiments (Exotank)
* 10 Armoured regiments (Scorpio)PDF :

* 160 Infantry regiments

* 10 Headhunters regiments

* 37 light infantry regiments

* 60 mechanized regiments

* 25 rough rider regiments

* 50 armored regiments (38 Exo and 12 Scorpio)

* 17 heavy infantry regimentsDesert Corps :

* 5 Desert scouts regiments
* 25 rough riders
* 30 infantry regiments
* 25 Armoured regiments (20 Exotanks and 5 Scorpio)Mechs :

* 35 Atlas mech regiments
* 35 Goliath regiments-30 billion militias

-50 Pyronaut regiments
-50 Heavy weaponry regiments
-50 Skirmisher regiments
- Rest of the population functions as a last resort military force thanks to conscription
-25 Phlygian auxiliary regiments
-400 Thelal
-4 Elysian drop regiments
-100 Void regiments
-Iblisan forces ( 5 Void, 3 heavy infantry and 6 light infantry)
Air forces :

* 80 Stryker X
* 380 marauders
* 415 Thunderbolts
* 1220 Avengers
* 155 phantom planesSubmarines :

* 30 small submarines
* 10 medium submarines
* 10 large submarines
* 10 titanic submarines
* 10 stealth submarinesSpecial forces :

-Malcadi gen2 : 5000
-Teslan claws
In addition you have received aid from the rest of the dominion in the form of :

* 50 Heavy Ansazian infantry
* 65 Akhnajinian infantry and 5 armoured (leman Russ)
* 11 Forestriian elite socut regiments

(Note : Iblisian forces are mostly Offworld aiding in Ansazia’s cleanup and securing their homeworld)

There are many proposed plans on how to handle a possible ground invasion and after much deliberation the choice is settled on the following plans which utilise your superior numbers and technology aganist the invaders

Plans proposed :

**Dig in :** Should the navy fail to stop the nurglites in orbit, the ground forces are to entrench and fortify themselves in easily defendable positions and grind down the chaos forces through attrition and espionage , reserving their massed strength until a weakness opens in the chaos ranks and gives you a chance to strike .

**Swift action :** The other option is a direct shock and awe approach , attack the nurglites head on and forcing them on the defence and attempt to force them into a decisive clash .

**Write in**

## Naval Plan

You decide to employ a lightening swift direct approach to the nurglites should they make it to the planet’s surface as attrition and sieges are a speciality of those who worship the plague god. At the forefront of this will be the skirmishers, pyronauts and the malcadi who are most suited for going head on aganist the forces of chaos.

With that settled you move on to the naval strategy. These are the ships available:

* 1 Ark Mechanicus
* 2 Retribution class battleships
* 2 Victory class battleships
* 6 Armageddon-class Battlecruiser
* 2 Avenger Grand cruiser
* 1 Grey Knight Strike Cruiser (not usable)
* 3 Adeptus Mechanicus cruisers
* 30 Gothic cruisers
* 6 Lunar class cruisers
* 2 Enforcer-class Cruisers
* 1 Luna class cruiser (heavily Tau-modified and upgraded)
* 13 Adeptus Mechanicus light cruisers
* 26 Endurance class Light Cruisers
* 4 Viper-class Missile Destroyers
* 4 heavily modified defiant class light frigates
* 21 heavily modified and armed merchants
* 12 heavily modified escort vessels
* 69 Azul Frigates (10 fully upgraded)
* 31 Amethyst Destroyers (11 fully upgraded)

* 27 Monitors (Frigates)
* 27 troop transports
* - ??? Heavy Transport (Cruiser)
* - 3 Light Transports (Frigate)
* Available Ally Vessels:
* 5 Kroot vessels
* 21 unidentifiable xeno vessels (16 are frigate sized)

TOTAL:

* 220 Warp-capable warships
* 26 System Monitors
* 27 Transports
* 26 ally xeno warships

Your naval commanders present you with the following options:

**Close to home :** Atlantis is the heart of the system and it makes sense that the traitors will strike here first and unlike the imperials they are not as constrained by warp break points so it’s suggested that the near totality of the fleet be stationed here to protect it with a portion of your frigates and destroyers being sent out to defend the rest of the system . This strategy leaves Atlantis heavily defended but your colonies in system will be left vulnerable.

