Battle for Minaria Prime

The Battle for Minaria Prime was a narrative campaign opposing Tau (played by Matt) and Orks (played by Quirk).

Plot
Story Time Part 1

In the latest Tau expansion there was a world discovered that was unmatched in the rest of the Tau Empire for its beauty and serenity. This world had a primitive population that didn’t take much convincing to join the Tau cause, and provided both a strong and surprisingly intelligent work force to the Greater Good. Soon vast Tau cities were constructed, and the planet became renowned for its cultural and scientific advances. Many felt that it embodied what the Tau were really trying to achieve in their great expansion.

The planet was named Var’us, or Serene Garden, and was prized by most of the empire.

Var’us was not far from the Imperium border, and so the Tau Empire saw fit to fortify the world in the event of the Imperium attempting to seize the Tau’s precious jewel. Ethereal Aun’el Var’us Kor, political leader of Var’us, felt that even more measures should be taken to protect what he now saw as his homeworld.

And so Aun’el Kor sent a peaceful expedition fleet to the nearest Imperium world. This turned out to be the Armoury World of Minaria Prime. Some of the Tau were suspicious of the fact that the humans had an Armoury World so close to Tau space. However, when Aun’Kor’s ambassador met with the planetary governor he learned that there was a large Ork threat building in the sub-sector, and that the Armoury World was established to stockpile the necessary weaponry to counter this threat.

The governor was quick to accept the proposed peace treaty from the Tau ambassador, and even took it a step further and offered a loose alliance that would see that Minaria Prime’s forces would be used to protect the Tau in the event of an Ork invasion into Tau space (specifically Var’us). In return Var’us pledged the aid of the Tau. Of course many from both sides questioned the motives of the treaty, but in the end it made the most sense for both sides (assuming it wasn’t made too public to the rest of the Imperium and the Inquisition…). The expedition returned home, and Aun’Kor was satisfied that he had sufficiently protected his beautiful homeworld, and hoped to see peace for the rest of his life.

Two months later the Great Waaagh Thundabolt launched into Imperium space, and Minaria Prime was completely overwhelmed in the space of only weeks. By the time Aun’el Kor received reports of the world falling to the Orks, it was already over.

Thinking not only of the treaty with the governor of Minaria Prime, but also of the very real threat of the Waaagh escalating and entering Tau space (of which Var’us would be the first to be invaded), and realizing with terror that the Orks would now have full looting access to an entire Armoury World of the Imperium, Aun’el Kor quickly sought out the permission of the greater Ethereal council to launch an attack on Minaria before the Orks could finish looting the world.

However, with the current pressures on the Tau Empire, some from the recent fall of the Sept World of Las’Karis III to Chaos forces, others from impending Tyranid attacks, and even more from other Ork warbands on the southern fringe of the Tau Empire, the Ethereal council was not able to provide any more of their fleets just to prevent an attack that may never occur.

Aun’el Kor was informed that he had total control of his own fleets, and if he should choose to attack Minaria Prime, there would be no repercussions from the council.

Unfortunately for the occupants of Var’us, the fleet was not big enough to go headfirst into an attack against not just a powerful Ork Warband, but a full Ork Waaagh.

That is when Shas’o Var’us Toren, commander of the military forces of Var’us, came to the worried Ethereal and proposed what would be called B’Gel Mont’Viel, or the Quick Ork Death. Toren had studied the reports from the scout fleets, and he saw what many others didn’t (or couldn’t). He saw that the Ork Waaagh was at a time of great instability. Coupling the newness of the Ork Waaagh with the fact that they were distracted by fighting over looting rights, Shas’o Toren felt that they had a great chance to destabilize the Waaagh before it could grow even faster.

While their forces would be small and outmatched 100 to 1 by the Orks, with the right surgical strikes and guerilla warfare the Orks might just revert back to their individual warbands, slowing (or hopefully even stopping) the Waaagh and giving the Imperium the time they need to take back their world and then hopefully continue the alliance.

After much meditation Aun’el Kor saw no other option but to agree to the plan. He feared for the future of his world, but felt that Shas’o Toren’s military experience would give them the edge necessary to win this campaign.

And so the great strike of B’Gel Mont’Viel against the Ork-occupied world of Minaria Prime began.

Now let us fast forward several months...

