Chapter Summaries

A four-man drop-trooper squad watched the Death Seekers hold off the Dark Eldar and received orders to protect the incoming Lamenters. The chapter revealed that Furos had accepted Ego’s plan to use the Death Seekers as a shield so the Space Marines could strike the enemy and protect civilians.

• The four-man squad spotted Dark Eldar attacking the Death Seekers’ temporary defense line, where a player’s grenade suicide attack was turned against the defenders.
• Command told the drop-troopers that the Lamenters were arriving and ordered them to protect the Space Marines.
• Furos objected to Ego’s plan to place the Death Seekers ahead of the Lamenters, arguing that it dishonored the Adeptus Astartes.
• Ego explained that the Death Seekers could absorb the Dark Eldar’s ambushes and expose their positions while the Lamenters delivered precise attacks.
• Furos agreed to follow Ego’s tactics for the sake of the civilians and promised the Lamenters would make use of every opportunity the Death Seekers created.

The Lamenters joined the Death Seekers against the Dark Eldar, combining suppressive fire with Space Marine assaults to overwhelm the xenos. An Airborne Trooper sacrificed himself to stop a Wych from stabbing a Lamenters veteran, leaving the two pinned together on the battlefield.

• The Lamenters arrived and saw the Death Seekers holding the line with relentless suppressive fire.
• Furos rallied the Lamenters, who charged as the Death Seekers pinned Dark Eldar in place for their attacks.
• The Lamenters and Death Seekers worked together to trap and kill Dark Eldar, though a Wych spotted a veteran reloading and lunged for his neck.
• Four Airborne Troopers dove to rescue the veteran, but three were shot down by friendly fire.
• The surviving Airborne Trooper slammed into the Wych and pinned her to the ground before she could stab the veteran.

A dying Player earned the Lamenters veteran’s gratitude by helping kill a Dark Eldar Wych and giving him a master-crafted chainsword. The Lamenters advanced back into battle with the Players following, eager to earn Merit Points.

• The Player held the Dark Eldar Wych down as she stabbed him, allowing the Lamenters veteran to recover and kill her.
• The dying Player used his Merit Points to summon an Astartes Master-crafted Chainsword and gave it to the veteran before he died.
• The Lamenters gathered to mourn the Player as the other Players reacted to his reward and hidden-storyline success.
• The Player Company Commander urged the veteran to continue the fight, and the veteran led the Lamenters toward the remaining Dark Eldar with the chainsword.
• The Company Commander ordered the Players to charge after the Lamenters for the Emperor and Merit Points.

Ego and the Death Seekers carried out Plan B by summoning Newman, a Slaanesh Greater Daemon, to attack the Dark Eldar. Newman ignored the Players and Lamenters as it began devouring Dark Eldar souls, leaving the Lamenters to report the terrifying new threat.

• Ego learned that civilians had nearly finished evacuating and ordered Ghost Face to prepare Plan B while the Lamenters' command staff fought at the front.
• Ghost Face and the Players performed a crude ritual that tore open a Warp rift, allowing Newman to squeeze into the material universe.
• Newman sensed that the Players were strange and declared that they were no fun, then rushed toward the battlefield in search of Dark Eldar souls.
• Newman tore a Dark Eldar warrior's soul from his body and began slaughtering the Dark Eldar while passing the Lamenters and Death Seekers without attacking them.
• A Lamenters squad reported that a Keeper of Secrets Greater Daemon had appeared on the battlefield.

Chapter Master Foros ordered the Lamenters to retreat while the Greater Daemon Newman and the Dark Eldar fought, then had the battlefield destroyed with an orbital bombardment. After Newman accused the Death Seekers of betrayal, Foros dismissed its claim and reaffirmed his trust in Ego.

• Foros told the Lamenters to withdraw and planned to bombard the battlefield once they reached safety.
• Newman devoured Dark Eldar as they fled, while secretly considering breaking its agreement with the Death Seekers.
• The Strike Cruiser unleashed an orbital barrage, and Newman raced through the explosions, swallowing Dark Eldar souls before its body was destroyed.
• Newman sent a furious accusation of betrayal through the Warp as it died.
• Foros rejected Newman's accusation, and Ego called it a final attempt by Chaos to sow distrust.