**Spread out :** This strategy has the fleet dispersed throughout the system and focusing on defending the most valuable colonies but at such a distance that each group is not more than five hours away from the rest , this leaves Atlantis potentially vulnerable but prevents the nurglites from heavily crippling your fleet in a single strike and protects the colonies should they strike there .

**Hook and reel :** A bold and potentially strategy , albeit one that stands a chance of quickly destroying the nurglite fleet is to keep the majority of your ships hidden in the asteroid belt when the nurglites arrive while leaving a smaller fleet to act as bait and feign retreat luring the enemy ships into an ambush . This strategy leaves your planets dangerously vulnerable if the nurglites ignore the bait but it gives you a decisive advantage should you succeed

**Write in**

## Naval Engagement

You are admiral Shogra, high admiral of the Atlantean fleet tasked with defending the system from the foul invasion of chaos.

With plans drawn up, fleets prepared and soldiers drilled it was only a matter of waiting for the enemy to arrive. They did so relatively quickly arriving two days after their message . Scouts indicate that the Nurglite fleet is comparable to your own in numbers but is mostly composed of rag tag lighter ships though with a strong core of Dark Mechancium and Nurglte daemon ships .

The fleet arrives at the edge of your system and falls directly into the traps and minefields you set up. Though many vessels are destroyed , the core remains mostly undamaged with only two Mechanicus cruisers taken out and the daemonships all but shrugging even direct hits .

(Nurglite : 3d100=187(+5)=192 vs Minefields 3d100=200. Minor damage is inflicted)

Plowing foreward undaunted the fleet splits in two , one part primarily composed of dark mechanicum vessels heading straight for Atlantis itself while the nurglite component is heading towards colossus, , more specifically in orbit of one of the more recently colonised moons where the first true engagements begin .

The battlegroup stationed there manages to hold out admirably despite the odds, relying on their superior speed and range to outright destroy many ships including two cruiser sized putrid vessels , slowing the fleet down and buying time for reinforcements to arrive to take advantage of the halt in enemy advance

(Atlantean battle group 3d100=235 vs Nurglite fleet 3d100=104. Critical Atlantean victory )

Meanwhile near Atlantis things are less than optimal : The dark mechanicum vessels are quite durable and possess some sort of force field mechanism that allows them to tank direct strikes that should be enough to at least damage them . The Atlantean battlegroup takes considerable damage and is forced to fall back and regroup in orbit around Atlantis .

(Dark Mechanicum fleet 3d100=200 vs Atlantean battle group 3d100=168. Atlantean defeat, -4 Azuls , -8 Endurance light frigates and -1 Admech cruiser)

With the dark mechanicum now a stone's throw away from Atlantis and the battlegroup in retreat you have to decide your next move :

**Counterattack : The enemy must be kept from Atlantis at all costs and so you will atempt to reform ranks as quickly as possible and intercept the enemy ships as they approach in all out assault using the heavier ships held in reserve to hammer the chaos fleet and break it. However should you fail , Atlantis' orbitals will be left defenseless .**

**Hold steady : On the other hand you can take a slower approach and regroup directly in orbit and meet the dark mechanicum there where the orbital defence systems will be there to back you up. While this gives your fleet a defensive edge , this lets the chaos fleet within bombarding distance to the planet should they manage to achieve a breakthrough .**

**Write in**

## The Tide Turns

You decide that it is best to play it safe and take advantage of your orbital defenses to blunt and counterattack the invaders. The enemy fleet arrives soon and charges directly at your seemingly defeated fleet only for your ships to turn around once fleet is in your considerably greater firing range and along with your orbital defenses to fire a truly awe-inspiring amount of armaments and blasts at the enemy.