Story Time Part 2 -

Shas’o Toren’s plan to assassinate Warboss Grubfang was both a success and a failure. It was a success in that Grubfang was indeed killed. It was a failure, however, in its execution, and the loss of far too many Tau warriors.

Shas’ui Bantoth was unable to draw Grubfang all the way to the ambush site, where Broadsides and Hammerheads stood ready to rain down a fiery death on Grubfang’s warband with minimal Tau casualties. Instead Grubfang caught up to Bantoth, and the Shas’ui was slain. Although Grubfang’s forces were destroyed, he found his Tawkin’ Stikk, and made his ways into a bombed out ruined area where he forced the Tau into a grueling close combat affair. Grubfang was killed, but most of the Tau forces for this attack were wiped out, and Shas’o Toren was critically wounded, forcing him to withdraw from the fight for a time while his wounds recovered. Only his specialized battlesuit stood in the way of his body succumbing to the wounds from battle, as several Ork nobs tried to strike him down with their power klaws.

Thankfully, however, a critical part of Toren’s plan had been successful, and he hoped that it would start the destabilization of the Waaagh that would ultimately lead to its demise.

They had their work cut out for them still. Orks are not easily swayed.

In fact, as soon as word spread that the Supreme Warboss Grubfang Gorthug was killed, the Orks were quickly divided into several warbands. Only two of the warbands stood any chance of rising to supremacy, and both had leaders fully capable of carrying on the great Waaagh.

Warboss Grubfang Gorthug rose to power in his own Warband, the Thundabolts, many years ago. Being of the Evil Sunz clan, and adhering to the doctrines of the Kult of Speed, the Thundabolts were obsessed with speed. The faster they could get into battle the better, and nobody exemplified this as much as the young Nob Gorthug.

Nob Gorthug also possessed something that would destine him for greatness. One day, after conquering a rival tribe on his homeworld, Gorthug came across what appeared to be just a “normal” bosspole dropped by a Nob that he personally felled. When Gorthug picked it up he all of a sudden heard two voices speaking to him of his great potential. Looking around and finding himself alone (or at least with no Orks close enough to have been the ones to have spoken to him), Gorthug concluded that it was actually Gork and Mork who were speaking to him.

Naming the bosspole “Da Tawkin’ Stikk,” Gorthug now felt he had the destiny to lead a great Waaagh against Gork and Mork’s strongest foes.

It didn’t take him long to rise in the ranks of Ork “leadership” as he won battle after battle against rival warbands. More and more Orks looked up to him, especially when they heard about his Tawkin’ Stikk and that Gork and Mork were personally speaking with him. When the time was right (in other words, when the current Warboss of the Thundabolt Warband looked weakest), Gorthug challenged his current leader to a one-on-one contest. This contest was a bit unusual (even for Orks), as it required both contestants to mount their biggest and fastest warbikes, start over a kilometer away from each other, and then drive as fast as orkily possible towards each other with the intent to kill the other.

Both sides reached critical speeds and crashed headfirst, creating a dust cloud so large that all who observed could no longer see the fight. The sounds of fighting continued for several hours, out of site to all around. When the dust finally settled Gorthug stood panting heavily over the fallen corpse of the previous Warboss. With a loud bellow he raised his Tawkin’ stikk high and took command of the Ork Warband, and vowed to all in his sight that he would bring them “da best and da fastest fights” that they could ever imagine. No other Ork dared challenge him that day, and thanks to the promise of bigger battles to follow, most were quite content to follow him.

It didn’t take long for Grubfang to annex all of the Warbands on his home planet. Not all were Evil Sunz of course, but as long as they contributed to the great cause of building a mighty Waaagh, Grubfang didn’t seem to care what methods they used (although if an Ork were more prone to enjoying speed they stood a much better chance of rising in the ranks to fight right alongside Grubfang, as was the case of the mighty Nob Klawslasha, whose riding skills were only rivaled by that of Grubfang himself).

The greatest boon to the Warboss’ Waaagh came though when he left his planet and invaded a neighbouring Ork world. This world had only one Warband, which had been united after decades of infighting by the kunnin’ Big Mek Ironspitta.

