Second Imperial Crusade

## Naval Plan

As the imperial crusade draws near, it is time to prepare a plan to defend Akhnajin against the coming crusade , which is much larger than the previous (and easily defeated) attack and so another war council is in session . Despite intensive divination attempts your diviners have failed to see the current state of the coming fleet or if it had received any significant reinforcements.

This means you will have to rely on the original information obtained half a century ago :

Navy :

* 1 Emperor class battleship
* 12 Mechanicus Cruiser
* 2 Furious class Grand Cruisers
* 10 Mars class battlecruisers
* 22 lunar cruisers
* 14 defender light cruisers
* 23 Firestorm Frigates
* 56 Troop trasnports of varying classes
* 7 Goliath class factory ships (to keep the massive force supplied )Ground troops :

* 160 infantry regiments
* 20 Kriegsmarine regiments
* 15 Catachan jungle fighter regiments
* 50 armoured regiments (leman russes)
* 32 armoured regiments of varying vecichles
* 170 Cadian style Fidean plasma regiments
* A large number of Imperial Knights
* 10 Inquistorial stormtrooper regiments
* 80 Skittari reigments
* Two Space Marine Chapters (though they are both understrength )
* Shiva marines (Full strength chapter)

On the bright side , with the devastation your raiding force wrecked on the Arthurean’s orbital infrastructure it is safe to assume its knights won’t be participating in this fight.

Starting with naval affairs Shroga is glad to report that the Atlantean Armada is now far more organised than before and presents you with the navy’s stats.

Fleet organization (credit goes to avatar11792) :

War Wing 1:

- 1 Retribution Battleship

- 2 Armageddon Battlecruiser, 1 Grey Knight Strike Cruiser, 5 Lunar cruiser, 2 AM Cruisers

- 5 AM light cruisers, 10 Endurance Light Cruisers

- 2 Viper Missile Destroyers, 23 Amethyst Destroyers

- 50 Azul Frigates

War Wing 2:

- 1 Victory Battleship

- 2 Armageddon Battlecruiser, 3 Lunar cruiser, 5 Gothic Cruisers

- 6 AM light cruisers, 7 Endurance Light Cruisers (2 slots remaining)

- 2 Viper Missile Destroyers, 7 Amethyst Destroyers (16 slots remaining)

- 24 Azul Frigates (26 slots remaining)

War Wing 3:

- 1 Retribution Battleship

- 2 Avenger Grand Cruisers, 5 Lunar Cruisers, 2 Enforcer Cruisers, 1 Gothic Cruiser

- no light cruisers (15 slots remaining)

- no destroyers (25 slots remaining)

- no frigates (50 slots remaining)

War Wing 4:

- 1 Victory Battleship

- 2 Armageddon Battlecruisers, 8 Gothic Cruisers

- 15 slots remaining

- 25 slots remaining

- 50 slots remaining

War Wing 5:

- no Battleship (1 slot remaining)

- 2 Armageddon Battlecruisers, 6 Gothic Cruisers (2 slots remaining)

- 15 slots remaining

- 25 slots remaining

- 50 slots remaining

Bartota’s Special Task Force (38 total):

- 1 Luna class cruiser (heavily Tau-modified and upgraded)

- 4 heavily modified defiant class light frigates

- 21 heavily modified and armed merchants

- 12 heavily modified escort vessels

Xeno Ally Task Force (26 ships total):

- 5 Kroot Warspheres

- 21 unidentifiable xeno vessels

Though it seems your total ship count outnumbers the crusade, deploying all of them to the same location would leave the dominion vulnerable to attack from elsewhere, so the number of ships chosen must be carefully managed and optimised for the naval strategy employed in this battle.