Malakin Foros reported to Rugert Huron that the Dark Eldar and a Slaanesh Greater Daemon had been destroyed, while praising the Death Seekers for their role in the campaign. Huron realized the regiment might also be suppressing Xenos raids across the Maelstrom and summoned Foros back to prepare a Chapter Masters' council against Chaos.

• Malakin Foros told Rugert Huron that the planet was free of Genestealers and recounted how the Dark Eldar and a Slaanesh Greater Daemon had been destroyed.
• Rugert Huron welcomed the Dark Eldar's defeat but warned that the Greater Daemon's arrival signaled intensifying Chaos activity in the Maelstrom.
• Malakin Foros praised the Death Seekers for evacuating civilians, holding their positions, and repelling an earlier Dark Eldar incursion.
• Rugert Huron checked recent battle reports and found that Ork and Eldar pirate raids along the Maelstrom's edge had sharply declined.
• Rugert Huron ordered Foros and the Lamenters to return so the Chapter Masters could plan defenses against Chaos.

Iron Warriors Warsmith Grendel tried to unite the Chaos warbands against Huron, whose Ogryn forces were grinding down their scarce Space Marines. Izkara claimed he had devised a trap for Huron, while Grendel was left doubting the usefulness of his allies.

• Grendel warned the assembled warband leaders that Huron's Ogryn attrition tactics would exhaust their forces and urged them to attack Badab.
• Festus said the Death Guard could join the attack but were content to wait for Huron to rot away.
• A World Eaters berserker demanded an immediate assault, while Grendel rebuked the Slaanesh lord for his distracting noises.
• Grendel asked Izkara for advice, and the Thousand Sons sorcerer said Huron's victories had made him arrogant and that he had prepared a trap.
• Izkara insisted the plan would succeed whether the other warbands helped or not, leaving Grendel to despair over his allies.

Warsmith Grendel formed a Chaos alliance and led its fleet toward the Badab Sector, where an unexpected craft tested the group's discipline. After Grendel destroyed it, Izkara challenged his authority, leaving him feeling like the only orderly in an asylum.

• Grendel persuaded a World Eaters champion, Thousand Sons sorcerer Izkara, Plague Warrior Festus, and a Son of the Emperor lord to join his alliance.
• The Chaos fleet set sail through the Warp toward the Badab Sector.
• The fleet detected a battered small craft charging toward its flagship, and Izkara and the Son of the Emperor lord argued against destroying it while the World Eaters champion wanted to attack it himself.
• Grendel ordered the gunner to fire, and a lance beam destroyed the craft before it reached the flagship.
• Izkara challenged Grendel's leadership and proposed a joint vote and rotating chairmanship, leaving Grendel overwhelmed by his unruly allies.

At Thorn Palace, the Maelstrom Wardens Alliance learned that a huge Chaos fleet had appeared in the Charybdis Warp Route and might be heading for Badab. Huron ordered the Chapters to prepare for battle, trusting EGO’s Death Seekers to keep tracking the enemy’s movements.

• Huron presented his theory that Chaos forces were hiding in the Mourning Nebula and began outlining a search plan.
• EGO reported that the Death Seekers had spotted a massive Chaos fleet in the Charybdis Warp Route and showed its location on the star map.
• Akash and Furos assessed the route and possible targets, while Huron concluded the fleet might be advancing directly toward Thorn Palace.
• EGO assured Huron that Death Seekers scouts could track the fleet across Warp routes using thousands of expendable reconnaissance craft.
• Huron accepted the intelligence and ordered the alliance’s Chapters to assemble and prepare to defend Badab.

Warsmith Grendel’s Chaos fleet destroyed three apparently harmless small craft in the Warp, while Grendel’s suspicion grew and his volatile allies prevented him from changing course. On Badab Prime, Ego used the craft’s reported positions to predict the fleet’s arrival point, and Hurun ordered every available force to prepare for a decisive ambush.

• Grendel questioned his auspex crew after a second small craft flew into the flagship and was destroyed, but detected no signal or threat.
• A mortal servant reported a third small craft, and Grendel ordered the crew to destroy such debris without bothering him again.
• Ego marked the three craft’s positions on Badab’s holographic map, revealing a straight route toward the fleet’s likely Warp exit point.
• Malakim Furos and Kozak identified the predicted Mandeville Point and proposed preparing a pocket formation there.
• Hurun ordered every warship, Space Marine, and defense platform to assemble for a decisive attack on the Chaos fleet.