The volley is an unmitigated success as the tens of enemy capital ships and hundreds of smaller vessels are utterly annihilated by the volley while your own ships have suffered no further losses

(Atlantean Roll : 3d100=266 vs Nurglite Roll : 3d100=98. Crushing Atlantean victory)

The badly mauled nurglites attempt to reform their ships for another charge but they are thwarted by your destroyers constantly harassing their disorganized flotillas using their superior sub-light drives and firepower ; being effectively invisible against anything that isn't larger than a frigate. They manage to inflict heavy losses with only one being critically damaged

Taking advantage of the enemy's weakness you move the Azuls and cruisers for a frontal attack at the disoriented chaos fleets . The assault is successful and destroys many more ships but not as much as you hoped it would be as the Dark admech core flotilla managed to reorganize and force you to withdraw after losing multiple ships to their own impressive firepower as well as liberal use of smaller ships as suicide bombers .

(Harrasing action : Atlantean Roll : 3d100=254 vs Nurglites Roll : 3d100=120. Critical Atlantean success )

(Chaos morale check : 1d12=8. Chaos fleet manages to reform partially. +5 bonus )

(Assault action : Atlantean Roll : 3d100=120 vs Nurglites Roll : 3d100=95(+5)=100. Limited Atlantean success )

You recieve good news however when you learn that the colonial fleet have managed to effectively destroy the nurglite fleets attempting to attack the moon colonies and are now en route. The reinforcements surprise the chaos ships from behind and coordinating with you , you succeeded in encircling the chaos fleet . Now its only a matter of whittling down it until their formations crack and an opening appears , which is easier said than done as the dark admech vessels prove to be tough prey.

(Clossus moon void battles : Atlantean Roll : 3d100=235 vs Nurglite Roll : 3d100=32. Complete Atlantean victory and nurglite annihilation)

(Encircling action Roll : 3d100=267. Critical Success. Atlantean fleets have trapped their chaos counterparts)

You begin to plan your next move :

1. **Tighten the Noose : Maintain current formation and slowly advance on and grind the chaos fleets down using superior numbers and firepower. This will no doubt be extremely costly in terms of ships but is the safer option, however it also gives time for the chaos forces to reorganize themselves and attempt a breakthrough**
2. **Feint an exit : Using your maunverability you can purposefully leave a gap in your formation which the battered chaos forces will no doubt attempt to exploit to retreat only to fall into an ambush . This plan offers a less costly albeit riskier option as there is a chance the chaos forces will have a trick or two to escape.**
3. Write in

\*\*

Meanwhile on the ground Octavia, Armcus and the rest of the army's generals are alarmed when telepathis agents and scout drones alike report multiple chaotic warp portals across the Hadesian wastes followed by sightings of massive legions of Chaos cultists, traitor guard retirements , Dark Mechanicum skittari, Chaos Marines and worst of all at least a dozen chaos knight machines all marching towards the same target : The Osiris Arcology. The ground battle for Atlantis begins

## The Ground War

You are Octavia Tesla and your planet is under direct ground assault by the nurglites . Just as the things were improving on the naval front , portals manifested throughout the Hadesian Wastes and from them surged truly massive chaos armies , estimated to be in the millions led by the chaos space marine and spearheaded by horrendous disgusting knight mechas . If that wasn't enough throughout the planet several bunkers and military installations have come under attack from cults and psykers already on the planet ; while they are not as dangerous as the main force they still tie up a portion of your armies .

Fortunately the nurglites themselves are hampered by Atlantis' hyper deadly wildlife : which seems to have gone completely berserk the second the nurglites arrived ground side. drones reports show entire war-bands annihilated by orica ambushes, Knights chomped down by Iron Tyrants or fried by Thorner blasts and even a few marines finding as some predator's snack. Further more three Forestrii scout regiments are behind enemy lines and have proved their worth by harassing the enemy rear and whittling down cut off forces

(Atlantean wildlife Roll : 3d100=289 vs Nurglite armies Roll : 3d100=104. Atlantean wildlife enjoys foreign cuisine courtesy of Papa Nurgle)

This gives you time to coordinate a battle plan to defend Osiris. You have ordered a large part of troops currently unengaged to move as quickly as possible to reinforce them but even with your advanced transports and the nurglites being slowed down, its unlikely any will arrive in time before the battle so any battle plan will have to do with the forces Osiris has