**Write in which ships to send**

There are two main strategies proposed for the naval battle :

(Choose 1 )

**Hold Steady :** Essentially a repeat of the formations used in the first crusade, having ships ready and waiting near the booby trapped warp break points and striking from a distance while the imperials are disoriented from the traps. Afterwards they either attack if the Imperial fleet falls into disarray or withdraw and regroup if it holds, repeatedly using the golden age’s ships to inflict more casualties at a distance until the crusade is whittled down . However it should be noted that the Akhnajin system has two warp break points as opposed to Atlantis’ one so your forces will have to be spread to cover both possible entry points. Also there is a chance the imperials may have learned from their previous defeat and use some way to neutralize the traps.

**Ambush :** This plan is riskier but has the potential to destroy the crusade entirely with much less damage to your fleets, the plan is to have the fleet hide in the asteroid belt and let the imperials be lured into a false sense of security as they approach Akhnajin where they will face the planets’ new orbital defences . Once that happens , the fleet will ambush the crusade forces who will be trapped between the orbitals and the fleet and thus be annihilated. However this plan risks Akhnajin itself and gambles on the defences holding back the invasion long enough to be relieved. It should also go without saying that the Akhnajinians will not be happy if you use them as bait essentially.

**Write in**

## Ground Plan

After much planning and debate you have settled on a heavily modified version of the original ambush plan to make the imperials less suspicious of a surprise attack.

[X] For an Ambush you need a bait - Ambush is a good strategy but it has a flaw. If Imperium sees that they got to system and even planet uncontested it would scream Ambush even to moderately capable Admiral (we cannot say he is/is not). So for this I propose to greet the Imperium at Warp break points with War Wing 3 and 4 reinforced with 5 Amethysts and 10 Azuls each from War Wing 1 (EDIT: Ok it was apparently not clear - Each reinforced Wing goeas to one warp breakpoint). Stripped down War Wing 1 and Xeno allies fleet stays in ambush. Bartota’s Special Task Force stays near planet as "an last line of defense" reinforced by orbital defenses (so it seems). Idea is that we get an first strike in with traps and so on but seeing that we are "outnumbered" we decide to regroup in planet orbit (we have faster ships so we are basically untouchable till we get there) - or so it will seem to Imperium (good struggle but we are outmatched by their might \*cough\*numbers\*cough\*). That is till they get right in between hammer and a hard place - proceeds as Ambush plan.

This plan gives us best chance I guess. If Imperium does not have countermeasures for our mines and traps at Warp breakpoint we can get a solid first hit in and even if not the hit will be kind of anemic but basically without counter as we (as faster and "able to engage at larger distances?" (not sure about this one)) scamper off.

Personally I would first target smaller ships and transports (that can be taken out of fight quickly and we would need not to worry about "shield recharging" in "Empire pursuit" phase + they are troop transports - I dont like ground engagement - especially there - so its best to take out as many regiments in space as possible). We are also leaving decent strength in our space (Wing 2 and 5).

We also get an advantage if Imperial ships somehow spread out during pursuit due to overconfidence.

If you have idea how to make this strategy better, write here or PM me.

I hope that this gets enough votes even written so late.

Edit: This also probably will not piss of Akhnajin as they will not be bait and will actually be reinforced.

EDIT2: Precise fleet distribution plan:

- 1 Retribution Battleship

- 2 Avenger Grand Cruisers, 5 Lunar Cruisers, 2 Enforcer Cruisers, 1 Gothic Cruiser

- no light cruisers (15 slots remaining)

- 5 Amethysts

- 10 Azuls

26 Ships

- 1 Victory Battleship

- 2 Armageddon Battlecruisers, 8 Gothic Cruisers

- 15 slots remaining

- 5 Amethysts

- 10 Azuls

26 Ships

- 1 Retribution Battleship

- 2 Armageddon Battlecruiser, 1 Grey Knight Strike Cruiser, 5 Lunar cruiser, 2 AM Cruisers

- 5 AM light cruisers, 10 Endurance Light Cruisers

- 2 Viper Missile Destroyers, 13 Amethyst Destroyers

- 30 Azul Frigates

Xeno Ally Task Force (26 ships total):

- 5 Kroot Warspheres

- 21 unidentifiable xeno vessels

71 Ships (ours) + 26 xeno ships =97 ship total - Note: Warsphere has great firepower, low mobility; 21 xeno ships - we do not know their capabilities. Still it is a lot of firepower here.