As the Chaos fleet approached the Mandeville Point, Grendel manipulated his unruly allies into accepting an aggressive battle formation against the Imperial Fleet. The fleet prepared to emerge from the Warp, while Grendel secretly ordered the Iron Warriors to destroy any allies who tried to flee.

• Grendel proposed a defensive formation, expecting Izkara to reject it, and the sorcerer condemned the plan as cowardly.
• Grendel unveiled his prepared offensive formation, assigning the World Eaters to lead the charge and the Thousand Sons to follow in the center.
• Izkara accepted the central position after Grendel praised him as the fleet’s brain, while Festus and the Son of the Emperor agreed to harass the flanks.
• Grendel assigned the Iron Warriors to the rear for fire support and secretly ordered them to target the engines of any allies who fled.
• The Chaos fleet reached the transition point as it prepared to emerge from the Warp near Badab.

Grendel’s Chaos fleet emerged from the Warp into a carefully prepared Imperial ambush and suffered devastating losses. As the battle turned against them, Izkara revealed he could not locate Hurun’s flagship for a planned teleport strike.

• Grendel found the Imperial fleet waiting in formation behind dense minefields, and suspected the Dark Mechanicus had leaked the Chaos fleet’s arrival.
• Grendel held back from attacking the Dark Mechanicus and ordered the entire fleet to fire.
• The World Eaters charged into the Imperial barrage while mines and concentrated fire tore through the Chaos fleet.
• Grendel demanded that Izkara use a forbidden teleportation ritual to strike the enemy flagship.
• Izkara said the ritual required precise psychic positioning, but interference across the Badab System prevented him from finding Hurun’s flagship.

Grendel ordered the Iron Warriors to feign a breakout to draw Hurun into the open, while EGO faced their fleet’s suicidal charge and chose to meet it head-on. The chapter ended with the Death Seekers preparing to lure the enemy into a boarding action and destroy their ships from within.

• Grendel told Izkara he would lead an apparent breakout to force the Imperium to redeploy and expose Hurun.
• Izkara agreed to watch for Hurun and teleport with his strongest guard to attack him when he appeared.
• Grendel ordered the Iron Warriors to charge the weakly defended right flank.
• EGO learned that much of the Iron Warriors fleet was charging toward his small force of Death Seekers ships.
• EGO ordered his ships to charge into close quarters, prepare Meltabombs, and fight the enemy in a boarding action.

Grendel led Iron Warriors Terminators in boarding an Imperial cruiser and crushing its defenders as they advanced toward the engine room and bridge. After a seemingly dead Death Seeker killed a Terminator in a surprise attack, Grendel discovered the soldiers were using massive doses of combat stimulants and ordered his forces to treat every corpse as a potential threat.

• Grendel ordered his Terminator Guard to board the Imperial cruiser and seize the engine room and bridge.
• The Iron Warriors overwhelmed the cruiser’s defenders and annihilated a Death Seekers Company at a crossroads.
• A supposedly dead Death Seeker attacked an Iron Warrior with a hidden Chainsword and killed him before the Terminators shot the attacker apart.
• Grendel scanned the attacker and discovered that his veins had been filled with at least eight hundred milliliters of combat stimulants.
• Grendel ordered his forces to stay alert, treat every corpse as a possible bomb, and fire extra shots after confirming a death.

Grendel’s Iron Warriors faced a growing horde of Death Seeker Players who used explosives and suicide attacks to break through their defenses. After a wave of explosive-laden vehicles struck their position, Grendel ordered his warriors to retreat to the landing craft.

• Death Seeker Players swarmed the Iron Warriors’ position, and Grendel ordered his Terminators to conserve ammunition and fight in melee.
• A Player detonated explosives hidden in his vest when an Iron Warrior cut him down, and other Players sacrificed themselves to wound a Terminator.
• Grendel rejected retreat and ordered the Iron Warriors to hold a defensive line and shoot the advancing Players.
• The Death Seeker Players sent four explosive-laden Chimera transports charging at the line, and the Iron Warriors destroyed them before they reached it.
• More Chimeras and a Leman Russ tank emerged through the smoke, prompting Grendel to order an immediate retreat to the landing craft.