Forces currently stationed on Osiris

* 85 Auxilia infantry
* 55 PDF infantry
* 7 armoured (five exo and 2 scorpio)
* 30 mechanised
* 9 skirmisher
* 10 pyronauts
* 4 rough riders
* 1 headhunter
* 3 heavy infantry
* 6 mech (3 Goliath and 3 Atlas)
* 40 Thelal guard
* 3 forestrii scouts
* 30 Ansazian heavy infantry
* 2 billion militia in reserve
* Airforce : 15 Stryker X , 240 avengers, 100 Thunderbolts , 45 Phantom planes

**Choose 1 :**

**Wall of Guns : A simple but effective plan, arrange the forces so that your heavy infantry ,Auxilia elite, shock troops and exo tanks bear the brunt of the assault, holding back the attackers while being supported by Osiris' heavy artillery . Meanwhile your more agile forces attempt to outflank and potentially surround the Nurglites in vice grip. This plan allows the nurglites to come within striking range of the arcology but lets you make use of your traps and defenses**

**maneuver action : This plan works as a reversal of the first, your lighter forces will spread out and hinder the Nurglite army as much as possible , avoiding direct confortation with larger forces . The goal is to whittle down the enemy and perhaps even cause them to break ranks through guerrilla warfare, when such a weakness is exposed your heavy forces will strike and annihilate the disorganized enemy ranks . This plan might potentially prevent the nurglites from reaching the city and makes use of Atlantis' rough terrain. However should the nurglites be victorious , the city will be left relatively defenseless save for the reserves.**

**Write in**

In any case , any plan will involve heavy use of the air force to soften the enemy forces and counter the chaos knights

## Victory

Atlantis' Orbit

Though the chaos fleet remains encircled and has lost many of its ship, the survivors successfully reformed their ranks around the dark admech capital ships which are proving near impossible to destroy with their long range warp energy blasts and powerful barriers. Despite constant attacks and harassment from your side , the chaos forces refuse to give an inch and have managed to inflict severe damage on many of your ships.

Atlantean Roll : 3d100=133 vs chaos Roll : 3d100=128. Stalemate

Things looked to be settling on a waiting game until one of the Capital ships broke formation and (with a large number of ships) attempted to break through your encirclement . Though the ship destroyed more than a few Azul frigates and even a cruiser, concentrated bombardment from the Achilles' stations plasma cannons eventually destroyed it and its attendant ships

Atlantean Roll : 3d100=194 vs escaping fleet Roll : 3d100=144. Atlantean victory

This appears to have shattered all cohesion between the enemy fleet as elements of it begin to break off and escape on their own , only to fall prey to your flotillas' superior speed and firepower . The Capital ships however remained utterly invincible except with heavily lopsided ratios. Eventually they too fall but not before crippling many ships including a retriuntion class battleship and destroying more than a few Gothic cruisers . Golden Age ships conversely have suffered fewer casualties despite being in the thick of things.

With their best ships destroyed the chaos fleet utterly disintegrates as a united front and splinters into ragtag groups that are easy pcikings for the Atlantean navy

Chaos morale roll 3d10=9. Fail

Atlantean Roll : 3d100=254 vs Chaos fleet Roll : 3d100=129. Atlantean crushing victory

The naval battle is at last won.

\*\*

Osiris

Scouts and drone reconnaissance shows that the nurglites are advancing much slower than previously predicted , relentless attacks from the wildlife decimating them and the harsh terrain testing even the plague marines' endurance. There are even reports of clashes between dragon cult forces and the chaos worshipers . To make matters worse (for the nurglites) their unity is starting to crack as the dark mechanicus forces within the army become aware of the destruction of their fleet which has made them less cooperative with their nurglite comrades .

Chaos morale Roll : 3d10=14. Chaos forces hold ... for now

Atlantean wildlife Roll : 3d100=276 vs Nurglite Roll : 3d100=176. Yum yum more fermented meat

The air forces' strikes are devastating for the nurglites who lack an air force of their own save for some flying mutated beasts (or mutants, its hard to tell). This gives the attack jets free rein to unleash an evil amount of destruction , including the destruction of the entirety of the invasions' remaining knights

Atlantean airforce Roll : 3d100=239 vs Nurglites Roll : 3d100=87. Crushing Atlantean victory.