- 1 Luna class cruiser (heavily Tau-modified and upgraded)

- 4 heavily modified defiant class light frigates

- 21 heavily modified and armed merchants

- 12 heavily modified escort vessels

+ Orbital defenses - very heavy.

While it is not a sure thing whether or not imperial troops will actually land on Akhnajin , it is still better to prepare for a ground assault just in case.

Unlike during the ork and chaos invasions , the dominion is much more coherent and stable now and many planets gladly sent reinforcements to the defence force, though in the case of Amet and Cocytos these are limited to scouts and rough riders as their military technology is yet to be brought to the same level as the rest of the dominion :

* 1020 infantry regiments
* 85 Mechanised regiments
* 35 Armoured regiments (Exotank)
* 15 Armoured regiments (Scorpio

Mechs :

* 35 Atlas mech regiments
* 35 Goliath regiments

Specialists:

* 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
* 30 Elite Thelals
* 4 Elysian drop regiments
* 100 Void regiments

Iblisan forces ( 5 Void, 3 heavy infantry and 6 light infantry)

Air forces :

* 105 Stryker X
* 480 marauders
* 465 Thunderbolts
* 1320 Avengers
* 180 phantom planes

Special forces :

* Malcadi gen2 : 5000
* Teslan claws

Dominion reinforcements:

* 100 Heavy Ansazian infantry
* 5 Ansazian Armoured (Leman Russ)
* 20 Forestrii infantry +10 light infantry
* 10 Cocytos rough riders
* 5 Amet rough riders

In addition to of course the local Ansazian forces

* 90 PDF infantry
* 900 militia regiments

Though some have suggested more unconventional styles of warfare , it was not favored by most as the crusade has space marines among its ranks who are far more masterful of this kind than any of your forces which risks them outmaneuvering you in guerrilla warfare. With this in mind there are two proposed strategies to deal with the imperials. However this lets the imperials come within striking distance within settlements and allows any special forces they might have to be able to assassinate your commanders.

* **We have our walls** : This approach relies on having your heavy forces stay within the bunkers and fortresses constructed all over Akhnajin and luring the imperials to fight there with the citadels’ defenses on your side and giving forces throughput the planet specified targets at which to focus on
* **Direct Approach** : Some however suggest taking the initiative and attacking the enemy forces head on rather than wait for the imperials to come to them, with a coordinated all out assault to quickly and decisively break the imperial forces. However if the imperial forces manage to hold on this risks turning into a stalemate.
* Write in

## The times they are crusading 1

You are fleet admiral Shorga here to command the naval defence of this system.

The Akhnajian system’s long era of peace is now finally broken as sensors detect the crusade fleet finally translates in-system from the warp point 1.

Though it is much larger and seems more organised than the previous crusade fleet, it falls into the same trap as the latter and loses many ships before the battle even begins. It seems that the imperials have learned nothing at all from their last failed conquest.

Atlantean warp point defence 3d100=273 vs Imperial fleet 3d100=80-10=70. Crushing Atlantean success.

(Imperials lose 10 Lunar cruisers, all firestorm frigates and 5 Mars battlecruisers. 6 Troop transports are also destroyed)

As planned, War Wing 3 “retreats’ to lure the imperials into the system and the ploy works as the imperials surprisingly manage to reorganise themselves quickly and start attempting to chase down your ships.

Imperial spotcheck : 3d10=4. Failure. Imperials are not suspicious at all and follow atlantean ships

Your much faster ships manage to outpace the imperials without trouble

Atlantean fleet 3d100=213 vs Imperial Fleet 3d100=100. Imperials fail to catch up with atlantean ships.