The Warband called themselves the Toofbringa’s, and considered themselves part of the Deathskulls Clan. Being led by a Big Mek might be a tad unusual, but Ironspitta was the most kunnin’ of them all. His clan may have lacked the might of the Goff’s, or the speed of the Evil Sunz, but what it lacked in those areas was more than made up for by its technology. Ironspitta’s personal Morkanaut stood testament of this. He wasn’t afraid even to take his Morkanaut into a “personal” fight, showing the other Orks that it takes brains as much as muscle to create a truly extraordinary Waaagh.

Despite their technology, the Big Mek Ironspitta saw that he was outmatched by Grubfang’s huge combined Thundabolt Warband, and rather than be killed, he realized the more kunnin’ thing to do was to submit to Grubfang. Besides, Grubfang’s tendency to always lead from the front would probably mean that he wouldn’t survive long, and then Ironspitta would have a force mightier than any Orks in the entire sub-sector.

The Toofbringa’s proved to be the missing link for Grubfang to launch a full Waaagh. Not only did he add countless billions of orks to his already large Warband, he added Ironspitta’s expertise. At the very least Ironspitta would be great at maintaining Grubfang’s personal bike. And with that the mighty Waaagh Thundabolt was started. Critical mass was achieved, and Grubfang launched a campaign into Imperium space with the intent of showing his utmost supremacy to a much stronger opponent.

Of course, as we know, that ended when he allowed himself to be drawn out away from his main forces and assassinated by the Tau forces, a shameful death for one to have thought to be chosen by Gork and Mork.

Big Mek Ironspitta saw his chance. He declared himself Warboss of the Waaagh and went about to prove it. It wasn’t as easy as just saying he was so though, as many of the Orks (notably those of the original Warband Thundabolt) didn’t want some Big Mek to be their leader. However, due to Ironspitta’s strong and technologically advanced forces many of the Orks accepted him as their new leader.

The Warband Thundabolt felt otherwise. The mighty Nob Klawslashah, Grubfang’s lieutenant and technically second in command, felt that he should continue leading the Waaagh, feeling that leadership belonged in the hands of a Thundabolt, and not, as he put it, in the “filthy claws of some small toofed, skinny Big Mek.” Klawslashah felt that Ironspitta’s place was in the Mek Shop fixing up bikes and trukks for the next fight.

Ironspitta knew he would have to deal with his rival soon, but first he saw what Klawslashah didn’t - their true enemy the Tau. While not angry at O’Toren for killing Grubfang (secretly he wanted to thank the Tau, but for obvious reasons could never do that), he knew that by proclaiming himself the new Warboss that he was essentially putting himself in the line of fire.

Thankfully for Ironspitta he was much more kunnin’ than brutal, and so he planned to outsmart the Tau. He figured that there was a good chance that their next target would be his largest factory, seeing as how if that were to go down he would lose the momentum necessary to conquer the Thundabolts.

With that in mind he hatched a kunnin’ plan to trick the Tau into attacking on his terms. He set about to fill the factory with his machines of destruction, including his own personal Morkanaut. He then camouflaged his forces amongst the gangplanks and walkways, and even made it appear that his Morkanaut was not functional. Of course he had to keep a minimal force working and defending so that the Tau wouldn’t expect anything.

And thankfully for Ironspitta, not only did the Tau attack the factory, but they were led by an Ethereal, who wouldn’t be nearly as good at tactics as the Shas’o who killed Grubfang. Ironspitta didn’t know that O’Toren was injured, and figured that he was leading a force to take out Klawslashah (all the better for him), but he knew if he could defeat this force and capture the Ethereal then he would have a great bargaining chip on his side.

And so he waited, more patient than most Orks, for the Tau to launch their “surprise” attack…

Story Time Part 3

The campaign is going poorly for the Tau. Ethereal Aun’Kor’s assault on Ironspitta’s factory failed, and Aun’Kor was either killed or captured (which essentially would mean the same thing in the long run).

Shas’el Kes’fa’s attempted Mont’ka on Klawslasha didn’t fair well either. While Kes’fa was able to kill many of Klawslasha’s lieutenants, he eventually fell to the great ork’s power klaw. The rest of the Tau survivors retreated back to their defensive positions.

To make matters even worse, both Big Mek Ironspitta and Warboss Klawslasha saw that the greater threat to the continuation of the Waaagh was not each other (yet), but actually the Tau’s attempts to continually assassinate their leadership. With this in mind Ironspitta sent an envoy to Klawslasha suggesting a temporary alliance while they removed the Tau annoyance, after which they could settle their differences in true Ork style.

