Invasion of Rynn's World
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In the year 988.M41, Rynn's World, the homeworld of the Crimson Fists Space Marine Chapter was invaded by a massive Ork Waaagh!, commanded by Snagrod, the Arch-Arsonist of Charadon[1] as a part of his main attack of the Loki Sector. Although the battle ended in an Imperial victory, the consequences were devastating; more than three-quarters of the Chapter was lost, and the Crimson Fists' fortress-monastery, along with its reserves of gene-seed, were destroyed - a blow the Crimson Fists have been struggling to recover from ever since.[7]
Contents
Prelude
When the Orks invaded Badlanding, The Planetary Defence Force, consisting of the 18th Mordian, 24th Lammas and 49th Boros Imperial Guard Regiments, commanded by Commissar-General Alhaus Baldur were defeated within days. In retaliation, the 3rd or 4th[Conflicting Sources] of the Crimson Fists under Captain Drakken assaulted Badlanding.
The Crimson Fists underestimated the size and strength of Warboss Urzog's forces. The result was a failed attack by Drakken's Company on Warboss Urzog's warband at the Battle of Krugerport[12] with the loss of 56 out of 84 Space Marines, with the Captain himself among the fallen. Shocked by the failure of the attack, the Crimson Fists under Pedro Kantor indefinitely suspended all raids and ordered a recall of all the chapter's companies to Rynn's World.[3]
The Crimson Fists promptly organised their defenses at Rynn's world, believing that a counter-invasion by the Orks was unavoidable. However, their orders for the world's PDF to mobilize were only carried out slowly, as Rynn's World elite mostly believed that the Orks either would never attempt to attack their planet or that the invaders would be swiftly defeated by the Space Marines anyway.[7a]
Battle
Catastrophe
The initial Ork attack was swift and overwhelming, as a massive Xenos armada left the Warp close to Rynn's World. The Ork invasion was the largest seen since the Armageddon Wars.[12] It quickly destroyed the Imperial fleet and the planet's orbital defences. Only a single, damaged Crimson Fists ship was able to break through the Ork fleet, escaping from the system to call for aid.[7a]
Warboss Urzog then attacked Rynn's World directly and during the Orkish invasion, there was a trillion to one malfunction of the Arx Tyrannus' surface-to-space missile silo defence system, causing a missile to fly off course and hit the main arsenal of the fortress-monastery. The ensuing explosion devastated the Crimson Fists' fortress-monastery and almost wiped out the entire Chapter.[12]
Two groups of Crimson Fists did survive; the first were marines surveying the outer defences with Commander Pedro Kantor. These joined up with the second group, who were seconded to New Rynn City's PDF defence forces, and the surviving Crimson Fists stayed in New Rynn City to hold out against Urzog's siege. As a result of the Ork invasion all of the planet's cities were destroyed, with the sole exception of New Rynn City; the capital and seat of the planetary government. On the 10th day of the battle Kantor and his group of survivors managed to reach New Rynn City, finding it already besieged by Greenskins. He led his men towards the only intact access to the city, an hidden tunnel that crossed under the river Pakomac to the island on which the city stood. The gates were barricaded, and Kantor's forces reached them scant moments before the invaders launched an all-out suicidal frontal assault upon them.[12]
Within New Rynn City, the Crimson Fists and Rynnsguard managed to continue to resist the Greenskins, most notably from the Silver Citadel, which endured 563 days of hellish siege. Snagrod eventually grew tired of the war and left for carnage elsewhere in the Sector, but substantial Greenskin forces were left behind.[7]
Rynn's World Air War