And as they pass the asteroid belts the trap is sprung as War Wing 1 and the Xeno vessels are joined by WW4 and attack the fleet from its vulnerable rear

The surprise is total and though the attack is not as devestating as it was hoped it does cause a loss in cohesion in imperial formations as some turn and fight while others continue onwards to Akhnajin abandoning their allies.

Atlantean fleet 3d100=197 vs Imperial fleet 3d100=113. Atlantean success

Imperial morale check 3d10=15. Imperial fleet does not break completely but starts to lose cohesion and splinter

The ships that do make it to the orbitals are greeted with another surprise as the “retreating ships” turn back and are supported by an immense network of orbital defences and Bartota’s task force

However the imperials manage to take the defenders by surprise when multiple ships charge straight forward and detonate their warp drives punching a siginfigant hole in your defences and taking out part of the fleet. This hole is rapidly exploited and troop transports manage to pass under guard from the Martian battle cruisers while the remainder of the fleet hurries to close the gap. Despite their best efforts and managing to take out many transports the imperials manage to land troops on the planet.

Atlantean roll 3d100=94 vs Imperial Roll 3d100=199. Critical imperial success.

Warp drive detonation roll : 5d10=48. Critical success

(Atlantean losses : 8 Azuls, 3 defiant class, 4 lunar cruisers and 1 Avenger battle cruiser heavily damaged)

Meanwhile in the ambush point the remaining imperial vessels managed to reorganise themselves more coherently and are managing a slow advance to the orbitals while managing to withstand your assaults. If they are not destroyed soon they wil be able to link up with the forces in the orbitals and this will turn into a battle of Attrition

What’s your next step

* **Write In**

**\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\***

Atlantis system

You are Octavia Tesla.

While awaiting reports from the Akhnajian defence, alarm systems suddenly blare out warnings as sensors detect a massive Mechanicus fleet translates in-system. To your dawning horror it is not some refugee fleet or ragtag crusade group but a well organised and stocked fleet worthy of being called an Expolorator fleet with a full complement of Battleships, cruisers and more. And then vox broadcast reaches you.

“All here have committed unspeakable sins against the omnissiah and Mars and your rebillion has allowed to fester for far too long but no longer for your heresies are now at an end as you face the true might of the Adeptus Mechanicus”

The War on two fronts begins

**To be continued**

## The times they are crusading 2

**Akhnajinian front**

Despite the shock of the initial imperial suicicde charges you remain coherent and order your fleet to reorient itself with the gap caused by the intial suprise attack frimly closed . The Damaged ships are ordered to fallback if possible and focus their operational weaponry on bombarding imperial landing zones

Meanwhile the imperial fleet and war wing 3 are locked in a stalemate despite the imperials losing many ships.

Atlantean fleet 3d100=193 vs Imperial fleet 3d100=187. Stalemate

Taking advantage of this Bartota’s modified ships manage to position themselves between the two imperial fleet splinters.

Bartota Roll 3d100=156. Success

But perhaps it was unnecessary as the lagging imperial fleet is utterly annhilated by the combined first and fourth wing who were successful in encircling and destroying it piecemeal though the imperials managed to inflict some damage through suicide attacks.

Atlantean fleet roll 3d100=292 vs Imperial fleet roll 3d100=117. Crushing Atlantean success. Imperial splinter fleet annihilated.

With that the campaign is effectively won with only the massively outnumbered splinter near the orbitals which is now surrounded on all sides . Though they put up a valiant resistance, they were hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned , a fact that was not lost on many of them as many ships send out transmissions of surrender. Unfortunantly for them their comrades did not agree and the imperial fleet tore itself apart even as your ships pulverised them.

Among the ships sucessfullly disabled are two space marine strike cruisers, one bearing the Insignia of the Stravasslan Guard.

Atlantean fleet 3d100=228 vs Imperial fleet 3d100=104. Atlantean total victory

Imperial morale 3d10=4. Imperial fleet loses all coherence and descends into infighting.

