The Shrieving of Parnassus - A Narrative Campaign

Kicking off our group Narrative campaign is the Shrieving of Parnassus. The backstory of this campaign stems from the Victory is Vengeance campaign our gaming group ran last year. Our Kill Team heroes have escaped or left the Istvaan system and are either looking for revenge against the traitors or to looking to purge the Loyalists further before they could regroup an form a counter resistance to the Warmaster's diabolical plans.

There will be separate posts on the Loyalist and Traitor forces coming shortly, there you will meet our Characters (Be they Heroes or Villians).

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Location

The Parnassan system occupies a particularly stable part of the warp close to the Istvaan system. For many of the loyalist forces this was their first return to active duty after escaping the Istvaan massacre, and they burned with the desire to avenge themselves on the traitors. Other loyalists were fighting their first conflicts against their former brothers, having answered emergency calls to assist them in taking this system. 

For the traitor part, the majority of the traitor forces had moved through this system already onto other warzones, leaving a motley collection of different legions forced to fight a bloody rearguard and ensure that the loyalist did not seize control of this system and thus cut off traitor communications. 

Parnassus Prime is a notorious death world, which is colonised as of necessity due to its proximity to the Parnassan warp gate. The overwhelming majority of the population is concentrated in a single hive city, Parnassus Sigma. There are rumours, like those surrounding Caliban, that the forests of Parnassus are tainted in some way. Its tainted enough to warrant a Primarch to investigate it, in the hope to uncover more fell secrets about the Warp.

As the bulk of the traitor forces passed through the system, Mortarion ordered a light atomic bombardment of Parnassus Sigma, concentrated on the dock area, to break the resistance of the local garrison. Festering in this area of nuclear annhilation is a strategic point needed for a beachead onto the World.

The Armies:

Loyalist Forces

The Loyalist forces are scattered, broken and without solid leadership. Horus dealt them a huge blow at Isstvan and the shockwaves of that atrocity were felt for lights years around. Our forces are facing a tough test, cut off from their Legion, Primarch and Imperium they must rally together and claim the Parnassan System in the name of the Emperor.

The Loyalist forces represented are:

Salamanders - Spirits of Neikea

Ultramarines - XLII Company 

Imperial Firsts (or Raven Guard)

Raven Guard

Vkla Fenryka

Luna Wolves (Shattered Legion)

Imperial Militia w. Ultramarines

Solar Auxilia - The Dune Lions

Blackshields - Dolarhyde's Dudes

Talons of the Emperor

Warmaster's Forces

Fresh from crushing their fellow legion brothers at Isstvan V, most if not all have had a taste of Astartes blood. Ordered onward to conquer Worlds in the Warmaster's name the forces of Horus Lupercal spread out into the Galaxy. The resistance that these Warbands met on Parnassus is fierecer than first expected, they now must push on and claim this World and system for the Warmaster's campaign.

The Warmaster's Forces represented are:

Death Guard

Militia Army Cults

Thousand Sons

Word Bearers

Thousand Sons

World Beaters (Khorne Butchers)

Iron Warriors

Death Guard

Alpha Legion

Scenarios

Our campaign is split into four phases roughly lasting 2 week each, starting on Sunday 23 April 2017.  At the end of the campaign we will be fighting a large apocalypse battle (or battles depending on the number interested) at Bristol Independant Gaming (BIG). This will be on the last day of the campaign Sunday 18th June at 2pm, (Its Father’s day so we may get away with it) 

We will be using the missions in the Shadow War ruleset from Book VI- Retribution. 

In the first phase the following Stragegic Objectives will be fought over:

Strategic Objective 1: Rad wastes (former docks).

These are the former dockyards of Parnassus Sigma. The atomic bombardment here was particularly fierce and so the Rad Wastes special rule applies to all battles fought here. The scenery should be ruins, pools of toxic waste, craters and glassy black plains.

Strategic Objective 2: Parnassus Sigma hive city outskirts.

This city was heavily damaged by the atomantic bombardment, and its people are struggling to survive and rebuild. The space marines, as usual, rather than helping, are fighting bloody skirmishes throughout the city sprawl. No special rules apply to this battlefield, but the scenery should be ruins, walkways, and gantries.

  

Strategic Objective 3: Death world guerrillas.

The majority of Parnassus is covered with the famously deadly Parnassan fauna. However, inevitably, it is chock full of valuable chemicals and artefacts, and therefore well worth fighting over. Spending too much time in the woods sends space marines a bit odd (ordinary folks just tend to die before they go insane.

Thanks for  reading so far, hopefully we'll have an update on our campaign as the week's progress!

Stay Tuned!

Happy Shrieving!