Intercepted distress call from Smoldering Angels transport downed while landing on Plenatus VI. Surviving marines have reported high casualties, but objective taken. Stills from vidlogs to follow.
Land Speeder moving into position to take on encroaching Hormagaunts.
Land Speeder switches targets to Zoanthrope after it explodes a neighboring marine with a blast of psychic energy. A few lucky hits make short work of the brain-creature, which send the nearby Hormagaunts into a stupid frenzy, running wildly to attempt to re-establish their link with the hive mind that vanished upon the death of the Zoan, effectively rendering them useless.
Three huge Tyranid Warriors lumber through the center of the field, firing giant arcs of disgusting blast weaponry, taking out another couple of marines in their advance.
Having missed several frag missile shots, the marines begin to move forward, their fearless lightning-clawed captain leading the charge.
This is the position that the marines on the other side of the field are fortifying. Their brothers are heading for the wreckage of their ship, but this band is looking to keep the Tyranid force from reaching the remains of its hive. A barrier is in place but malfunctioning, and they need time to detonate the remaining explosive charges they've planted inside.
Suddenly they're ambushed by a huge pack of Genestealers led by a Brood Lord. This does not bode well.
The Warriors continue their advance, lobbing huge chunks of bio-death upon their enemies, shaking the crew of the Land Speeder, who take evasive maneuvers in favor of continuing to lay down suppressing fire.
The Genestealers attack, easily overwhelming the small contingent of marines.
But they don't go down without a fight, taking 2 Genestealers out to account for their own 2 losses.
The captain and his squad advance on the Warriors and open fire, taking one full out and injuring another slightly. They can't afford to suffer much more of those bio-blasts, having lost several marines to them before the poor bastards even got the chance to fight.
This pack of weaklings has suffered heavy casualties from a frag missile fired from the defending squad not currently engaging the Genestealers, but they have their sights set on other targets and continue on despite the losses.
The last member of the 2nd defending squad, the sergeant, does his best to hold off the swarm, chainsword slashing wildly, but he's taken down at the last.
In an ill-advised attempt to move closer to the still-rampaging Hormagaunts and thereby re-link them to the hive mind, the Warriors charge in blindly at the captain's band. The captain's lightning claws quickly show them that this was a poor idea on their part. He rips the guts out of the injured one, whilst his compatriots deal a blow to the other.
Though the sergeant has been downed, the remaining defensive squad positions itself in a classic flying-V, with a flamer marine at the head. His flames purge the disgusting flesh of the 2 remaining Genestealers and several of the insignificant units behind them.
Meanwhile, the Land Speeder recovers its aggressive position and flies straight at the horde of Termagaunts firing upon it. An assault cannon and mounted heavy bolter chew through a number of them in short order.
The marine squad, having finished off the last Warrior, has suffered a lot of casualties, but is on the advance, seeking to scatter the group of still-rampaging Hormagaunts.
These gaunts are now charging blindly into the crossfire between the Termas and the Speeder. The Termas have also lost their link to the hive mind, but have chosen to simply hunker down and lurk, sacrificing all movement for the opportunity to fire their bio-weapons at the Speeder. They succeed in clogging its assault cannon and rendering it useless.
The Speeder then rushes off to ensure the safety of the defended position, since the captain's squad seems to have things well in hand after scattering the remaining Hormagaunts by rushing at them and panicing them into dissolution.
The Land Speeder takes out the last small unit, ignoring the Brood Lord, for it's only the small one that can actually move swiftly enough into the hive entrance to remove the danger.
In a rage, the Brood Lord throws himself at the Speeder, but is knocked loose and fired upon.
Meanwhile, the captain's marines finally take their position back at the remains of their transport, detonating the explosives and sealing this planet from the evil of the Tyranids forever. Or at least until they attack again.
