Game 3: Children of the Jade Serpent try to Escape in the Corrupt Governor's personal voidship

## Armies

2500 pts of Astra Militarum vs 2000 pts of Genestealer Cults with Sustained Assault

### The Children of the Jade Serpent

The visions of the Patriarch are clear. A Dark Maw approaches Astheneia. The Children will do whatever they can in order to escape the approaching Void before its teeth close upon the System. The best route to flee the system within the Cult's reach is the Planetary Governor's Star-dock. The time for subtlety is over. All of the resources that the Children have at their disposal will be brought to bare; in order to escape the coming Darkness. The entirety of Children of the Jade Serpent know that if they fail or do not board the Governor's Cruiser; they are to weaken the Oppressor's defenses in a final blaze of glory.

The Children of the Jade Serpent owe nothing to the Void.

#### The Jade King

Swift Strike - You always choose this model to fight first in the Fight Phase even if it did not charge. If the enemy has units that have charged or that have a similar ability, alternate choosing units to fight with, starting with the player whose turn is taking place.

Artificer Weapon - Monstrous Rending Claws. Add 1 to that weapon's Damage characteristic.

Enhanced Physiology - Add 1 to this model's Toughness characteristic.

Psychic Might - Add 1 to the number of psychic powers this character can attempt to manifest in your Psychic phase.

### Corrupt Governor of Astheneia

His Castellan had warned him that the cultists were planning to seize his personal voidship, but he had few forces left under his command. His PDF had been completely annihilated, including both his original forces from before the rebellion, as well as all the additional levies that had been raised since the fighting began, some from nearby Imperium systems.

The corrupt governor knew he couldn't ask the Astartes, or the Sororitas, or the Inquisitors for aid defending this low-priority military target. If his castellan's intelligence was to be believed, the inquisitors would probably forbid him from even trying to defend the star yacht, since it sounded like the cultists' goal was to seize the voidship in order to cease fighting and flee the war. The governor HAD asked the ArchMagos for aid, but was told, as the Castellan had predicted, that all forces were committed elsewhere and there were no troops to spare to defend his personal property.

The only semi-intact fighting formations left to the Governor were his praetorian guard of airmobile plasma stormtroopers, and the King's Own Chimeras mechanized infantry. The Jungle King had proven surprisingly resilient during the latter phases of the war: able not only to resist destruction, but also to stiffen and support the Imperium forces around him. A serious and fearsome man, who thankfully seemed to have no designs on higher office or authority, and to be content to rule the Jungle Deathworld; helping his almost-feral people wrest that horrible world from the giant insects who had ruled it since before the days of the Eldar.

Before the Jungle King had been called upon to fulfill his feudal oath to the seat of the Astheneia system, during the early phase of the rebellion when the Imperium rulers called for any and all aid available, the King and the Governor had met only once before. Their one pre-war meeting had been at the governor's coronation, after the death of his father, when he assumed the hereditary governorship of Astheneia, and all of his vassals had been called in to renew their oaths of service to both the Emperor of Humanity, and to the new Governor of the Astheneia System.

The Jungle King agreed to help the Governor defend the star yacht, and together with the Castellan, they came up with a plan to ambush the cultists who would dare steal from him...

\*\*\*

The Callidus assassin had an unshakeable faith in the Emperor, and was confident that the war would finally turn in their favor now that the astartes and inquisitors had arrived...but she still wanted to keep her options open, and her deep cover as the governor's castellan and facilitatrix demanded that they retain control of his star yacht as an exit strategy. He had wondered several times if they should "withdraw" to the mechanicus orbital stations above Astheneia, and "manage the war effort from there", but each time she had convinced him that it would look like fleeing and cowardice, and that he needed to be seen as all-in on putting down the rebellion.

She was surprised that neither of the inquisitors had contacted her privately and asked her to kill and replace the governor. Either they truly didn't know she was an assassin, or she and the governor were still behaving in alignment with the inquisitors' plans... She hoped that fighting to defend his star yacht would not upset that stable balance. If they could deliver an inspiring victory, it would be hard to question the decision...but if they had to withdraw and the cultists seized the voidship, any remaining faith in the governor's rule might come crashing down.

## Sustained Assault

Any units that have the ability (listed below) to return to the battle by sustained assault are put into the "sustained assault pool" when they are destroyed. At end the of their controlling player's movement phase, roll a dice for each such unit in the pool, and if it's roll enables it to return, it can then be immediately placed on the table using the rules defined for it, or put into strategic reserves or other off-table reinforcement location for free, to return on a later turn.

**Catachan and Tempestus troops units only can be returned to the game only a 6**, and must be placed wholly within 6" of the Imperium table edge, but potentially within 1" of enemy units. Tempestus Scion units may instead return to the table immediately using their normal "Aerial Drop" rule.

**GSC (and Brood Brothers) troops units can be returned to the game on a 3+. Non-troop units can only be returned to the game on a 5+**. They may be placed using any normal GSC reinforcements rules or stratagems that apply to them, or instead may be placed wholly within 6" of the GSC table edge, potentially within 1" of enemy units.

Any unit eligible to return to the sustained assault pool can be removed from the table at the end of the controlling player's morale phase, but only if it has fewer than 50% of it's models or wounds remaining.

## Table, Terrain, and Objectives

Play on full size 60 x 44 table, with all 6 large city ruins, and little or no scatter terrain.

Dawn of War (long-side) deployment zones, each 10" deep, leaving a 24" no-man's-land in the middle.

One 'corner' and one 'tower' ruin go on the GSC side, one in each table corner, roughly 6-7" from the corner.

The remaining 4 city blocks go on the Imperium side, all touching the Imperium back table edge, with only vehicle-wide gaps between them at most.

On the top floor of the Imperium 'tower' goes the "BRIDGE" objective. On the top floor of the Imperium "corner" goes the "DRIVE" objective. And on the ground in the entrance to the gap between the two middle ruins, goes the "CARGO BAY" objective.

Imperium player places all terrain and objectives. Then GSC player deploys all. Then Imperium player deploys all.

GSC takes first turn.

## Scoring and Conclusion

The game finishes at the end of round 5.

Each objective is worth 2 VP at the end of the game.

Extra 2 VP for GSC if the Governor has been killed. Extra 1 VP if the Callidus has been killed.

Extra 2 VP for Guard for each time the GSC warlord has been killed.