Klawslasha readily agreed to this, as he was enjoying the challenge that the Tau were giving him and his boyz, and relished the thought of taking even bigger guns to test their mettle. Killing Ironspitta could wait. In reality he wasn’t really worried about the Big Mek as he thought himself the definite choice as Grubfang’s successor.

However, Klawslasha was having more and more trouble maintaining order. More orks were challenging his rule, claiming that he wasn’t really succeeding at furthering the Waaagh, which forced him to dispose of more nobz than he really had the time for. He didn’t mind bashing a few ‘eads together to prove he was still the rightful Warboss, but with the Tau threat, and with Ironspitta vying for power he really needed to focus on those issues.

What Klawslasha didn’t know was that Ironspitta actually still considered him a bigger threat than the Tau. He had already assumedly tested the Tau in battle, and had even dealt with their main leader (which he could later use to his advantage). His “alliance” with Klawslasha was merely a ruse to expose him at a key moment, and to use the Tau to help kill his rival. Once Klawslasha was dealt with the Tau would be next, and they were clearly outmatched by his kunnin’.

It was with this intent to double-cross Klawslasha that Ironspitta suggested a brilliantly kunnin’ plan to the Warboss. There was a Tau defensive position that needed to be removed in order for the Orks to move against some of the Tau’s main forces. This Tau outpost was situated right above a network of old Imperial tunnels, some of which held great stores of munitions, others which dealt with geothermal power production.

The plan that Ironspitta suggested involved him taking a crack force underground to literally “undermine” the Tau outpost by finding access points that he could send his lootas, burnas, and kommandos up through to hit the Tau from right under their hooved feet. While he lead this attack Klawslasha would take his Thundabolts and lead a frontal assault, distracting the Tau from their objective.

Klawslasha liked the sound of the plan as it allowed him to lead a charge from the front, much like Grubfang always did, but also have the Tau lines disrupted to prevent them from setting up too much of a gunline.

What Ironspitta didn’t tell Klawslasha was the second part of his plan. He didn’t just plan to infiltrate the Tau outpost, he planned to blow it up from underneath by setting charges on key munition storage areas and power generators. Ironspitta would wait until the battle commenced between Klawslasha and the Tau to set off these charges. He hoped to not only deal with the Tau outpost (which needed to be destroyed), but to catch Klawslasha in the explosions and kill him, once again showing that his kunnin’ earned him leadership of all the Ork warbands.

The plan was set in motion. Klawslasha took as many Ork boyz, trukks, bikes, deffkoptas, and anything else that was fast as he could muster and headed towards the outpost.

Meanwhile Ironspitta brought his forces underground.

Ironspitta’s forces were surprised to find that the Tau had fortified the tunnels and structures underground. It was much more work than he had hoped for to get his troops in position, as he had to cut down many Tau defensive positions, and capture and kill as many of their pathfinders as possible.

The Tau were more resilient than he thought and didn’t fall easily, killing many of the Orks in the process. By the time Ironspitta finally made it to his target area (underneath the part of the Tau outpost that Klawslasha would personally be assaulting) his forces were a bit scattered and disorganized. Thankfully he still had plenty of Meks with their demo charges ready to complete their tasks, and even had a small squad of Meganobz ready to bully their way through any further Tau resistance.

The reason that the Tau had put up such a good fight was because of their leader, Cadre Fireblade Shas’nel Var’us Nori’ath, who upon hearing about the Ork forces underground personally led his fire warriors into combat, bolstering the Tau defenses.

As Warboss Klawslasha hurled himself at the Tau defenders above ground, Big Mek Ironspitta and his forces fought against Shas’nel Nori’ath and his defenders below ground.

Story Time Part 4a

Big Mek Ironspitta’s gambit paid off, although it almost cost him his life.

Leading his forces through the mazed buildings under the Tau outpost he reached the area that would allow him to destroy not only the Tau above ground, but Warboss Klawslasha as well once he engaged them.

Shas’nel Nori’ath attempted to rally his forces to repel Ironspitta and his meks, but to no avail. Although Ironspitta took a critical hit and fell temporarily unconcious, Nori’ath suffered the same fate.

Ironically the thing that killed the Orks the most was the Orks. The meks almost too quickly set their charges and detonated them, caving in entire areas that covered Tau and Orks alike. When the dust settled, Klawslasha lay prone, his mangled bike nearby and several burnt holes piercing his body.