Meanwhile the imperial landings are severly disrupted by the airforce and many imperial forces are killed before they reach the ground ; the imperial airforce was largely ineffective

Atlantean airforce 3d100=204 vs Imperial troop transports 3d100=101. Atlantean critical success. Most imperial landing parties annhilated

In the end the imperials manage to establish only two landing sites , which are heavily harrased by constant bombardment by your airforce. However rather than attempt to establish any fortified position or camp the imperial forces instead converge and attack the nearest Pyramid city

Imperial strategy 1d10=1. Imperials charge straight into battle.

The imperials’ constant and suprisingly quick movement prevents orbital bombardment nor and airstrikes aren’t as effective as they usually are.

Imperial army 3d100=212 vs Atlantean airofrce 3d100=197. Imperials successfully reach the citadel without signifcant damage.

Their preformance once they reach the city however leaves much to be desired as the imperial assault amounts to a mass infantry charge which smacks straight into the minefield layed around the planet and combined with the city defences wipes out most of the attacking force without a single dominion casualty and before any imperial force actually reaches the outerwalls

Atlantean defences +minefield rolls 3d100=247 vs Imperial attack 3d100=79. Imperial forces die en mass without ever seeing combat.

Despite this there are still many troops that reach the outergates, a teastment to the old adage of quantity being a quality all on its own. The remnants consist mainly of Kreig marines, Catachan fighters and Fidean Plasma troopers who actually manage to be of some danger to the defences which only hold just barely againist their fanatical attacks.

Atlanatean defences 3d100=128 vs Imperial forces 3d100=127. Stalemate

But again its mostly a hopless fight as the imperials are defecient in tank or artirelly support , most likely destroyed along with their transports and it isn’t long before the imperial forces vigor and morale is sapped completely as they are killed piecemeal trying to take the fortifications or by other dominion forces who have come to reinforce the city . Some of the Fideans and Catachans surrender but the Death Korps fight and die to the last man

Atlantean defence 3d100=273 vs Imperial forces 3d100=115. Atlantean total victory.

Just as you begin to breathe a sigh of relief, you receive a transmission from Atlantis.

**Atlantis front**

You are Octavia Tesla and you may lose everything right now.

A Mechanicus fleet of unidentified size translated into the system followed by a broadcast showcasing its intend of wiping out every trace of your great working and repurposing it for Martian glory.

However the speaker’s bravado is undercut when his fleet walks right into the warp point traps and suffers horrific damages and losses giving you time to gather whatever naval assets you have and plan a defence. .

Atlantean traps 3d100=253 vs Mechanicus fleet 3d100=18. Mechanicus fleet is severely damaged and losses many ships

**Current naval strength in Atlantis system**

War Wing 2:

- 1 Victory Battleship

- 2 Armageddon Battlecruiser, 3 Lunar cruiser, 5 Gothic Cruisers

- 6 AM light cruisers, 7 Endurance Light Cruisers (2 slots remaining)

- 2 Viper Missile Destroyers, 7 Amethyst Destroyers (16 slots remaining)

- 24 Azul Frigates (26 slots remaining

War Wing 5:

- no Battleship (1 slot remaining)

- 2 Armageddon Battlecruisers, 6 Gothic Cruisers (2 slots remaining)

- 15 slots remaining

- 25 slots remaining

- 50 slots remaining

Your ship numbers won’t be enough to defend the colonies and Atlantis at the same time which means one might have to be sacrificed for the other . You and the remaining naval officers are trying to come up with a plan

* **Write in plan**

The situation on the ground is much better however as in addition to the PDF and militia you retain an auxilia and skitarii force numbering in the billions.