By the time the invaders actually arrive at the arcology, they are almost pitiful to watch . Broken, disorganized and utterly demoralized only blind faith in their god and fear of their transhuman betters drives them on . The space marines of which only ten remain lead the army on a massive charge once they see the Atlantean army arrayed against them.

It can hardly be called anything other than suicide at this point as their ranks are shredded by constant wildstar bombardment and the maze of traps surrounding the city before they even clash with your forces . When they do finally reach the Atlantean ranks , the number of space marines has been halved.

Atlantean defenses and traps Roll : 3d100=216 vs Nurglites Roll : 3d100=114. Nurglite forces decimated

The final battle is less of a battle and more of a cleanup . Though the Chaos marines prove to be very formidable opponents, their inability to draw on their unholy powers ,thanks to the null fields and thelal guard, makes them manageable opponents for the Auxilia who kill them one by one even as the demonic marines take out dozens of troopers with them.

Auxilia Roll : 3d100=209 vs CSM Roll : 3d100=150. Chaos marines die under the guns of the auxila

The dark skittari troops ironically prove to be a tougher opponent as their immense discipline and coordination allows them to maintain their ranks even as they are slaughtered but eventually they too fall and whatever tanks they have brought are destroyed by the Exotank divisions.

Dying by the thousands at the hands of the pyronauts and seeing their leaders die so ingloriously proves to be the final straw and the chaos forces are finally routed, any escape prevented by the lighter forces who have flanked and entrapped the last few dregs of the invasion.

The nurglite invasion of Atlantis is over.

## Aftermath

Atlantis has not only weathered the invasion but utterly crushed it , though not without damages to the navy. Though most ships came out unscathed or suffered only minor damages.

Naval damages :

* 8 Azuls crippled, 7 destroyed
* 10 Gothic cruisers destroyed
* 21 Amethysts damaged
* 1 Admech cruiser destroyed, 2 crippled
* 10 endurance class light cruisers destroyed, 8 crippled
* 4 Admech light cruisers destroyed

Though the losses are not extensive as you believed you can only hope they can repaired in time for the imperial crusade. On the bright side ground side casualties have been minimal and the infected bodies of the nurglites are being diposed off by mixed squads of pyronauts and thelals. No one can be sure why the nurglites thought invading Atlantis would be a success with such small numbers (relatively). Some think that they were acting on outdated information though that appears unlikely given that their apparent leader was aware of Atlantis no longer being part of the imperium ; your psykers seem to think that the Nurglites were reliant on a massive cultist uprising to coincide with their invasion though they can't be a 100% certain. Alas it looks like it will be one of those unsolvable mysteries

The nurglite ships in orbit are also being destroyed, mainly by being thrown into Soltaire , with one exception ; two of the dark mechanicus' capital ships , both crippled but relatively intact . Seeing the tremendous power they displayed , many of your magi and naval officers (including Shrogga and Armcus ) believe that your engineers ought to take a look at them and see if such ships can be reverse engineered in service of the dominion. Talios, Selica and Amara however are not as enthusiastic , believing that the risk is too high even with the possible rewards and that tampering with chaos tainted technologies is a line that should not be crossed no matter what. This has become a debate among the Atlantean elite and even the populace. The ships are currently under quarantine while all await your final decision

* **Destroy : No matter the power they might hold, the potential consequences are too disastrous and might spell doom for all that you have built so far**
* **Control : Such power should not be wasted and you have already researched the potentially corrupted Grey knight cruiser. With your extensive blank presence and psyker expertise , it would not be impossible to cleanse the ships and safely study them**
* **Not Today : Tempting as it is , you simply do not have the capabilities to study these ships. However that does not mean you should cast them aside. Perhaps keep them in a hidden area of space under heavy guard until such a time when your chaos cleansing science is more refined**
* Write in