When he finally regained consciousness he found himself surrounded by unfriendly Orks, a grinning (although limping) Ironspitta amongst them. It took him a moment to realize that he had been duped. He slowly and painfully stood up, raised his broken powerklaw high in the air, bellowed a mighty Waaagh, and charged at Ironspitta. He didn’t make it far when sluggas and shootas opened fire to bring him to the ground, finishing his reign permanently.

Big Mek Ironspitta wasted no time in rallying his troops to march on the remaining Thundabolts. All it took was showing the body of Klawslasha, and the Thundabolts readily accepted Ironspitta as their new leader, and Warboss of the great Waaagh. Orks from all over Minaria Prime acknowledged him as their leader, and very few still rebelled against him.

Nori’ath somehow escaped whilst the Orks’ attention was on Klawslasha. As soon as he was on the surface he sent out a distress signal to the rest of the Tau, who came to his rescue. His report was dire - the Orks had united, and the Waaagh was not slowed.

Commander O’Toren was able to verify this as he told Nori’ath that deep scans of the Orks main factories showed that Ironspitta had already begun construction of a mighty Gargant, a great Ork effigy that would ensure that the Waaagh not only continued, but strengthened. The Tau were at a loss of how they could do any further damage, and considered retreating back to Var’us to prepare for the inevitable Ork invasion of their beloved planet.

It was much to their surprise when an Ork appeared at the outskirts of their main encampment demanding to speak to the Tau leader.

This Ork claimed to belong to the last Warband that defied Ironspitta’s rule. He stated that his Warband had been constructing a mighty bomba with the capabilities of taking out the Gargant with one drop of their specialized bombs. The problem they faced was that they didn’t have the forces necessary to escort it past the Ork defenses to reach the Gargant.

What he proposed was almost insane, but O’Toren was desperate enough to listen. The Ork Warband would attack Ironspitta’s factories, distracting as many defenses away as possible, and the Tau would escort the Ork Bomba into the factory to destroy the Gargant.

Seeing no other real choice but to flee and leave Ironspitta in even greater power, O’Toren agreed, and the Tau mobilized their forces…

Story Time Part 4b

The Tau are beaten. Ethereal Aun’Kor and Commander O’Toren are lost. The bomba was destroyed right before it could reach the Gargant, and with it ended any possibility of slowing the Waaagh. Already Orks from other systems were boarding their enormous Roks to come and join what appeared to be the mightiest Waaagh in the sub sector.

And yet one last hope remained. Big Mek Ironspitta sent an envoy to the Tau with proof that O’Toren and Aun’Kor were yet alive as his prisoners. He knew they were too valuable to simply kill, so he held on to them until the opportune moment presented itself, which it now had.

Ironspitta agreed to give the retreating Tau their two beloved leaders on one condition - they return Da Tawkin’ Stikk. Shas’nel Nori’ath knew this would solidify Ironspitta’s role as Warboss of the Waaagh even more, but with the opportunity to retrieve their Ethereal and greatest war commander was just too much to ignore. Besides, how much damage could one simple mundane stick really cause?

The exchange was made, O’Toren and Aun’Kor reunited with the Tau. However, Ironspitta once again betrayed their trust, and the moment he had Da Tawkin’ Stikk he saw no further use for any of the Tau. He belowed the order to his mob to destroy the Tau leaders, now that he had them all in the same place and he had what he wanted.

Nori’ath was no fool, and had prepared for this. With a signal reinforcements emerged from their hiding places, forming a defensive perimeter around their leaders. He also signaled for the waiting Manta to come in quickly and pick them up.

However, it might not have been enough, as the Orks surrounded their small defensive army and charged in.

This would be the last stand of the Var’usian leaders.

Final Story Time

All hope is lost for the Tau. All of their leaders were killed in the final battle and only a very small force was able to escape and to warn on an impending attack of the Orks. Already the Greenskins were looting every last ammunitions and armors they can get their hands on, building new ships and barges to prepare for the next stage of the invasion. It wouldn't be long for Ironspitta to give the order to leave Minaria Prime for their next target.

However, not too far away an Imperium Fleet travel to the warp prepared to take back the world that were theirs. Perhaps there's still hope left for the Tau after All...