**Current ground forces** :

510 infantry regiments

41 Mechanised regiments

10 Armoured regiments (Exotank)

10 Armoured regiments (Scorpio)

Mechs :

* 15 Atlas mech regiments
* 15 Goliath regiments

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 regiments

Desert Corps :

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

-35 billion militia

-25 Pyronaut regiments

-25 Heavy weaponry regiments

-25 Skirmisher regiments

- Rest of the population functions as a last resort military force thanks to conscription

-25 Phlygian auxiliary regiments

-400 Thelal

-30 Elite Thelals

-2 Elysian drop regiments

-50 Void regiments

Air forces :

45 Stryker X

240 marauders

260 Thunderbolts

860 Avengers

100 phantom planes

Special forces :

-Malcadi gen2 : 2500

-Teslan claws

* **Ground Plan write in**

## The times they are crusading 3

With a plan hastily prepared, you are ready to face this unexpected development. All warships in the system have been ordered to head for the warp points and support the Achilles fortresses there.

Luckily the star fortresses prove their worth as they manage to slow the Mechanicus fleet’s advance to a halt and inflict heavy losses on the invaders.

Achilles fortress 3d100=187+25=212 vs Admech fleet 3d100=147. Achilles stalemates the fleet and causes significant damage

Achilles fortress 3d100=90+25=115 vs Admech fleet 3d100=55. Achilles inflicts heavy damage on admech fleet

Achilles fortress 3d100=89+25=114 vs Admech fleet 3d100=88. Stalemate.

The Amethysts and Azuls arrive first as planned and use their range to fire on the enemy ships from a distance , however though they manage to severely damage many ships, the Mechanicus return volleys prove to have greater range than expected and inflict losses on your own side in turn.

Atlantean ships 3d100=226 vs Admech ships 3d100=216. Stalemate with losses on both sides.

(4 Azuls and 1 Amethyst heavily damaged . 1 Azul destroyed outright )

However this is not an issue as your ships have more dangerous payload in the form of the many psykers they are carrying onboard. Various Alpha and Betas (The Alpha pluses were kept on Atlantis for security reasons) are using their awesome abilities and carrying out various rituals to disrupt the enemy fleet and strengthen your own.

They at first attempt a telepathic ritual to drive the slaves and servitors in the enemy ships into mutiny and rebellion. The ritual is a stunning success as many enemy ships stop firing , seemingly disabled from within while others appear to be malfunctioning. You don't know what exactly is going on in there but you can make a guess.

Telepathic ritual and psyker actions 3d100=266. Critical success. Large number of Mechanicus ships disabled.

Their second ritual goes the other way of influencing the commanders and higher ups and like its predecessor, this one is wildly successful as enemy ships begin to open fire on one another and break formation

Telepathic ritual and psyker actions 3d100=289. Critical success. Enemy ships start targeting and firing upon one another.

Admech morale check 1d10=1. Crit.fail . Admech fleet completely loses all coherence

And all of this and you still haven’t started any attempts at electronic warfare which might be redundant as an Ark mechanicus vessel is sighted amongst the myriad ships of the fleet. Though for the moment it is not exhibiting any activity.

Ark Mechanicus ??? 3d10=19. Ark doesn’t contribute to the battle.

With the insane all out internecine conflict going on between the remaining admech ships, you have to make a decision on what to do next.

**Choose 1 (24 hours to vote )**

* **Strike now : With the enemy in complete disarray, now is the time to attack and completely rout them, while you are still outnumbered by a large margin, with most ships being currently non functional their numbers are meaningless. Still there remains a chance that the Mechanicus can reorganise or is luring you into a trap**
* **Wait and see : No need to risk your vessels at the moment, better to just stay at a distance and continue to hurl psychic and electronic attacks on the enemy till they are completely destroyed. However this plan prolongs the battle and might allow the enemy time to regroup not to mention that psyker attacks are not reliable and can backfire if you push your luck.**
* **Write in**

## The times they are crusading 4

Opting to take the safe route , you focus on weakening the imperials farther before striking the imperials hard.