The Rynn's World Air War refers to the aerial campaign of the Invasion. This theatre saw Imperial Navy and Rynnite PDF squadrons duel for control of the skies with their Ork counterparts. These aerial forces had only minor support from the Crimson Fists' own aerial elements after the destruction of the Arx Tyrannus, and for 18 months were forced to defend the skies over New Rynn City, protect their last spaceport, attack Ork landing zones, and protect vital shipping lanes over the planet's scattered islands on their own. The air defences of the planet were quickly silenced by the Orks, and it fell to Imperial Navy pilots to combat Greenskin flyers. These forces were commanded primarily by the Governor of Rynn's World, Maia Cagliestra and General Saedus Mir.[7a] The Imperial Navy Air Wings took horrific losses during the war and lost most of their air superiority, but never abandoned the fight. They were eventually reinforced by fresh Squadrons when the Imperial relief fleet arrived.[7b]
Rynn's World Reclamation
Ultimately after 18 months of battle, Rynn's World's salvation arrived in the form of Imperial reinforcements under the command of Lord Admiral Galtaire. By then, the bulk of Waaagh! Snagrod had been broken upon the world and moved on, but the planet was still swarming with Greenskins. The relief fleet consisted of not only Imperial Guard and Imperial Army forces but also Imperial Fists, White Scars, and Dark Angels Strike Cruisers as well as other Space Marine Chapters.[7b]
The key battle of the reclamation was the recapture of Rynn's World's primary spaceport in order to bring down Titans, the only true counter to the Ork Gargants. Pedro Kantor led the remaining elite of his Chapter in a ground assault against the Spaceport, personally challenging the Ork warboss Urzog. This was launched simultaneously with an orbital strike and aircraft assault by the newly arrived Imperial reinforcements.[7b] The Imperials were successful, and subsequently Rynnsguard Bomber wings slowed an attack on New Rynn City by Greenskin Gargants. The Gargants were able to penetrate the defensive line around New Rynn City, Zona Regis. From the Silver Citadel Governor Cagliestra and her Generals commanded the defenses, using Marauder Bombers to bring down the Void Shields of the Ork Gargants. While the Imperial Aircraft were almost all destroyed, they slowed the Orks enough to allow Imperial Titans to land and counterattack. The Silver Citadel withstood 563 days of siege.[7c]
Over the following months the Imperial forces launched a general counterattack across the planet, with the Fists determined to capture the ruins of the Arx Tyrannus. By 991.M41 most of Rynn's World was back in Imperial hands, with Ork resistance restricted to the wilderness and isolated islands. One of the final major assaults saw Commissar-General Mordrid Van Horcic attack the Ork defenses in a region nicknamed Desolation Valley under the control of Warboss Votzug. During the air campaign over Desolation valley, a rivalry erupted between Imperial Ace Richter Dagor-Jarni and a Greenskin pilot known as Da Black Barun. The two eventually dueled each other to stalemate before Jarni was forced to escape due to a Greenskin ambush. This battle was waged simultaneously when Imperial fighter wings over Sulphur River were forced to repel Grubnatz's Bommer attack.[7d]
Following the Imperial victory at Desolation Valley, Snagrod was forced to return to the Rynn's World warzone after receiving news from Mekboss Votzug's new beacon. Recognizing the threat, Pedro Kantor led a Space Marine and Imperial Guard attack to destroy the beacon at Blackreef City. However they were too late as a massive Rok armada appeared in orbit and began to bombard the planet. Ultimately Wing Commander El Oran led a desperate Lightning attack on the Beacon, destroying it and throwing many of the Roks off course. Snagrod's personal Rok was destroyed but the Warboss went missing after the war, making it unclear what happened to the Arch-Arsonist.[7e] For the Adeptus Terra, the destruction of Snagrod's Rok marked the official Imperial victory in the war; it declared Rynn's World liberated. In truth, significant Ork forces including groups equipped with heavy armour, large airforce squadrons, and naval fleets remained on the planet. Thus, the war factually continued.[7f]
