August Apocalypse (one of four)

The picture Admiral Drax put up on 16 Aug has 47 Leman Russ in it.  I hope it whet your appetite. 

Operation Righteous Thunder is launched.

Now that his army is three Corps and has support from the Legio Astorium and the Ordo Hereticus, 4* Gen Zhukov (Vostroya) has launched his pet offensive using the newly in theatre 18 Corps.  He has directed that their organic air support and artillery assets be stripped from 17 Korps and 38 Corps in order to ensure that 18 Corps has the best chance of success.

18 Corps will assault and capture the Colil Promethium Refinery, pushing the front 180 kloms east and providing a jumping off point (and vital resource) for a future offensive.

38 Corps is still forming up and training on the Loyalist continent of Acer.  17 Korps retains its current tasks (securing the rear lines, the port of Randstadt, occupying the Nolag heights north east of Randstadt and meeting any PLA formations that come into 72AG's TAOR) and additionally will advance to contact PLA units occupying the Culip Lines defensive wall beyond the Colil area in order to prevent those units from reinforcing their comrades defending the refinery.

3*Gen Tolstoy (Vostroya) doesn't really have the resources to undertake the new tasking.  901 Div (Cadian 24th and 127th) are covering the Nolag uplands, 905 Div (Palladia) are covering the main supply routes and remains of 903 Div (Valhalla) are occupying Randstadt.  Gen Tolstoy sends 902 Div (Kreig) and 904 Div (Corbania) to launch a diversionary attack on the Cudlip Defence Line.

Cudlip Lines weak spot.

The Commander of 904 Div, 1* Gen Pallumgski (Vostroya) is a one of officers favoured by Gen Zhukov.  True to the Vostroyan way of war, Gen Pallumgski has decided that he has a chance for glory if he can find a weak spot and punch a hole in the fortifications of Cudlip Lines.  He reviews the assets available to his Division and instructs that the Urban Assault Regiment's Hellhammer is just the very thing for bunker busting.

1 Corbanian's Hellhammer

902 Div's recce elements have identified a 400m gap in the belts of minefields.  The problem is that this is one of the most heavily defended sections and without air interdiction, the PLA have moved up two Baneblades to cover the vulnerability.  Gen Pallumgski orders the Corbanian 1st to attack.

17 Korps recce elements identifying the gap in the minefields.

I have split this BATREP into four because, quite simply, as the only game I have played this year, it is the largest and therefore should get a comparatively large amount of this blog's coverage.  For those interested in the mundanities, we started at ten and finished at six, eating half a pound of bacon in one and a half french sticks and had four rounds of tea and two rounds of pints of squash.  I think Col Corbane got through about half a dozen Loh sticks.  We approached the whole thing in a fairly relaxed and chatty manner which means we might have had a "better" (ie used all the proper rules, killed everyone much quicker and got new toys on the table quicker) game if we'd have concentrated.  But I think we preferred it like this.  Do look back in as it was interesting to see the battle unfold and I've tried to write it up in any easy to follow sort of way, C&C accepted. 

And hello to the Larfin' Ferrit and James Smith, welcome to Devos IV, do make your selves comfortable.