You start by initiating a massive electronic attack which is wildly successful against the Mechanicus’ rather primitive computer systems. Thanks to that you finally have a rough estimate on the number of ships in the enemy fleet

* 1 Ark Mechanicus
* 20 Goliath forge ships
* 30 Goliath forge tenders
* 10 Retribution battleships
* 50 Mechanicus class cruisers
* 20 Tyrant cruisers
* 10 Gothic cruisers
* 5 heavy transports
* Various escorts, frigates and light cruisers estimated to be a hundred

And you now have some measure of control over most of them. According to the data stolen almost 75% of all ships are suffering from slave rebellions and rogue servitors which leaves them out of the fight , the remaining 25% are those where the rebellions were successfully put down (but leaving them unusable as now they have no crews, they are of little concern) or are automated enough not to be crippled by the manpower shortage. All in all less than 20% of the Mechanicus vessels are still battle worthy. Time to fix that.

Atlantean electronic warfare attack 3d100=259. Critical success, most ships are hacked to a certain extent.

With the attack successful you proceed to make the Mechanicus as miserable as possible : aiding slaves by turning defence turrets to their side and opening weapon store rooms for them, disabling autoloaders on the older, more advanced ships and triggering plasma reactor malfunctions.

Atlantean EW follow ups 3d100=223. Success, Mechanicus is utterly fucked.

And on the more physical side of things, boarding parties have been sent to take control of disabled vessels or aid slaves when possible . They are mostly successful in that regard though they still fell prey to false promises of surrender and in most cases suffered heavy casualties against the zealous defenders.

Atlantean boarding parties 3d100=181 vs Mechanicus defenders 3d100=133. Success for the Atlanteans albeit with losses

Though you have offered surrender at first you have withdrawn such offers after they were either refused with shouts of defiance and proclamations of loyalty to the emperor/omnissah or in the case of more pragmatic magi were used to lure your forces into traps, often by self-destructing their ships or suicide attacks as final acts of spite .

Mechanicus allegiance change 1d100=1. Complete failure, not a single magos or ship turns to your side willingly and all fight to the bitter end.

There is one case of allegiance change however , in the case of the Ark Mechanicus ship , until this point having contributed little to the battle , suddenly turned its awesome weaponry on the ships surrounding it, destroying or disabling various battleships that were guarding it . Thot probably had something to do with it.

??? 3d100=265. Critical.S ark Mechanicus turns on its masters and joins you.

Ark Mechanicus 3d100=187. Vs Mechanicus vessels 3d100=99. Ark Mechanicus destroys several ships “guarding” it

This proves to be the final nail in the coffin of any coherence the admech fleet might have regained as the few functional ships remaining make emergency warp jumps leaving their comrades at your mercy.

Admech morale : 1d10=5-3=2. Total rout

The battle is effectively over, leaving only one final choice left on what to do with so many derelict ships :

Choose 1 (24 hours)

* Board the ships : it would be a shame to let such ships go to waste when they can either be repurposed for your fleet.
* Destroy them : on the other hand most of them are crawling with fanatic defenders and would be extremely costly to take. Better to just evacuate the slaves then destroy them , at least you won’t lack for scrap metals
* Write in

## The times they are crusading - Final

Vote closed : plan Board the ships is chosen.

Deciding that the ships were too valuable to simply destroy , you decide to send in the void troopers to claim to board the ships and destroy any remaining resistance . With help from the Electronic warfare attacks there was no doubt that the ships would

be boarded successfully, but taking them was an issue all on its own

Most of the frigates and smaller ships were taken without much of a fight , most of them overwhelmed already by slave

Frigate boarding parties 3d100=187 vs mechanicus efenders 3d100=67. Complete Atlantean victory, all ships captured successfully

The Cruisers were slightly more difficult to overtake when accounting to their larger size and thus greater number of defenders but they all fell under your control.

Boarding parties 3d100=200 vs cruiser defenders 3d100=90. Atlantean success . All Cruisers captured without issue

The Goliath ships on the other hand were a close call as the Mechanicus remnants fought tooth and nail to delay you as long as possible while they attempted to overload their reactors and destroy them in what’s likely a cataclysmic explosion that would destroy every ship in range. These battles saw the first use of the new Terminator wearing skittari and while they suffered heavy casualties they ultimately managed to prevail before any of the ships could be self destructed .