Battle For Traitor's Gorge
The Battle For Traitor's Gorge is a lesser-known battle which took place on Rynn's World roughly six months after the planet was liberated. Several remaining Ork warbands had taken refuge in the Jaden Mountains of Rynn's World, conducting raids against the weary and war-torn populous. Chapter Master Pedro Kantor himself directed the campaign to eradicate the Orks, engaging them with his remaining Battle-Brothers in cave-to-cave fighting. However Kantor's attacks only served in uniting the disparate Ork warbands found in the mountains, and soon the Crimson Fists task force came under sustained attack in Traitor's Gorge from every Ork in the area.[4]
Though but two dozen in number, Kantor and his men fought valiantly and took a heavy toll on the Orks. Managing to fight themselves clear of the gorge's confines and seeking higher ground, the Crimson Fists became surrounded and packed together but knew that, with all the Chapter's Thunderhawks lost or damaged in previous battles, evacuation and air support was impossible. Soon only the Chapter Master himself remained unwounded. But when all seemed lost, the Ork tide began to slacken. Soon ghostly figures appeared on the ridges around Traitor's Gorge, gracefully assailing the orks with Longrifles and darting from cover to cover. For reasons known only to himself, Eldorath Starbane led a small contingent of Rangers from Craftworld Alaitoc to intercede on behalf of the beleaguered Astartes forces.[5] This timely intervention by the mysterious warriors allowed the Crimson Fists to turn the tide of the battle and the Crimson Fists surged forward, forcing the Orks to flee. With the mysterious ghost warriors vanishing, the Ork warbands in the Jaden Mountains were shattered after the victory.[4]
During the battle, the Flesh Tearers present in New Rynn City conducted a massacre of some of the population, though this was covered up afterwards.[10]
Order of battle
Imperium
- Rynn's World defenses
- HQ: Pedro Kantor
- Crimson Fists - entire chapter
- Chapter Serfs - c. 6,000
- Rynn's World Planetary Defence Forces (PDF)
- Rynnsguard[7a]
- Rynn's World System Defense Fleet (SDF)[7a]
- Relief force:
Orks
- Ork leadership: Snagrod, Arch-Arsonist of Charadon[1]
- Urzog Mag Kull[3]
- Eadboila, air force commander[8]
- Gordal Luggub, commander of Luggub's Drop Legion[11]
- Ulruk of Murgabenurga[6]
- The Arch-Arsonist's Inferno Horde[2]
- Estimated 110 Warbands
- 45 Speed Freak Warbands
- 16 Gargants
- Black Flame Tribe[2]
- Estimated 18 Warbands
- 5 Gargants
- Da Flaming Skulls[2]
- 18 Speed Freak Warbands
- Killchoppa's Blitz Brigade[2]
- 5 flight-capable Warband
- Da Skorched Earth Krew[2]
- Estimated 270 Skorchas
- 24 Flamestompas
- BigMek Big'ead's Fieromaniacs[2]
- Estimated 20 Burna Boys Warbands
- Estimated 80 Skorchas
- Estimated 120 Pyro-Bommas
- Skullkrakka Skwadron[8]
- Big-Dakka Skwadron[7c]
Conflicting Sources
The novel Rynn's World states Captain Drakken led the 3rd Company[3], while Index Astartes states it was the 4th.[12]
Sources
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- 1: Rogue Trader, pg. 66
- 2: Planetstrike, pg. 67
- 3: Rynn's World (Novel), Maps between pages 272-273
- 4: Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition), pgs. 46–47
- 5: Games Workshop
- 6: White Dwarf 94 (UK), pg. 57
- 7: Aeronautica Imperialis: Rynn's World Air War:
- 8: Aeronautica Imperialis: Flight Command
[Help] - 9: Imperial Armour II - Ork, Eldar and Dark Eldar Vehicles for Warhammer 40,000, pg. 31
- 10: Wrath of the Lost (Novel), Chapter 12
- 11: Chapter Approved: Book of the Astronomican, pgs. 97-101
- 12: Index Astartes IV - Bloodied Fist: The Crimson Fists Space Marine Chapter