The Iron Warriors withdrew under fire while the Death Seekers struggled to keep them engaged long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The Players settled on provoking them with a holographic message from the Executioners, Imperial Fists successors, and contacted the Chapter to request one.

• Grendel ordered the Iron Warriors to withdraw faster, fearing the Death Seekers might destroy the ship to stop them.
• A Death Seekers executive committee member and the commander decided to seek a way to make the Iron Warriors stay and fight.
• The Players rejected a false Imperial Fists threat because the Iron Warriors would see through it without proof.
• A Player proposed using the Executioners, successors of the Imperial Fists, to provoke the Iron Warriors.
• The executive committee member ordered overall command to contact the Executioners and request a mocking holographic projection.

Akash helped the Death Seekers stop the Iron Warriors from retreating by recording a taunting message that enraged them into abandoning their orderly withdrawal. The Iron Warriors turned to attack with overwhelming fury, leaving the Death Seekers struggling to hold them off.

• Akash killed a World Eaters Berserker who had nearly overwhelmed an Ogryn Player, then learned from Hurun that the Death Seekers needed help keeping the Iron Warriors from escaping.
• Hurun asked Akash to record a provocative video to bait the Iron Warriors into staying, and Akash eagerly agreed.
• Akash mocked the Iron Warriors in a recording, insulting their retreat and invoking Dorn to provoke them.
• Grendel stopped the retreat, destroyed the Death Seeker carrying the Servo-skull, and ordered the Iron Warriors to attack everyone nearby.
• The Iron Warriors abandoned their orderly tactics and launched a frenzied assault, while the regimental executive warned that the Death Seekers could not hold much longer.

The Death Seeker Players held back the Iron Warriors by using wreckage as cover, while one Player killed an Iron Warrior with a point-blank Meltabomb. Grendel ignored Izkara’s request to increase pressure on the Imperium and focused instead on reaching Dorn’s sons, consumed by hatred.

• The Iron Warriors broke through the Players’ front line, but tank and vehicle wreckage slowed their advance and let the Players regroup.
• Just a Freeloader baited an Iron Warrior into close range, bought a Meltabomb from the System Store, and detonated it against the warrior’s armor.
• Grendel warned the Iron Warriors that the Players could explode and ordered his troops to keep their distance and save their strength for Dorn’s forces.
• Izkara told Grendel that Jaghatai Khan’s sons had replaced a withdrawn Space Marine Chapter and urged him to apply more pressure to draw out Hurun.
• Grendel cut off Izkara and resolved to reach and kill the son of Dorn, regardless of the consequences.

Akash and the Executioners boarded the Iron Warriors’ ship and joined the battle against Grendel’s forces. While the two Astartes factions fought, the Death Seeker Players built a fortified firing position nearby, hoping to contribute without entering the melee.

• Akash led the Executioners in boarding torpedoes that smashed into the ship, then charged out to reinforce the Death Seekers.
• Grendel and the Iron Warriors turned their weapons from the Players toward Akash and the Executioners, and the rival Astartes forces clashed.
• The Players realized the Iron Warriors were ignoring them and worried they would earn no merit by watching.
• A Player proposed building a defensive position, and the commander ordered the Players to set up heavy weapons and surviving Leman Russ tanks.
• The Players cleared debris, assembled guns, and positioned the tanks beside the ongoing battle.

The Death Seekers devised a scientific insult about steel rusting and granite outlasting it to provoke the Iron Warriors into abandoning their formation. The Iron Warriors charged the Players’ fortified position, allowing the Death Seekers and Executioners to attack them from multiple sides.

• A Player suggested using psychic attacks in the form of taunts to draw the Iron Warriors away from their melee with the Executioners.
• The Death Seekers broadcast a mock science lesson arguing that steel was less durable than rock and that worshiping steel had no scientific basis.
• The Iron Warriors lost their composure, and Grendel turned to fire at the Death Seekers’ position while Akash attacked him.
• Many Iron Warriors broke away from the battle and charged the Players’ fortifications, where the Death Seekers opened fire with autocannons and Heavy Bolters.
• The Executioners exploited the Iron Warriors’ exposed backs and launched a renewed assault.