Goliath boarding parties 3d100=298 vs Imperial defenders=200. Atlantean Bare Success

That left only the battleships and troop transports which were likewise taken albeit with surprisingly low casualties as the slaves and mind controlled servitors had mostly taken over by the time you successfully boarded and the more ancient battleships had still enough electronic systems to have their defenses disabled , unlike most other ships where their primitive systems actually prevented further hacking (mostly because there was nothing to hack )

Atlantean boarding 3d100=188 vs Imperial defenders 3d100=29. Critical Atlantean success all ships are taken without issue

It is on these heavy transports that you find a treasure that surpasses anything you have taken from the imperium so far , except the Ark Mechanicus vessels.

It is a titan legion , at full strength and captured wholly intact, as the legion was exclusively crewed by servitors who made short work of the utterly unprepared princeps who were slaughtered to a man.

(Captured fifty titans , 49 War bringer nemesis titans and 1 Imperator pattern titan)

Even if you were never pious about the Mechanicum doctrine , you can’t help but feel gleeful at having a titan legion like a child getting his gifts on sanguinala ( Though Gearheart is still lukewarm about this, wondering what’s the big deal about lightweight construction robots , you are half sure she is trolling you at this point ) . You almost forget the other spoils of the war as you look at the list of captured ships.

* 1 Ark Mechanicus
* 20 Goliath forge ships (seven in need of repairs)
* 30 Goliath forge tenders (four in need of repairs )
* 8 Retribution battleships
* 78 Mechanicus class cruisers
* 15 Tyrant cruisers
* 14 Gothic cruisers
* 5 heavy transports
* Two hundred smaller ships (50 shark assault boats, 70 cobra destroyers, 20 Firestorm frigates, 60 light mechanicus cruisers)
* Ships completely crippled by mines : 40 Cruisers of varying classes, an uncountable number of vessels and at least 10 Grand cruisers

(Numbers of some ships are larger or smaller since you get accurate information now but some ships escaped)

The Ark Mechanicus allows Atlantean forces into it willingly after having neutralised its crew. She introduces herself as Hestia and pledges herself to the dominion with little issue other than requesting retrofits.

One month later as the system is being cleared and preparations for a grand celebration are made , the fleet from Akhnajin arrives and are shocked to find the battle is over with most ships suffering only minor damage. They bring news of victory on Akhnajin with even more ships captured, including two strike cruisers packed with three chapters worth of space marine prisoners and an emperor class battleship.

Captured ships from Akhnajin :

* 1 Emperor class battleship (heavily damaged)
* 7 Mechanicus cruisers
* 4 Mars battlecruisers ( three heavily damaged)
* 11 Lunar cruisers
* 14 Firestorm frigates
* 23 Troop transports
* 7 Goliath factory ships
* 14 Goliath tenders
* 1 Furious Grand Cruiser
* 2 Astartes strike cruisers .

Unlike the atlantean campaign, it seems some Imperials still had enough sense to surrender but this was restricted to some Fidean regiments who got fed up with distrust and mistreatment from the imperium of them despite their loyalty :

Captured imperial forces :

* 32 Fidean Plasma regiments

In light of this , your own casualties are rather tame in comparison to what you have gained :

**Troop losses :**

* **38 Void regiments**
* **5 Skittari terminator regiments**
* **10 Auxilia regiments**

**Naval losses :**

* **14 Azuls (9 destroyed and 5 heavily damaged )**
* **3 defiant class cruisers**
* **1 Avenger battle cruiser heavily damaged**
* **7 lunar cruisers (4 destroyed and three crippled)**
* **1 heavily damaged Amethyst.**

Even as celebrations begin across the dominion and the Captured titans are paraded throughout the system, you are still in disbelief at how wildly successful you are, what seemed like the end of the dominion has now left it stronger than ever.

Perhaps fate is on your side for once.